2012-2013 University Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2012-2013 University Catalog archived

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CLAS 295 - Topics in Classical Civilization


Credits: 3 credits in Fall or Winter; 4 credits in Spring
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.



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 2013 topic:

CLAS 295-01: The Languages and Scripts of Indo-European (4). Where do languages come from, and how are they related? English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Persian, Greek, and over 400 more of the world’s languages belong to a single large family called Indo-European. Most inhabitants of modern Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia speak an Indo-European language today, and written evidence exists of older Indo-European languages from as early as the second millennium BCE. In this course, students survey the diverse members of this vast family, the many writing systems that have been used to record them, and the common ancestral language they all sprang from thousands of years ago: Proto-Indo-European. This course requires no prior knowledge of Indo-European languages (though you all speak one already). At the end of the course, students present the finding of individual research on one Indo-European language we have not studied in the course. (HU) Kirk.

Winter 2013 topic:

CLAS 295-01: Roman Spectacle (3). Gladiatorial fights, wild beast hunts, chariot races: violent public entertainment was a mainstay of Roman culture. This course looks at these and other examples of Roman mass entertainment from the third century BCE to the fourth century CE, with a special focus on their physical remains ranging from giant arenas to fragments of equipment. Topics to be discussed include the enduring appeal of the games,ancient fan culture, the arena as a reflection of the expanding Roman Empire, and punishment as a form of public spectacles. No knowledge of Roman history or art required. All readings in translation. Koster

Fall 2012 topic:

CLAS 295-01: Greek Religion (3). In this course, we examine the strange and wonderful world of ancient Greek religion. The accounts of the Greeks themselves comprise the main body of evidence; these sources include not only public speeches, plays, poems, and hymns, but inscriptions and magical “curse tablets”! We complement our exploration of these written accounts with a study of the artistic and archaeological remains of Greek religion, including temples, altars, and votive dedications. Topics covered in this course may include ancient conceptions of the cosmos; the nature of Greek deities; hero cults; healing cults; oracles; the art and architecture of sanctuaries; ritual performances and festivals; ritual sacrifice; and the socio-political role of Greek ritual practice. Laughy.

CLAS 295-02: The Ancient Animal World (3). What did the Greeks and Romans think about animals, and how do we know what they thought? How did their views differ from ours? This seminar explores interactions with non-human animals. We address a range of thematic topics from week to week, including the uses of animals in literature and art, ancient human-animal social relationships, and ancient philosophy concerning animal treatment, farming, and vegetarianism. While the course’s primary focus is the Classical world, we also consider the work of contemporary ethicists, sociologists, and novelists alongside the ancient sources. Readings include, among others, selections from Homer, Aristophanes, Apuleius, Porphyry, Singer, and Coetzee. (HU) Kirk.





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