Classical Languages and Civilization

CLAS 1210. Understanding Historical Change: Ancient Greece. (3 Credits)

A political, social, and intellectual history of ancient Greece from its origin to the death of Alexander the Great.

Attribute: HC.

CLAS 1220. Understanding Historical Change: Ancient Rome. (3 Credits)

Introduction to Roman History focusing on problems and sources.

Attribute: HC.

CLAS 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)

Independent research and readings with supervision from a faculty member.

CLAS 2000. Texts and Contexts. (3 Credits)

An introduction to the literary analysis of texts and the cultural and historical contexts within which they are produced and read. Significant class time will be devoted to critical writing and to speaking about literature. Each section of Texts and Contexts will have a focus developed by the individual instructor and expressed in its subtitle. This course fulfills the Core requirements for the second Eloquentia Perfecta seminar.

Attributes: EP2, TC.

Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.

CLAS 2800. Internship. (2 Credits)

Internship.

CLAS 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)

Independent research and readings with supervision from a faculty member.

CLAS 3030. Athenian Democracy. (4 Credits)

A historical overview and morphological description of democracy as it was practiced in Athens from 508 BCE until 322 BCE. In addition to survey how Athenian democracy evolved and an overview of its most salient features, we will also investigate how classical Athenian democracy was imagined and criticized by leading thinkers contemporary with it. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, EP3, PJCR, PJST, POSC.

CLAS 3031. The Spartan Mirage. (4 Credits)

Beginning with a survey of the Ancient Sparta imagined by modern historians who strive to depict Sparta “wie es eigentlich gewesen” (“as it actually was”), we will examine select representations (both Ancient and Modern) of what the French historian, Francois Ollier famously termed “le mirage Spartiate.” From its influence on Plato’s political idealism to how Ancient Romans, French Revolutionaries, German Nationalists and modern mass media have each imagined Sparta we will review and critique these visions as exercises in cultural construction and appropriation in order to better understand the importance of what and how people choose to remember and forget -- and why. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, EP3.

CLAS 3032. The Economies and Economics of the Greco-Roman World. (4 Credits)

This course is an historical survey of the economies of the Greco-Roman world. Beginning with the “Archaic” Period of Ancient Greece c. 800 BCE and culminating with the economic regulations promulgated by the Roman emperor Diocletian in the late 3rd century CE (285 CE), this course will survey the varied methods, means, and modes of production, consumption, and distribution developed and utilized by select Greek and Roman communities. In order to appreciate the economic constraints, possibilities, and challenges presented by and to the people and the environment, we will devote ample time to surveying the physical landscape, natural resources, as well as institutional arrangements, technological development, and stores of economically significant knowledge that defined and bounded economic activity broadly within the region and its various peoples while examining the wide variety of economically significant responses, adaptations, and innovations that affected economic performance. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

CLAS 3033. Slavery in Ancient Greece. (4 Credits)

Ancient Greeks universally and uncritically practiced slavery. This course examines how and why slavery arose and persisted throughout the Ancient Greek world. Our survey will specifically focus upon the conception, practice, and institutionalization of slavery within the Greek communities, particularly Athens and Sparta, from the beginning of the “Archaic” period c. 900 BCE until the end of the Athenian “democracy” in 322 BCE. From Homeric representations of slaves and enslavement to manumission declarations dedicated to Apollo at Delphi on votive tablets in the 4th century BCE, this course will survey a wide range of literary, legal, historical, and epigraphic materials to reconstruct slavery as Greeks conceived, practiced, and perpetuated it as a social practice, economic system, and political ideology. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, HIST, HIUL, PJST.

CLAS 3034. The Rhetoric of Athenian Democracy. (4 Credits)

Citizens of the Athenian Democracy (507 BCE – 322 BCE) enjoyed two fundamental civic privileges: ἰσηγορία (“equal right to speak”) and ἰσονομία (“equality before the law”). This course will examine how rhetoric, the formal codes and conventions governing persuasive speech before formally constituted mass audiences (i.e. the Assembly and the “People’s Court” in Democratic Athens), became an indispensable instrument for citizens to exercise these two fundamental civic privileges. We will also consider how rhetoric became codified and rhetorical expectations ingrained within mass audiences and thereby refined and transformed the democratic discourse in the Ancient Athenian context. This course will do so primarily by surveying both the development of “forensic” (e.g. “judicial”) and “deliberative” (e.g. “political”) rhetoric and their practice in Athens from in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Note:Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ASSC, PJMJ.

CLAS 3040. Law and Society in Greece and Rome. (4 Credits)

A survey of the systems of law in ancient Greece and Rome, focusing on the relation of the law to social values and to politics. The course ranges from law in Homer to the changing legal position of early Christianity in Roman society. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, ASSC, EP3, POSC.

CLAS 3050. Pagans and Christians. (4 Credits)

Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, COLI, MVST, REST.

CLAS 3141. Love, Fate, and Death in the Ancient Novel. (4 Credits)

This course will provide an intensive introduction to the Ancient Novel. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

CLAS 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)

Independent research and readings with supervision from a faculty member.

CLAS 4020. The Classical Tradition in Contemporary Fiction and Film. (4 Credits)

This course provides a survey of classical works from ancient Greece and Rome and their reception in contemporary literature and film. The objective is threefold: first, to learn about patterns of narrative intrinsic to the representation of myth and history in classical literature; then to observe how these patterns function both in works of the classical period and also in contemporary fiction and film; and finally, to consider why classical antiquity has proved an enduring source of inspiration for writers and film-makers of today. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, ICC.

CLAS 4040. The Birth of Learning: Classical Education Then, Now, and in New York City. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of classical education from antiquity through its reception in late antiquity among early Christian writers and into the present day. It is also an integrated service-learning seminar that requires on-site investigation into current approaches to teaching the Classics in several schools in NYC. We will use the traditional entry into the liberal arts-Trivium-to structure our readings and focus our inquiry into the purpose and value of an education in the humanities. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: EP4, VAL.

CLAS 4045. Sex and Gender in the Ancient World. (4 Credits)

This course explores issues of sex and gender in the ancient Mediterranean world and considers from an ethical perspective how they relate to contemporary life and culture. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: OCST, WGSS.

CLAS 4050. Ancient Roman Cities. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of ancient Roman cities in context. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ICC.

CLAS 4051. Ancient Greece: Classical Study Tour. (4 Credits)

This course provides a selective historical and on-site survey of ancient Greece it is structured in two parts: first, we will meet four times in lengthy, two-hour seminars over the course of the semester to prepare ourselves for the actual study-tour on the Greek mainland in May. In Greece itself we will take advantage of on-site visits to enrich our understanding of important ancient sites from the bronze age until the period of Roman occupation. As an interdisciplinary capstone course, this seminar will focus primarily on exploring the complex relationship between history, art, and archaeology. To that end, we will aim to understand the monuments and material culture we study - e.g. buildings, sculpture, painting, inscriptions, cult sites, etc. - in relation to developments in architecture, politics, literature, religion, philosophy, artistic production, and the study of antiquity. In addition, we hope to gain a sophisticated appreciation for how ancient Greece grew and survived over time and how they have preserved, lost, and regained in the modern era. By focusing on the ancient period in the long life of Greece, we will engage key questions in urban history and archaeology and the study of the Greek world: for example, what are the relationships among social and political structure -e.g. religion, gender, government - and the physical structures of the city? How does the Mediterranean context and Greece's intermittent role as imperial power - Athens, Alexander the Great - shape its development. Who were the ancient Greeks; how did they live; and how can we come to know about them? Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ICC, THAM, THEO, THHC.

CLAS 4055. Race and Ethnicity in Antiquity and Today. (4 Credits)

This course offers an in-depth study of race and ethnicity in the ancient world and explores from an ethical perspective how ancient conceptions of race influence modern ones. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, OCST, PJRC, PJST, PLUR.

CLAS 4545. Bath Cultures and Bathing Rituals From Antiquity to Brooklyn. (4 Credits)

This course draws on the two disciplines of history and anthropology to examine the culture of bathing in the Greco-Roman world and its reception in Byzantium, medieval Islam, and concludes with a look at its "Orientalized" fetishizing in the contemporary US. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ICC, ISAC, MEST, OCST, REST.

Prerequisites: THEO 1000 or HPRH 1001 or HPLC 1401.

CLAS 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)

Independent research and readings with supervision from a faculty member.

GREK 1001. Introduction to Greek I. (3 Credits)

Introduction to the vocabulary and structure of ancient Greek, with emphasis on reading continuous passages. Attention to Greek history and civilization.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

GREK 1002. Introduction to Greek II. (3 Credits)

This course will enhance the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills acquired by students in Introduction to Greek I or from prior study. It will further promote a deeper understanding of Greek and its literary and cultural traditions.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

Prerequisite: GREK 1001.

GREK 1004. Intensive Ancient Greek. (4 Credits)

An accelerated introduction to the vocabulary and structure of the ancient Greek language. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

GREK 1501. Intermediate Greek I. (3 Credits)

A continuation of GREK 1002 or 1006 with an introduction to the reading of various prose authors.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST, THEO.

GREK 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)

Independent Study.

GREK 2001. Greek Language and Literature. (3 Credits)

Advanced reading in classical Greek authors.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

GREK 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)

Independent Study.

GREK 3008. Herodotus. (4 Credits)

A survey of Herodotus' Histories in Ancient Greek.

Attributes: AHC, ALC.

Prerequisite: GREK 2001.

GREK 3012. Plato: Socratic Dialogues. (4 Credits)

A study of the early Socratic dialogues: selected passages from: Laches, Lysis, (Charmides), Meno, Gorgias, (Protagoras), Euthyphro. A study of the basic philosophical problems raised by these dialogues. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, PHAN, PHIL.

GREK 3034. Readings in Homer. (4 Credits)

Select readings in the Greek texts of Homer. Discussions of the literary, mythological and historical background of the Homeric texts. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

GREK 3200. Readings in Greek. (4 Credits)

The study of Greek literary texts and grammatical practice for students above the elementary level in Greek. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

GREK 3211. Greek Prose Composition. (4 Credits)

This course provides an introduction to prose composition in ancient Greek, with particular attention on a variety of writing styles, grammar, and diction. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, MVST, OCST.

GREK 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)

Independent Study.

GREK 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)

Advanced-level courses will be taken either as tutorials in selected Greek texts or on the Rose Hill campus where students may select from among the offerings of the classics department there.

LATN 1001. Introduction to Latin I. (3 Credits)

An introduction to Latin grammar with selected readings.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

LATN 1002. Introduction to Latin II. (3 Credits)

This course will enhance the skills acquired by students in Introduction to Latin I or from prior study. It will further promote a deeper understanding of Latin and its literary and cultural traditions.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 1001.

LATN 1004. Intensive Latin. (4 Credits)

An accelerated introduction to the Latin language covering a full year of grammar in one semester. From here students are able to enter LATN 1501.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

LATN 1501. Intermediate Latin I. (3 Credits)

A continuation of LATN 1002 with an introduction to the reading of texts.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

LATN 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)

Independent Study.

LATN 2001. Latin Language and Literature. (3 Credits)

An appreciation of the language, literature, and culture of antiquity through original readings in classical Latin authors.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 1501.

LATN 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)

Independent Study.

LATN 3000. Latin Poetry. (4 Credits)

To introduce advanced students of Latin to the lyric poetry of Catullus and Horace through translation, stylistic and metrical analysis and discussion of the poets' literary tradition. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: COLI.

LATN 3009. Horace: Odes. (4 Credits)

Readings in and literary analysis of the Odes of Horace. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI.

LATN 3015. Caesar's Commentaries. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. It attempts to situate Caesar's Commentaries in their historical context and in relation to the larger literary tradition. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3021. Roman Love Poetry. (4 Credits)

Readings from the works of Catullus, Ovid, Propertius and Tibullus. Study of Metrics and Poetic Forms. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: MVLA, MVST.

LATN 3039. Suetonius. (4 Credits)

Select readings in Latin of Suetonius' "Lives of the Caesars," with consideration of historical and literary settings.

Attribute: ALC.

LATN 3041. Ovid. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of the works of Rome’s most versatile poet, Publius Ovidius Naso, in Latin. We will read and discuss Ovid’s poetry in light of the immediate historical context in which he wrote and of the broader Greco-Roman literary tradition to which he belonged. Students with equivalent preparation to LATN 2001 should contact the department to register. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, MVLA, MVLI, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3043. Drama in Ancient Rome. (4 Credits)

Close reading of selections from Plautus, Terence and Seneca. The cultural history of Roman drama. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

LATN 3045. Livy. (4 Credits)

Readings in Livy's History of Rome (Ab urbe condita) in Latin. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AHC, ALC, HIST, MVST, OCST.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3050. Cicero's Orations. (4 Credits)

Reading in the speeches of Cicero. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

LATN 3051. Cicero's "De Oratore". (4 Credits)

This course will focus on Cicero's "De Oratore" (read partly in Latin and partly in English), closely examining its impact on rhetorical and educational theory while considering its place in the history of rhetorical theory since Aristotle.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3052. Cicero: A Survey. (4 Credits)

This course offers a selective survey of Cicero's works in Latin. We shall start with the rhetorical treatises and orations before sampling a selection of letters and ending with his philosophical works. If time permits, we may also read some Ciceronian verse. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, HIST, MVST.

LATN 3055. The Roman Novel. (4 Credits)

Readings from Petronius and Apuleius. Examination of the ancient tradition of prose, narrative, and romance, and of the appearance in antiquity of early forms of the novel.

LATN 3060. Readings in Vergil. (4 Credits)

Readings from Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid. Taught in Latin. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, MVLA, MVLI, MVST.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3061. Christian Latin. (4 Credits)

A study of the language and literature of the late classical and early Christian eras. Taught in Latin. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, AMCS, COLI, MVLA, MVST, REST.

LATN 3142. Readings in Tacitus. (4 Credits)

A careful reading of one book of Tacitus' "Annales". Discussion of historical background, textual questions, diction and stylistics. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

LATN 3300. Advanced Latin. (4 Credits)

A reading of selections from Ovid's Amores and his Ars Amatoria, with cultural and literary analysis. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, MVLA, MVST.

LATN 3332. Seneca's Letters. (4 Credits)

A select survey of Seneca's Moral Epistles in Latin. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3334. The Letters of Pliny. (4 Credits)

A reading of select letters of Pliny the younger. Discussion of textual and stylistic questions and of the place of the letters in the Roman tradition of epistolography. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

LATN 3456. Imperial Latin Biography. (4 Credits)

A reading of selections from the imperial lives of the "Historia Augusta," with literary and historical analysis. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

LATN 3466. Late Latin Poetry. (4 Credits)

A survey of late-antique Latin poetry, in particular Claudian, Aussonius, Rutilius, and the Centones. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3542. Medieval Latin Literature. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of medieval Latin literature from the Latin Vulgate and St. Augustine to the Carmina Burana and Petrarch. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, MVST.

LATN 3545. Lucretius. (4 Credits)

This course offers a survey of Lucretius' "De Rerum Natura" ("On the Nature of Things") in Latin. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

Prerequisite: LATN 2001.

LATN 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)

Independent Study.

LATN 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)

Independent Study.