CLAS 122 A: Gateway to the Ancient Greco-Roman World

This course provides an introduction to Greek and Roman ways of understanding and shaping the world. Art, architecture, literature, science, and religion, are used to examine ancient ideas about relationships between man and woman, free person and slave, native and foreigner, civilization and the natural world, mortal and divine. No prerequisites.

Requirements and Grading

In class activities and short writing exercises 10%

Exam 1:        30%     

Exam 2:        30%      

Final Exam:   30% 

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will demonstrate the ability to:

• recognize, describe and analyze major features of ancient Greek and Roman religious, cultural, and political life across a variety of social, economic, gender, and ethnic categories
• recognize, describe and analyze the operation of ideologies that shaped and constrained the experiences of individuals and groups in ancient Greek and Roman society
• recognize, describe and analyze the some important examples of the subsequent impact of ancient Greek and Roman ideologies

Required texts

• Course reader containing excerpts from ancient Greek and Roman literary texts.