What is Greek art, and why has it captivated the imagination of artists, thinkers, and travelers for centuries? We will survey the major monuments, objects, and archaeological sites in order to critically examine its seminal place in the western tradition. Diverse types of material evidence will inform an intellectual journey leading from the very first Greek cities to the luxurious art of Hellenistic kings. Lectures are organized chronologically and thematically, and precepts offer the unique experience of hands-on interaction with objects in the art museum's collection.

While most people are familiar with the modern Middle East, few understand the deep history of the region. This geographically diverse area rich with resources engendered civilization as we conceive it, being home to the earliest domesticated agriculture, oldest monumental art and architecture, first cities, first political and economic systems, and the first examples of writing in human history. In this course we will examine objects, architecture, and archaeological sites from across this region from roughly 8,000-400 BCE, considering the nature of civilization and the enduring influence of these earliest societies.

Survey of the transformations in Greek art beginning with the decline of the Classical period (fifth century BCE) and continuing through the period of Alexander the Great's unification of the Mediterranean world, up to and including the Roman conquest of the east. Emphasis on sculpture, painting, and mosaic.

This course examines the architectural framework for public social life in the ancient Aegean. A range of case studies tackles issues from the engineering of some of the Mediterranean world's largest structures to modern uses of ancient theaters.

A seminar devoted to the long-standing problems concerning the tradition of Greek sculpture, most of which survives in later Roman copies. Replication was fundamental to ancient artistic practice and remains central to both its critical evaluation and its broad appreciation. Emphasis is on stylistic comparison of the surviving copies (Kopienkritik); critical engagement with the ancient written sources that attest the most famous works (opera nobilia); and the historiographic tradition in modern scholarship devoted to these works and the problems they pose.

This course will explore the theory and practice of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome and the ways in which classical rhetoric has been adapted in modern American verbal art. From Gorgias and Demosthenes to Lincoln and Douglass, to Ida B. Wells and Fannie Lou Hamer, we will consider what makes individual speeches noteworthy in their local, historical contexts, as well as placing them in a larger rhetorical tradition. Throughout, we will analyze the role of ideologies of gender, class, race, nationality, religion, and sexuality in the construction of the rhetorical subject.

The Roman Empire was expansive, stretching from the straits of Gibraltar to the Persian Gulf. Its capital was the largest, most densely populated city in the Mediterranean, if not the world, and not surpassed in population until the 19th century. This course offers an overview of the Roman imperial period from the assassination of Julius Caesar to the death of the emperor Constantine, who legalized Christianity - a period of about 400 years. We will learn about various aspects of this multicultural empire, from political intrigues and conquests to city-living, dining, technology and engineering, sex, entertainment, economy, and religions.

This course looks at the formation of a techne ("art" or "science") of medicine in fifth-century BCE Greece and debates about the theory and practice of healthcare in Greco-Roman antiquity. We look at early Greek medicine in relationship to established medical traditions in Egypt and Mesopotamia; medical discourses of human nature, gender, race, and the body; debates about the ethics of medical research; the relationship of the body to the mind; and the nature of "Greek" medicine as it travels to Alexandria, Rome and Baghdad. Readings drawn from primary sources as well as contemporary texts in medical humanities and bioethics.

Roman history courses usually cover the grand narratives based on the more traditional, literary evidence. Usually these courses leave no room for discussing how knowledge is created and the new and different methods for studying ancient history. This course instead looks at different questions to shed light in fruitful collaborations between scholars from different fields. Students will engage with STEM as they consider humanistic questions. Through different case studies and hands on activities, students will learn about different scientific, technological and mathematical methods and how knowledge of the past draws on multiple disciplines.

Most often seen in opposition, Greco-Roman Classical culture and Christianity have a long history of reciprocal reliance. Neither would look as it does today without the other. Through readings and discussion of both Classical and Christian texts, as well as art and architecture, this course will inquire into the Classical roots of much Christian theology, ethics, cosmology, and values more broadly, while also considering the effect on Classics as a cultural cornerstone of societies beholden to these twin traditions.

This course compares ideologies and practices of monarchic rule across Greece and the Near East. We will investigate how monarchs established their rule, how they faced opposition, and which strategies they adopted to legitimize their power. We will ask what makes a monarch a "tyrant" rather than a "king" and why monarchy turned out to be disgraceful for the Greeks compared to their neighbors. We will read texts produced by royal courts as well as compositions which sketch the profile of the "ideal monarch". We will also look at monuments which monarchs erected during their reigns and investigate their historical and political significance.

This discussion-based seminar will examine political, social, economic, and cultural factors that led to the collapse of a republican political system in Rome in the middle of the first century BCE. We will study the period from 146 BCE (the destruction of Carthage) to the assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BCE), which is the best documented time in all of antiquity, in light of primary sources of various kinds. This course will also consider why this historical era remained so fascinating for later generations, notably the American Founders. Students will be able to choose a topic to research for their oral report and final paper.

This course offers an introduction to Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon. The first half of the course introduces students to the basic concepts of Akkadian (old Babylonian) grammar and the cuneiform script. In the second half students consolidate their knowledge of the language by reading selections from classic Babylonian texts, such as the famous law code of King Hammurabi and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Two ancient texts on dance, written in Greek by Syrian authors (Lucian On Dance and Libanius On the Dancers) allow us to strengthen knowledge of Greek and have discussions radiating out to consider: 1. popular Platonisms and the elevation of the body 2. Hellenisms of the body and ethnic diversity 3. dance, spectacle, and narrative art 4. anti-Christian approaches to the body, beauty, pleasure 5. influence of antiquity on modern ballet.

A comprehensive introduction to the central topics and methods of Greek history, offering a chronological overview of periods and significant developments; a survey of the current state of the field and of specialized sub-disciplines (e.g., epigraphy and numismatics); and an exploration of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to the study of the past.

This course offers a close reading of select Cicero speeches and rhetorical writings, as well as fragments of earlier republican orators (e.g. Cato the Elder, Gaius Gracchus). These speeches are considered in the context of their original delivery (in the senate, in a contio, in a lawcourt, at a funeral), in their physical and historical setting. Topics for discussion include: the role of speeches in Roman republican politics, audience composition and reactions, the development of Latin rhetoric, the relationship of set speeches to rumor and public opinion, and the variety of speakers (magistrates, foreigners, women) in Rome.

This seminar is designed for those who have experience or interest in teaching literature in carceral contexts. The class plan is decided collectively, but includes a mix of readings (theoretical and practical), personal writing and reflection, and workshopping syllabi and class plans. As a final project, each student designs a syllabus for a course that could be taught in a prison.

A collaborative workshop to practice scholarly writing at the dissertation level and beyond, providing guidance on planning and completing the dissertation and on other aspects of becoming a professional scholar and teacher, such as mastering the craft of the journal article (conceiving, writing and submitting), writing effective syllabi for different kinds of courses, and turning the dissertation into a book (with the opportunity to talk to an editor from a university press).

This course will focus on the history of the later Roman Empire, a period which historians often refer to as "Late Antiquity." We will begin our class in pagan Rome at the start of the third century and end it in Baghdad in the ninth century: in between these two points, the Mediterranean world experienced a series of cultural and political revolutions whose reverberations can still be felt today. We will witness civil wars, barbarian invasions, the triumph of Christianity over paganism, the fall of the Western Empire, the rise of Islam, the Greco-Arabic translation movement and much more.

Situated between the academic study and museumization of premodernities and contemporary art, the course examines curation as a transdisciplinary practice of care that preserves, values, and claims knowledge of objects and periods marked in colonial modernity as "ancient" or "classical." How is antiquity shaped as an object of expertise and attention within the university and the museum? In what ways does curating distant pasts construct, challenge, or remake communities in the present? Drawing on case studies from Greece and India, we also ask how comparison both abets and blocks the theorization of antiquity as an object of care.

This course discusses the ideas and arguments of major ancient Greek philosophers and introduces students to the history and continued relevance of the first centuries of western philosophy. Topics include the rise of cosmological speculation, the beginnings of philosophical ethics, Plato's moral theory and epistemology, Aristotle's philosophy of nature, metaphysics and ethics. The course also includes discusses how the canon of ancient philosophy was shaped and contains a dedicated unit focusing on women, slaves, and non-Greeks in ancient philosophy.

We shall study Aristotle's contributions in logic, natural philosophy, metaphysics, and ethics, with emphasis on the ongoing philosophical interest of some of his central insights. We shall compare some of Aristotle's views with those of some of his successors, Hellenistic and beyond.

This course will examine the history, contemporary reality, and likely future of higher education, especially in the United States but also abroad. We will consider the changing and often conflicting ideals and aspirations of parents, students, instructors, and administrators from classical Rome to Christian institutions in the European Middle Ages to American athletic powerhouses today, seeking answers to fundamental practical, economic, and political questions that provoke vigorous contemporary debate.

Who was Jesus of Nazareth, and how do we know about him? Why did some interpretations of truth -- and his message -- win out over others? How have these particular ways of thinking influenced western culture, shaping our views of politics, race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, civil and human rights even now? To answer questions like these, we'll investigate the earliest gospels, letters, Jewish and Roman sources, prison diaries and martyr accounts -- as well as how artists, filmmakers, musicians and theologians interpret them. Regardless of religious background, or none, you will learn a lot, and be able to contribute.