GREEK 300 A: Introductory Greek, Accelerated

GREEK 300 A Summer 2022: Introductory Greek, Accelerated

Mon-Fri 8:30-10:40 AM, on Zoom

Instructor: Joseph Bringman

Email: bringj@uw.edu

Office Hours (via Zoom): Wednesdays 3:00-4:00 PM or by appointment

Course Coördinator: Prof. James Clauss (jjc@uw.edu)

Welcome to ancient Greece! First year Greek courses give you direct access to the thoughts and writings of the ancient Greeks and allows you to explore the dynamic and often dangerous cultural, social and political world in which they wrote. In Accelerated Greek 300, we will cover Lessons 1 – 26 of From Alpha to Omega. You will learn to write the Greek alphabet, to recognize and form Greek nouns and verbs, and to translate sentences and short paragraphs in classical Greek. Through daily activities, you will encounter Greek as a literary language, its philosophy, its poetry, its history, its drama, and more.

The UW Department of Classics Summer intensive first year ancient Greek program covers a whole year of introductory ancient Greek and consists of two courses: Greek 300 followed by Greek 103. Completion of Greek 103 with a grade of 2.0 fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement. If you are not using ancient Greek to complete the foreign language proficiency requirement, Greek 300 and Greek 103 can each count for VLPA.

Course Goals:

• Students will gain increased familiarity with the Greek alphabet, demonstrated by handwritten Greek on homework assignments.
• Students will gain an understanding of the material covered in Lessons 1 – 26 of From Alpha to Omega, demonstrated by their performance on weekly assessments.
• Students will gain increased reading comprehension of classical Greek, demonstrated by their performance on the final translation project.

By completing the first-year sequence through Greek 103 you equip yourself to read any Greek author. In our second-year courses (305, 306, 307) students typically have read selections of Xenophon (305), Plato (306), and Homer (307). Our upper division courses offer a rotating selection of authors from the Archaic (Greek 461), the Classical (Greek 462), and the Hellenistic (Greek 463) periods (as the subject matter rotates, Greek 461-2-3 can be repeated for credit).

Attic black-figure hydria from ca. 520 BC depicting women filling their hydriai with water collected at a fountain house. 

Required readings:

• Textbook: From Alpha to Omega: A Beginning Course in Classical Greek (4^thEdition) by Anne Groton.This book explains classical Greek grammar and syntax, contains short readings from ancient Greek authors and many practice exercises. NOTE: only the 4^th edition should be used.
• 46 Stories in Classical Greek by Anne Groton and James M. May. This book contains adapted selections from ancient Greek authors. 
• Free on-line Greek dictionary: http://logeion.uchicago.edu/.

Class Policies

Our class will meet via Zoom at the scheduled time.  These Zoom sessions will be recorded and subsequently posted on Canvas.  If you are unable to attend class during our Zoom session, you will want to follow along by watching our recorded Zoom meetings and/or using the Powerpoints uploaded under Files.

I cannot discuss grades during class or via e-mail due to university policy, but only during office hours and by appointment.  If a student has questions regarding assessments, homework or any other matter, I will be more than happy to discuss that during office hours via Zoom.  All email correspondence should be polite, professional and should include GREEK 300 in the subject line.

Grade Scale

Grading:

Grades will be calculated on the basis of the following percentages:

Course Policies:

For each chapter of From Alpha to Omega students will be responsible for learning new forms (verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.), memorizing the list of vocabulary in the chapter, and translating from Greek into English and from English into Greek. Supplementary work will involve translation and discussion of classical myths and Greek history.

All assessments and the final project are cumulative. They will include vocabulary, passages for translation, grammatical analysis, and literary and cultural commentary.

Homework:  There will be daily homework assignments, drawn from From Alpha to Omega.   You will submit the homework on Canvas before class on the day they are due.  On the Monday of each week, I will further ask students to take a picture of a specific homework assignment from the previous week (Mon-Fri), and to upload it with their corrections to Canvas.  These homework assignments will be graded on completion, with particular attention paid to the following:

• Did the student recopy all assigned exercised in Greek onto the page? I want to see you writing in the Greek alphabet.
• Did the student attempt to complete all the assigned exercises? I want to make sure you are getting practice translating.
• Weekly Homework Corrections: Did the student correct any mistakes made on the first attempt? I want to see that you are learning from early mistakes.  NOTE: Please use a different color pen or pencil for in-class corrections.

In addition to the homework exercises, I will also ask you to upload scans of whatever vocabulary study material (e.g., flashcards, vocab lists, etc.) you are using so that I can know you are keeping up with the vocabulary.  Like the translation exercises, these should be handwritten in Greek and will be graded on completion.

Weekly Assessments: These Assessments will test the skills that we introduced and practiced this week, as well as the weekly readings and the grammar review. They will become available every week under Quizzes on Friday immediately after class and are due on Saturday at 5pm.

• Each assessment is worth 10% of your grade.
• You may use your textbook and class notes, but no other resources. (Do not be led astray by searching the internet!)
• The aim of these assessments is to help keep you focused and motivated to practice and master the weekly material.

Final Project: This will be an open book translation of a short Greek passage.  It will be due on July 20^th at 5 PM, to be submitted on Canvas under Assignments.  The aim of this project is to give you practice translating from Greek into English.  More details for this will be distributed in the coming weeks.

Recording Pledge: In order to make this course accessible, I have agreed to have my class recorded and uploaded to the Zoom Cloud.  Please note that by participating in class, you too will be recorded for that time.  It is important to me that these recordings are not shared or distributed to anyone not in this class for any reason. I will ask you to sign a pledge promising not to use the recordings for any reason other than your own personal learning on the first Weekly Assessment.

Email Etiquette: You can reach me at bringj@uw.edu on weekdays from 8am-5pm. I will do my best to answer as promptly as possible, but please be aware that it may take me up to 24 hours to respond. Please keep in mind that our e-mail correspondence is a public record according to RCW 42.56, the Washington State Public Records Act, and I have the right to share it with my supervisor or other authorities if I think it is necessary (more information at this link.).

How to Succeed in This Class:

• Daily practice: As with any language, the single most important thing you can do is practice daily. This includes practicing the Greek alphabet and script, memorization of vocabulary and forms, and translation. Every little bit counts!
• Attend class daily: This is probably the best thing you can do to succeed in this or any class.
• Complete assigned exercises by the date listed on the syllabus.
• Attempt all assigned exercises, even if – especially if – you are unsure of you answers, and bring questions to class. This ensures that you have the instructor’s help while the material is fresh in your mind.
• Make mistakes! Learning a new language is a messy process; embrace your mistakes and accept them as part of the journey.

*I reserve the right to modify the syllabus at any time*

ACADEMIC SUPPORT 

Disability Resources:

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

Learning Support:

• Access and Accommodations: Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me so we can discuss your needs in this course.
• UW Academic Support: http://depts.washington.edu/aspuw/more/campus-resources/ Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

UW Counseling Center: http://www.washington.edu/counseling/ 

Student conduct:

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution. More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/

Academic Integrity: University of Washington students are expected to practice high standards of academic and professional honesty and integrity as outlined here: http://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf

Religious accommodations

“Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/) (Links to an external site.). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/) (Links to an external site.).”