Greek Tragedy in the 21st Century |
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Professor:
Lauren Curtis |
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Course Number: CLAS 119 |
CRN Number: 10107 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Tue Thurs 11:50 AM
- 1:10 PM Olin 204 |
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Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
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Crosslists: Human Rights; Theater and Performance |
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In ancient Athens, citizens gathered each year to use the
spectacle and storytelling of Greek tragedy to explore urgent contemporary
questions. How do we make good moral decisions? How do we deal with the
aftermath of war and displacement? Should we still put our faith in
traditional institutions? Centuries later, artists still adapt classical
tragedies in response to the issues of our own world. What makes Greek
tragedy such a resonant medium today? How have artists from the contemporary
USA, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa reimagined and reinvigorated
it? In this course, we will read a series of ancient Greek tragedies in dialogue
with modern adaptations by writers and producers such as Luis Alfaro, Yaël
Farber, Sara Uribe Sánchez and Itab Azzam, and collectives including the
Trojan Women Project, Aquila Theater, and Theater of War. In addition to
their critical work, students will attend public performances of Greek
tragedy and have the opportunity to create their own adaptation. This course
is part of Bard's Center for Ethics and Writing. All readings are English,
and no background knowledge is required. |
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The Roman World: An Introduction |
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Professor:
David Ungvary |
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Course Number: CLAS 122 |
CRN Number: 10108 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Mon Wed
11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Reem
Kayden Center 103 |
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Distributional Area: |
HA Historical
Analysis |
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Crosslists: Historical Studies |
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How did a small village in Italy become the center of one
of the largest empires in the ancient world? What did it mean to be “Roman” in
a multicultural empire that stretched, at its height, from the Atlantic coast
of Europe and north Africa to Albania, Egypt and Iraq? This course will give
you a broad overview of Roman history. It will also use a series of focused
case studies, based on close analysis of ancient evidence such as coins,
visual culture, and literary documents, to explore how Romans from all walks
of life shaped and were shaped by the society they lived in. This course is
open to all students and has no prerequisites. Assignments will involve short
writing responses, quizzes, and a final project. |
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Ancient Egypt: From the Pyramids to
the Ptolemies and Beyond |
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Professor:
Robert Cioffi |
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Course Number: CLAS 206 |
CRN Number: 10690 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Tue Thurs 1:30 PM
- 2:50 PM Olin Language Center 115 |
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Distributional Area: |
HA Historical
Analysis |
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Crosslists: Historical Studies; Middle Eastern
Studies |
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For more than three millennia, the Nile River Valley
supported one of the oldest, richest, and most venerable ancient
civilizations in the Mediterranean basin. A land of pharaohs and priests,
sphinxes and pyramids, Egypt was a source of gold and grain, the inventor of
one the world’s oldest writing systems, and home to a proud ideology of
self-governance and independence. In this course, we will discover ancient
Egyptian history, literature, religion, culture, and archaeology from its
origins to the pyramid builders of the Old Kingdom to the so-called classical
period of the Middle Kingdom to the pharaohs Akhenaten and Tutankhaten of the
New Kingdom to the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonian Greeks, and, finally,
Romans who ruled Egypt from the middle of the first millennium BCE until the
Byzantine period in the fourth century CE. The course will also investigate
how Egyptian history has been, is being, and will be written—from Manetho, a
bilingual priest working in the third century BCE, to the role of (largely)
European archaeologists and philologists in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, as well as the current state of excavation and scholarship in the
twenty-first century. Readings and materials to study will include: The
Shipwrecked Sailor, the Book of the Dead, Setne, Herodotus, Manetho, Egyptian
Apocalyptic Literature, and documentary texts; the sites of Memphis, Giza,
Amarna, Alexandria, and Hemopolis Magna. Course will be conducted in English;
no prior experience required. |
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Roman Religions: Paganism and
Christianity |
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Professor:
David Ungvary |
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Course Number: CLAS 328 |
CRN Number: 10109 |
Class
cap: 15 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Wed 3:30 PM
- 5:50 PM Olin 310 |
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Distributional Area: |
MBV Meaning, Being, Value |
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Crosslists: Latin; Medieval Studies; Study of
Religions |
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In the minds of ancient Romans, what separated Tartarus from
Hell, or Olympus from Heaven? What difference was there between a Vestal
Virgin and a Christian nun? What overlap existed between the power of Jupiter
and Jesus Christ? And how did belief in the latter eventually win out in the
Roman Empire? This is a course for students who want to explore the history
of ancient Roman religion, and to understand how its traditions, practices,
and structures were transformed by the rise of Christianity in the
Mediterranean world. At the center of our inquiry is the problem of “the
pagan”: a contested category of religious identity that was innovated upon by
early Christian thinkers. A focus on the construction of the pagan as a
“religious other” in antiquity will lead us to pursue broader questions about
the nature of cultural “conversion,” the creative possibilities of merging
distinct systems of faith, and the relationship between individual
spirituality and institutional religion. Readings from authors such as
Lucretius, Virgil, St. Paul, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustine will inform our
study. All texts will be available in English translation. The course is open
to all interested students. *Note: For students with advanced Latin, this
seminar will involve an additional weekly meeting (1 hour, time TBD) devoted
to reading texts in the original language. Students in the Latin reading
section will get credit for translation work in lieu of certain writing
requirements in the seminar.* |
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Ancient Literary Criticism |
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Professor:
Daniel Mendelsohn |
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Course Number: CLAS 329 |
CRN Number: 10110 |
Class
cap: 15 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Tue 12:30 PM
- 2:50 PM Olin 305 |
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Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
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Crosslists: Greek; Literature; Written Arts |
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From the Italian Renaissance on, classical scholars have
devoted themselves to understanding the literature of ancient Greece and
Rome. But what did the ancients have to say about their own literature? Quite
a lot, as it turns out—both indirectly and directly. Homer’s Odyssey quotes,
responds to, and often challenges his Iliad; Euripides’ Elektra parodies
Aeschylus’ Oresteia; Aristophanes wrote two comedies poking fun at Euripides.
Later, the terms of literary criticism as the genre we recognize today were
established by Plato, who focused on issues of the ethics of representation
and the role of the arts in culture and politics, and Aristotle, whose
Poetics examined formal elements such as plot, structure, and characterization.
Under the Romans, literary criticism written in both Greek and Latin
flourished: Demetrius’ On Style, Horace’s Art of Poetry, Longinus’ On the
Sublime examined both technical and aesthetic elements of writing. This
course will introduce students to a wide variety of readings from these and
other Greek and Latin authors. All readings will be available in English
translation. *Note: for students with advanced Greek, this seminar will
involve an additional weekly meeting devoted to reading texts in the original
language. Students who participate in the Greek reading section will be
exempted from certain writing requirements for the seminar, and may count the
course toward the Philology track of the Classical Studies major.* |
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Cross-listed
Courses:
Archaeology and Colonial Entanglements |
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Course
Number: ARTH 264 |
CRN Number: 10089 |
Class cap: 22 |
Credits:
4 |
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Professor: |
Anne Chen |
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Schedule/Location: |
Tue Thurs 11:50 AM
- 1:10 PM Olin 102 |
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Distributional Area: |
AA Analysis
of Art |
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Crosslists: |
Anthropology;
Classical Studies; Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies |
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Dura-Europos and the Problems of
Archaeological Archives |
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Course
Number: ARTH 318 |
CRN Number: 10098 |
Class cap: 15 |
Credits:
4 |
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Professor: |
Anne Chen |
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Schedule/Location: |
Wed 9:10 AM
- 11:30 AM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX |
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Distributional Area: |
AA Analysis
of Art |
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Crosslists: |
Classical
Studies; Experimental Humanities; Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies |
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Does Might Make Right? |
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Professor:
Thomas Bartscherer |
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Course Number: HR 346 OSU |
CRN Number: 10636 |
Class
cap: 15 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Tue 9:10 AM
- 11:30 AM OSUN Course |
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Distributional Area: |
MBV Meaning, Being, Value |
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|
Crosslists: Classical Studies; Literature |
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Introduction to Philosophy: Slavery |
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Course
Number: PHIL 129 |
CRN Number: 10208 |
Class cap: 22 |
Credits:
4 |
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Professor: |
Jay Elliott |
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Schedule/Location: |
Mon Wed 8:30 AM
- 9:50 AM Olin 203 |
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Distributional Area: |
MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice |
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Crosslists: |
Africana
Studies; Classical Studies; Human Rights |
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Classical Languages: Greek
Interested in beginning Latin or Ancient Greek
from scratch? Latin 101 and Greek 101 are offered every fall. Please contact
program director Lauren Curtis, lcurtis@bard.edu with any questions!
Beginning Greek II |
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Professor:
Tyler Archer |
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Course Number: GRE 102 |
CRN Number: 10118 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
Mon Tue Wed Thurs 10:10 AM
- 11:10 AM Hegeman 200 |
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Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
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Crosslists: Classical Studies |
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This course, the second semester of the introductory
Ancient Greek sequence, is designed to build on the foundations of Greek 101.
Regular grammatical exercises and drills will be combined with an emphasis on
developing skills for translating, reading, and interpreting Greek
literature, with longer passages from classical authors as the semester
continues. Prerequisite: Greek 101 or equivalent with the permission of the
instructor (tarcher@bard.edu). |
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Readings in Greek Literature |
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Professor:
Lauren Curtis |
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Course Number: GRE 202 |
CRN Number: 10119 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
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Schedule/Location: |
-
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Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
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|
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We will immerse ourselves in reading original Greek texts
(selection to be determined closer to the time based on student interest and
experience) while continuing to solidify grammar, vocabulary, and reading skills.
This course is a continuation of Greek 201. Twice-weekly time to be
arranged with the instructor. |
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Ancient Literary Criticism |
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|
Professor:
Daniel Mendelsohn |
||||
|
Course Number: CLAS 329 |
CRN Number: 10110 |
Class
cap: 15 |
Credits: 4 |
|
|
Schedule/Location: |
Tue 12:30 PM
- 2:50 PM Olin 305 |
|||
|
Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
|||
|
Crosslists: Greek; Literature; Written Arts |
||||
From the Italian Renaissance on, classical scholars have
devoted themselves to understanding the literature of ancient Greece and
Rome. But what did the ancients have to say about their own literature? Quite
a lot, as it turns out—both indirectly and directly. Homer’s Odyssey quotes,
responds to, and often challenges his Iliad; Euripides’ Elektra parodies
Aeschylus’ Oresteia; Aristophanes wrote two comedies poking fun at Euripides.
Later, the terms of literary criticism as the genre we recognize today were established
by Plato, who focused on issues of the ethics of representation and the role
of the arts in culture and politics, and Aristotle, whose Poetics examined
formal elements such as plot, structure, and characterization. Under the
Romans, literary criticism written in both Greek and Latin flourished:
Demetrius’ On Style, Horace’s Art of Poetry, Longinus’ On the Sublime
examined both technical and aesthetic elements of writing. This course will
introduce students to a wide variety of readings from these and other Greek
and Latin authors. All readings will be available in English translation.
*Note: for students with advanced Greek, this seminar will involve an
additional weekly meeting devoted to reading texts in the original language.
Students who participate in the Greek reading section will be exempted from
certain writing requirements for the seminar, and may count the course toward
the Philology track of the Classical Studies major.* |
|||||
Classical Languages: Latin
Interested in beginning Latin or Ancient Greek
from scratch? Latin 101 and Greek 101 are offered every fall. Please
contact program director Lauren Curtis, lcurtis@bard.edu with any questions!
Beginning Latin II |
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|
Professor:
Robert Cioffi |
||||
|
Course Number: LAT 102 |
CRN Number: 10128 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
|
|
Schedule/Location: |
Mon Tue Wed Thurs 10:10 AM
- 11:10 AM Olin 303 |
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|
Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
|||
|
|
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This is the continuation of Latin 101, an introduction to
the Latin language. Spoken and written for many centuries, first at Rome and
then across the Roman Empire from Britain to Syria, Latin has shaped the
history of English and many other living languages today. In this second
semester of a two-semester sequence, you will learn classical Latin using new
course materials specially designed by Bard faculty. They combine engaging
introductory texts with selections of original Latin written by a diverse
array of Romans, including women, enslaved people, and literary authors such
as Cicero, Ovid, and St Augustine. A focus on reading comprehension and
grammar is combined with an emphasis on understanding the Latin language
within its cultural and historical contexts. By the end of the full-year
sequence, you will have learned the fundamentals of Latin and will be ready
to read original texts in full. This course is for students who have taken
Latin 101 in the Fall. Latin 101 is offered every Fall. If you have questions
about beginning Latin, please contact Prof. Curtis, lcurtis@bard.edu. |
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Intermediate Latin: Writing the World in
the Roman Empire |
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|
Professor:
Lauren Curtis |
||||
|
Course Number: LAT 202 |
CRN Number: 10129 |
Class
cap: 22 |
Credits: 4 |
|
|
Schedule/Location: |
Tue Thurs 10:10 AM
- 11:30 AM Olin 302 |
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Distributional Area: |
FL Foreign
Languages and Lit |
|||
|
|
||||
This course, designed for students reading original Latin
at the intermediate level (i.e. who have taken Latin 101-102 or equivalent elsewhere),
is an introduction to the literature of the Roman empire. As Rome’s power
grew in the Mediterranean world and beyond, so did knowledge and curiosity
about that world – its origins and natural wonders, as well as the place of
humans. Reading selections from two very different works – Ovid’s epic poem,
Metamorphoses, and Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, a landmark in the
history of science – the course will combine Latin grammar review with an
emphasis on developing reading fluency in both poetry and prose, and on
situating these works in their cultural, artistic, and historical contexts.
Students with high-school Latin are welcome to enroll and should consult with
Prof. Curtis, lcurtis@bard.edu. |
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Roman Religions: Paganism and Christianity |
|||||
|
Professor:
David Ungvary |
||||
|
Course Number: CLAS 328 |
CRN Number: 10109 |
Class
cap: 15 |
Credits: 4 |
|
|
Schedule/Location: |
Wed 3:30 PM
- 5:50 PM Olin 310 |
|||
|
Distributional Area: |
MBV Meaning, Being, Value |
|||
|
Crosslists: Latin; Medieval Studies; Study of
Religions |
||||
In the minds of ancient Romans, what separated Tartarus
from Hell, or Olympus from Heaven? What difference was there between a Vestal
Virgin and a Christian nun? What overlap existed between the power of Jupiter
and Jesus Christ? And how did belief in the latter eventually win out in the
Roman Empire? This is a course for students who want to explore the history
of ancient Roman religion, and to understand how its traditions, practices,
and structures were transformed by the rise of Christianity in the
Mediterranean world. At the center of our inquiry is the problem of “the
pagan”: a contested category of religious identity that was innovated upon by
early Christian thinkers. A focus on the construction of the pagan as a
“religious other” in antiquity will lead us to pursue broader questions about
the nature of cultural “conversion,” the creative possibilities of merging
distinct systems of faith, and the relationship between individual
spirituality and institutional religion. Readings from authors such as
Lucretius, Virgil, St. Paul, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustine will inform our
study. All texts will be available in English translation. The course is open
to all interested students. *Note: For students with advanced Latin, this
seminar will involve an additional weekly meeting (1 hour, time TBD) devoted
to reading texts in the original language. Students in the Latin reading
section will get credit for translation work in lieu of certain writing
requirements in the seminar.* |
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