Class Expectations
CLAS 1110 is described on the Brooklyn College Department of Classics website as follows:
"Introductory study of ancient cultures through close reading of a variety of texts; most sections will focus on Greece and Rome, but some may explore other classical traditions such as those of India, Mesopotamia, or China. Attention to such questions as literary genre, material and performance contexts, gender, political institutions, religion, philosophy, models of culture, and the creation of a classical tradition. Practice in close reading and communication by means of critical writing, class discussion, and such other methods such as collaborative group work. Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core World Cultures and Global Issues requirement. (Not open to students who are enrolled in or have completed CORC 1110)."
The specific theme for our section is POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY.
I would like to consider some of the following key words in this description to give you a sense of what this course is about:
1. Introductory. This course is best taken as early as possible in your college career. It introduces you not merely to the foundational texts of western culture, but also to philosophical, religious, political, and emotional "habits of thought" which have had resonance through two and three millennia. The survival and evolution of these ideas is what I would consider the foundations of the "Model of Culture" in the West.
2. Ancient. The basic time-frame of our course is approximately 1200 BCE to approximately 100 CE, Geographically, it begins with Troy (Çanakkale, in Turkey) and ends with Rome (the Battle of Actium, in western Greece, and the beginning of Augustus' rule) and with some examples of Roman literature of the Early Empire.
3. Cultures. The readings we consider exist largely in isolation to the other foundational texts of the other great cultures of the world. Outside of the influence of near eastern myths and historical reminiscences, some materials from Egypt and Persia, and later from Carthage, the culture which we see evolving from the Iliad through the Aeneid is something of a closed loop: self-referential without being narrowly exclusive.
4. Close reading. The work we do is to consider closely the exact words of ancient texts, as translated into English. Occasionally we will examine specimens of original language, and once in a while we shall look at contemporary artifacts of language (writings on pottery, bronze or stone).
5. Texts.The English versions which we read and discuss in class are usually contemporary. I have relied on works in the public domain because (i) they are accessible online free of charge, with only data transmission costs to be considered) and (ii) they can be reproduced
6. Greece and Rome. As discussed above, we are geographically focused here: the Ancient Mediterranean.
7. Literary genre.We will read epic poetry, lyric poetry, elegiac poetry, tragedy, comedy, satire, epistolography (letters), philosophical dialogue, and history.
8. Material and Performance Contexts. We will consider audience, audience response, transmissions of texts, intended readers, and intertextuality.
9. Gender. The questions of gender, gender identity, and sexuality are interwoven throughout our readings. Whenever I find that they connect to our central themes I will try to elucidate them; if you find interesting material which we have not dealt with in class, I invite you to write about it for extra credit.
10. Political Institutions. We will see the evolution of political thought in Greece: kingship, tyranny, aristocracy, democracy; the role of slavery; the question of citizenship, and the birth of "Realpolitik."
11. Religion. We will consider the evolution of Greco-Roman religion principally as it becomes a political and civic instituton.
12. Models of Culture. I hope to make a case that, among the Models of Culture that underpin the modern world, Classical Culture is a singular entity.
13. Classical Tradition. The cultural and thematic units we will treat are rooted in the Millennium after 1200 BCE, but we will look at art and literature (occasionally architecture) which derives from them. For fuller information about the Classical Tradition see Grafton and Most, The Classical Tradition (Harvard U Pr 2013).
14. Critical Writing. Each night, beginning with the Diagnostic Essay on Day 1 and skipping only a very few nights, you will be asked to write a reaction piece (by hand) in a blue booklet. Most often you will be given a text to read (or read the text as projected). You will write 1.5-2 pages of blue book. Each of these essays is counted as 2 points, and they cannot be made up. In your final grade these essays will, cumulatively, account for about 33 per cent of your grade. Midterm and Final will each count 33 per cent as well.
15. Class Discussion/ Collaborative Group Work. Because space and time in this class are both at a premium, there will be only a few opportunities to do group work in class. However I heartily encourage group reading and group studying for the Midterm and Final: the websites I will set up in preparation for the Midterm and Final lend themselves to group-work.
CLAS 1110 is described on the Brooklyn College Department of Classics website as follows:
"Introductory study of ancient cultures through close reading of a variety of texts; most sections will focus on Greece and Rome, but some may explore other classical traditions such as those of India, Mesopotamia, or China. Attention to such questions as literary genre, material and performance contexts, gender, political institutions, religion, philosophy, models of culture, and the creation of a classical tradition. Practice in close reading and communication by means of critical writing, class discussion, and such other methods such as collaborative group work. Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core World Cultures and Global Issues requirement. (Not open to students who are enrolled in or have completed CORC 1110)."
The specific theme for our section is POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY.
I would like to consider some of the following key words in this description to give you a sense of what this course is about:
1. Introductory. This course is best taken as early as possible in your college career. It introduces you not merely to the foundational texts of western culture, but also to philosophical, religious, political, and emotional "habits of thought" which have had resonance through two and three millennia. The survival and evolution of these ideas is what I would consider the foundations of the "Model of Culture" in the West.
2. Ancient. The basic time-frame of our course is approximately 1200 BCE to approximately 100 CE, Geographically, it begins with Troy (Çanakkale, in Turkey) and ends with Rome (the Battle of Actium, in western Greece, and the beginning of Augustus' rule) and with some examples of Roman literature of the Early Empire.
3. Cultures. The readings we consider exist largely in isolation to the other foundational texts of the other great cultures of the world. Outside of the influence of near eastern myths and historical reminiscences, some materials from Egypt and Persia, and later from Carthage, the culture which we see evolving from the Iliad through the Aeneid is something of a closed loop: self-referential without being narrowly exclusive.
4. Close reading. The work we do is to consider closely the exact words of ancient texts, as translated into English. Occasionally we will examine specimens of original language, and once in a while we shall look at contemporary artifacts of language (writings on pottery, bronze or stone).
5. Texts.The English versions which we read and discuss in class are usually contemporary. I have relied on works in the public domain because (i) they are accessible online free of charge, with only data transmission costs to be considered) and (ii) they can be reproduced
6. Greece and Rome. As discussed above, we are geographically focused here: the Ancient Mediterranean.
7. Literary genre.We will read epic poetry, lyric poetry, elegiac poetry, tragedy, comedy, satire, epistolography (letters), philosophical dialogue, and history.
8. Material and Performance Contexts. We will consider audience, audience response, transmissions of texts, intended readers, and intertextuality.
9. Gender. The questions of gender, gender identity, and sexuality are interwoven throughout our readings. Whenever I find that they connect to our central themes I will try to elucidate them; if you find interesting material which we have not dealt with in class, I invite you to write about it for extra credit.
10. Political Institutions. We will see the evolution of political thought in Greece: kingship, tyranny, aristocracy, democracy; the role of slavery; the question of citizenship, and the birth of "Realpolitik."
11. Religion. We will consider the evolution of Greco-Roman religion principally as it becomes a political and civic instituton.
12. Models of Culture. I hope to make a case that, among the Models of Culture that underpin the modern world, Classical Culture is a singular entity.
13. Classical Tradition. The cultural and thematic units we will treat are rooted in the Millennium after 1200 BCE, but we will look at art and literature (occasionally architecture) which derives from them. For fuller information about the Classical Tradition see Grafton and Most, The Classical Tradition (Harvard U Pr 2013).
14. Critical Writing. Each night, beginning with the Diagnostic Essay on Day 1 and skipping only a very few nights, you will be asked to write a reaction piece (by hand) in a blue booklet. Most often you will be given a text to read (or read the text as projected). You will write 1.5-2 pages of blue book. Each of these essays is counted as 2 points, and they cannot be made up. In your final grade these essays will, cumulatively, account for about 33 per cent of your grade. Midterm and Final will each count 33 per cent as well.
15. Class Discussion/ Collaborative Group Work. Because space and time in this class are both at a premium, there will be only a few opportunities to do group work in class. However I heartily encourage group reading and group studying for the Midterm and Final: the websites I will set up in preparation for the Midterm and Final lend themselves to group-work.
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