CLAS 101 E: Latin and Greek in Current Use

*For the complete syllabus including the grading scale and list of assignments, see the document 'CLAS 101 E Wi2019 Syllabus' uploaded under 'Files'*

CLAS 101 E — Latin and Greek In Current Use

Winter 2019, T/Th 8:30-9:20am, SAV 137

Instructor: Sarah Brucia Breitenfeld

Classics 101 has for many years been a popular 2-credit course option for students throughout UW.  The course is designed to improve and increase your English vocabulary through a study of the Latin and Greek elements in English, with emphasis on words in current literary and scientific use.  The Latin and Greek words and word roots learned in this course will help you better understand how many words in English have evolved, and will prepare you to continue expanding your English vocabulary well after the class is over.

More than that, the course examines the ever-changing relationship between language and ideas in order to better understand the continuing impact of classical Greece and Rome on modern culture. We explore topics such as Mythology (Who is Tantalus and why is he the root of the word tantalize?), Medicine (How has Hippocrates’s Theory of the Four Humors impacted modern medical practices such as blood-letting?), Politics (Why is the government of the United States partially based on that of the Roman Republic?), Philosophy (How was the theory of atomism first develop over 2,500 years ago in Archaic Greece?) and more. Classics 101 gives you a sense of the words, ideas, and stories that we have adopted from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and helps you identify and contextualize the classical influence you encounter every day.  Knowledge of Latin or Greek is not required.