CLAS 295 - Topics in Classical Civilization

Credits: 3 credits in Fall or Winter; 4 credits in Spring

Selected subject areas in classical civilization. The topic selected varies from year to year. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Spring 2016, CLAS 295-01: Improvisation and Performance Culture in the Ancient World (4). This course entails an examination of early occasions of improvisation from ancient Greece and Rome with an eye on developing a theory of improvisation and exploring improvisation’s fundamental role in the development and performance culture of four overlapping antique arts: storytelling, public speaking, theater, and music. Modern access to many works of ancient art is mediated through texts, but Greeks and Romans of antiquity typically encountered art through public performances. Performances of some arts, such as drama, developed gradually out of improvised processes. Other arts, like rhapsodic composition and storytelling, employed real-time improvisation on the part of the performers. Throughout the term, course participants draw connections to modern acts of improvisation in the ancient and related, modern artistic spheres (e.g., film, improvisational comedy, jazz) while designing and participating in creative, improvisation-influenced projects. (HA) Dance. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.

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