Courses for Spring 2025

Title Instructors Location Time Description Cross listings Fulfills Registration notes Syllabus Syllabus URL
ANCH 0102-401 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
Daniel Qin
Phoebe Jane Thompson
ARCH 208 MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102401, HIST0721401 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
ANCH 0102-402 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
WILL 24 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102402, HIST0721402 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 0102-403 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
DRLB 2N36 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102403, HIST0721403 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
ANCH 0102-404 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Daniel Qin
WILL 27 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102404, HIST0721404 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 0102-405 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Daniel Qin
COHN 493 F 1:45 PM-2:44 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102405, HIST0721405 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 0102-406 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Phoebe Jane Thompson
WILL 27 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102406, HIST0721406 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
ANCH 0102-407 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
DRLB 2N36 F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102407, HIST0721407 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 0102-408 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Phoebe Jane Thompson
COHN 237 F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102408, HIST0721408 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 0102-409 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
COHN 203 F 1:45 PM-2:44 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. CLST0102409, HIST0721409 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
ANCH 1205-401 Race and Ethnicity in the Ancient World Kate Meng Brassel DRLB 3N6 TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Modern political and artistic movements often appeal to an ancient past in order to construct their own social and racial identities. But how did ancient peoples understand themselves and others? How should we understand race and ethnicity in the ancient past? And how are perceptions of the past used today to construct or dismantle structures of power? This course explores both ancient and modern representations of race and ethnicity in antiquity. We will investigate both how ancient peoples around or near the Mediterranean (e.g. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Persians, and Nubians) understood difference and also how modern eras have appropriated ancient identities. Our dialogues will include ancient ethnographies, literature, and visual arts as well as modern theories and media, with an emphasis on active learning and collaboration. Students will be encouraged to produce both analytical and creative responses to our materials. CLST1205401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=ANCH1205401
ANCH 1305-401 Art and Architecture in Ancient Egypt Valentina Anselmi WILL 218 MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM This course will be an introduction to the art, architecture and minor arts that were produced during the three thousand years of ancient Egyptian history. This material will be presented in its cultural and historical contexts through illustrated lectures and will include visits to the collection of the University Museum. ARTH2180401, MELC0210401 Cross Cultural Analysis
ANCH 3104-401 Greek World After Alexander the Great Jeremy James Mcinerney MCNB 150 TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM This class is designed as a detailed investigation of the world created by Alexander the Great. We will cover the three hundred year period known as the Hellenistic Age from the career of Alexander the Great (354-323 BC) until the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). This was a period during which the world of the Greeks underwent extraordinary and far-reaching changes, as Greek culture was established as far afield as northwestern India, central Asia and Egypt. In the same period kingdoms controlled by Alexanders's Successors used Greek culture to define their rule, establishing a Greek culture of the elite in regions which previously had been dominated by the Persians. As Greek and non-Greek worlds collided, a new interpretation of Greek culture emerged, giving rise, among other things, to universities and professional schools, state subsidized health care, triumphalist architecture, the heroization of the noble savage, coinage with royal portraits, the deification of men and a multitude of other social, artistic and political forms familiar to us. It was an age of radical change, dislocation, as Greek populations colonized regions previously unkown to them. CLST3104401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=ANCH3104401
ANCH 6103-301 Problems in Roman History: Roman Empire Campbell A. Grey COHN 493 M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This course will explore some of the pressing and problematic scholarly debates in the historiography of the Roman imperial period, from the accession of the first emperor, Augustus, to the reign of Justinian (ruled 527-363 CE). Students will gain a familiarity with both the broad historical narratives of the Roman empire and the details of specific scholarly disagreements in the intellectual, political, socio-economic, and cultural history of the period.
ANCH 7208-401 Biographical Approaches to Antiquity Julia L Wilker COHN 203 R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Biographical approaches, long used and despised as a genre that reduces history to the actions of a few protagonists, have been fruitfully repurposed in recent scholarship. Rather than focusing the historical analysis on the usual suspects (from emperors to canonical authors), recent applications of biographical approaches have deliberately decentered the narrative, employed the perspective of those whose position has been marginalized, and revealed influences and patterns that otherwise would remain unnoticed. This course will explore the potential, variations, and pitfalls of approaches that focus on individuals, from biographies that follow a traditional format yet have shaped the field of ancient studies to approaches such as microhistory, group and collective biographies, prosopographical studies, and social network analysis. Using examples from the Hellenistic period to the High Empire, we will discuss methods for reconstructing an individual life despite the general scarcity of sources, how such an approach can transform our understanding of the respective cultural, political, and social circumstances, and what insights into the broader historical processes and dynamics such a focus offers or obscures. CLST7208401
ANCH 7409-401 Roman Art and Artifact: Age of Augustus Ann L Kuttner VANP 302 W 12:00 PM-2:59 PM This seminar series explores many media and kinds of Roman private and public things, images and monuments (and, sometimes, ancient texts about them) in a range of physical and cultural settings, through an interdisciplinary lens. Special topics range between ca. 400 BCE and 800 CE, from the Hellenistic/ Republican age into the Empire and Late Antiquity, using multiple methodological and theoretical approaches to explore the global Mediterranean world, and its interaction with its neighbors in space and time. Modern archaeologies and the museum institution receive critique. The query "what is Roman about Roman art" continually recurs. AAMW7265401, ARTH7260401, CLST7409401
ANCH 9000-401 Dissertation Prospectus Workshop Joseph A Farrell Jr COHN 237 T 8:30 AM-11:29 AM Designed to prepare graduates in any aspect of study in the ancient world to prepare for the dissertation prospectus. Course will be centered around individual presentations and group critique of prospectus' in process, as well the fundamentals of large-project research design and presentation. CLST9000401
CLST 0021-301 Percy Jackson and Friends: Ancient Greece and Rome in Children's and Young Adult Culture Sheila H Murnaghan COHN 493 TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Most modern people first encounter the ancient world, not in the classroom, but in early pleasure reading and other forms of play, whether in myth collections like D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths or fantasies like the Percy Jackson series or video games like Apotheon. This seminar will examine the presence of classical myth and ancient history in young people's culture from the nineteenth century, when classical myth was turned into children's literature by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Kingsley, to the present day, both in traditional literary forms and in newer media such as cartoons, video games, and fan fiction. Topics to be considered include: how stories not originally intended for children have been made suitable for child audiences; the construction of ancient counterparts for modern children; what kinds of children - in terms of class, race, and gender - adult authors envision as the natural audience for classical material and what they hope those children will get out of it; the ways in which young people have claimed that same material and made it their own; and the role of mythical figures in the development of modern identities. Along with the material that we read and discuss together, each student will have the opportunity to present and write about a classically-inspired work for children or young adults that is of particular interest to them. Arts & Letters Sector https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST0021301
CLST 0023-301 Off the Beaten Track: Travelling and Writing in the Ancient and Modern Worlds Jeremy James Mcinerney CANCELED In this class we will read a broad selection of travel narratives, from Herodotus to Ibn Battuta and from the Jesuit Relations describing New France up to the 20th century writers such as Lawrence Durrell, Robyn Davidson and Rory Stewart. Our focus will be on exploring how travel and travel writing create exotic cultures. The journey also becomes a discovery of self by an encounter with the Other. In the process, entire worlds of wonder open up for the viewer. How material is selected for recording reflects the priorities, anxieties and worldview of the writer, reflecting travel's ability to focus our attention and stimulate thoughtful reflection. https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST0023301
CLST 0102-401 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
Daniel Qin
Phoebe Jane Thompson
ARCH 208 MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102401, HIST0721401 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 0102-402 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
WILL 24 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102402, HIST0721402 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 0102-403 Ancient Rome Grant Gerald Bruner
Campbell A. Grey
DRLB 2N36 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102403, HIST0721403 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 0102-404 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Daniel Qin
WILL 27 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102404, HIST0721404 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 0102-405 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Daniel Qin
COHN 493 F 1:45 PM-2:44 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102405, HIST0721405 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 0102-406 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Phoebe Jane Thompson
WILL 27 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102406, HIST0721406 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 0102-407 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
DRLB 2N36 F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102407, HIST0721407 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 0102-408 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Phoebe Jane Thompson
COHN 237 F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102408, HIST0721408 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 0102-409 Ancient Rome Campbell A. Grey
Louis James Polcin
COHN 203 F 1:45 PM-2:44 PM At its furthest extent during the second century CE, the Roman Empire was truly a "world empire", stretching from northern Britain to North Africa and Egypt, encompassing the whole of Asia Minor, and bordering the Danube in its route from the Black Forest region of Germany to the Black Sea. But in its earliest history it comprised a few small hamlets on a collection of hills adjacent to the Tiber river in central Italy. Over a period of nearly 1500 years, the Roman state transformed from a mythical Kingdom to a Republic dominated by a heterogeneous, competitive aristocracy to an Empire ruled, at least notionally, by one man. It developed complex legal and administrative structures, supported a sophisticated and highly successful military machine, and sustained elaborate systems of economic production and exchange. It was, above all, a society characterized both by a willingness to include newly conquered peoples in the project of empire, and by fundamental, deep-seated practices of social exclusion and domination. This course focuses in particular upon the history of the Roman state between the fifth century BCE and the third century CE, exploring its religious and cultural practices, political, social and economic structures. It also scrutinizes the fundamental tensions and enduring conflicts that characterized this society throughout this 800-year period. ANCH0102409, HIST0721409 Cross Cultural Analysis
History & Tradition Sector
CLST 1201-001 The Ancient Economy Kimberly Diane Bowes
Jeremy James Mcinerney
VANP 113 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This class presents an introduction to economies before economics, a study of economic activity in the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Greece and Rome have been called some of the first "global" economies - they engaged in long-distance trade, introduced the first coinage systems, and built and manufactured at large scales. At the same time, they remained agrarian societies, with majority peasant populations, high levels of inequality and social systems that often placed social capital ahead of profit. Using textual sources, archaeology and techniques from the natural and social sciences, this class will not only look at basic elements of economic activity in the ancient world - demographics, trade, monetization, industry - but also ask critical questions about how - or if -modern economic methods can be applied to the distant past. No previous knowledge of the ancient world or economics is necessary. Humanties & Social Science Sector https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST1201001
CLST 1205-401 Race and Ethnicity in the Ancient World Kate Meng Brassel DRLB 3N6 TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Modern political and artistic movements often appeal to an ancient past in order to construct their own social and racial identities. But how did ancient peoples understand themselves and others? How should we understand race and ethnicity in the ancient past? And how are perceptions of the past used today to construct or dismantle structures of power? This course explores both ancient and modern representations of race and ethnicity in antiquity. We will investigate both how ancient peoples around or near the Mediterranean (e.g. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Persians, and Nubians) understood difference and also how modern eras have appropriated ancient identities. Our dialogues will include ancient ethnographies, literature, and visual arts as well as modern theories and media, with an emphasis on active learning and collaboration. Students will be encouraged to produce both analytical and creative responses to our materials. ANCH1205401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST1205401
CLST 1208-301 Ancient Women's Voices from Homer to Hadestown Jordan Carrick COHN 204 T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM “We may call Eurydice forth from the world of the dead, but we cannot make her answer.” Such is the challenge, as described by Margaret Atwood, that faces a scholar of historically marginalized groups. Most of our knowledge about the lives of ancient Greek and Roman women comes from male sources, from which we imagine a female perspective. But what about when these figures have speaking roles? Are they still voiceless? This course provides an introductory survey of ancient Greek and Roman literary and dramatic texts which feature women as voiced (speaking) subjects. Readings will include excerpts in translation from Homeric epic, tragedy, Greek and Roman comedy, Vergil’s Aeneid, and Ovid. We will also consider the poetry of two ancient women, Sulpicia and Sappho. Can we assume that they represent more authentic experiences? Are these voices just as artificial and literary as their male-authored counterparts? We will also consider modern reimaginings of ancient women’s voices which offer new ways to reclaim, reframe, and problematize the "Classical" canon; these texts include Madeline Miller’s “Circe”, Nina Maclaughlin’s “Wake, Siren”, and the musical “Hadestown”. As we consider the voices of ancient figures, students will have the opportunity to develop their own through various critical speaking assignments. This course is offered as a Communication Within the Curriculum seminar, and no prior knowledge is required.
CLST 1303-401 The Material Past in a Digital World Jason Herrmann MUSE 190 TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM The material remains of the human past -objects and spaces- provide tangible evidence of past people's lives. Today's information technologies improve our ability to document, study, and present these materials. But what does it mean to deal with material evidence in a virtual context? In this class, students will learn basic digital methods for studying the past while working with objects, including those in the collections of the Penn Museum. This class will teach relational database design and 3D object modeling. As we learn about acquiring and managing data, we will gain valuable experience in the evaluation and use of digital tools. The digital humanities are a platform both for learning the basic digital literacy students need to succeed in today's world and for discussing the human consequences of these new technologies and data. We will discuss information technology's impact on the study and presentation of the past, including topics such as public participation in archaeological projects, educational technologies in museum galleries, and the issues raised by digitizing and disseminating historic texts and objects. Finally, we will touch on technology's role in the preservation of the past in today's turbulent world. No prior technical experience is required, but we hope students will share an enthusiasm for the past. ANTH1303401, ARTH0127401, HIST0871401 Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 1500-401 Greek & Roman Mythology Jesse Hover Amar
Gwyneth Marion Fletcher
Julieta Vittore Dutto
Emily Wilson
MCNB 286-7 MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500401 Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST1500401
CLST 1500-402 Greek & Roman Mythology Gwyneth Marion Fletcher
Emily Wilson
MCNB 582 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500402 Arts & Letters Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 1500-403 Greek & Roman Mythology Jesse Hover Amar
Emily Wilson
MCNB 582 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500403 Arts & Letters Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 1500-404 Greek & Roman Mythology Jesse Hover Amar
Emily Wilson
WILL 217 R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500404 Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
CLST 1500-405 Greek & Roman Mythology Julieta Vittore Dutto
Emily Wilson
MCNB 395 F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500405 Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
CLST 1500-406 Greek & Roman Mythology Julieta Vittore Dutto
Emily Wilson
WILL 23 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500406 Arts & Letters Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 1500-407 Greek & Roman Mythology Gwyneth Marion Fletcher
Emily Wilson
WILL 5 F 1:45 PM-2:44 PM Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? We investigate these questions through a variety of topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion and family, sex, love, madness, and death. COML1500407 Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
CLST 1501-601 Ancient Greek Philosophy Paul A Musso COHN 392 W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, literature, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy as a discipline in the Western tradition, looking to thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will examine how natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus distinguished their inquiries from the teachings of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; how ancient atomism had its origins in a response to Parmenides' challenge to the assumption that things change in the world; how Socrates reoriented the focus of philosophy away from the natural world and toward the fundamental ethical question, how shall I live? We will also examine how his pupil, Plato, and subsequently Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems that address the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. Finally, we will examine the ways in which later thinkers such as the Epicureans and Stoics transformed and extended the earlier tradition. PHIL1110601 History & Tradition Sector
CLST 1601-401 Ancient Drama Nathaniel F Solley COLL 319 TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM This course will introduce students to some of the greatest works of dramatic literature in the western canon. We will consider the social, political, religious and artistic functions of drama in ancient Greece and Rome, and discuss both differences and similarities between ancient drama and modern art forms. The course will also pursue some broader goals: to improve students skills as readers and scholarly critics of literature, both ancient and modern; to observe the implications of form for meaning, in considering, especially, the differences between dramatic and non-dramatic kinds of cultural production: to help students understand the relationship of ancient Greek and Roman culture to the modern world; and to encourage thought about some big issues, in life as well as in literature: death, heroism, society, action and meaning. COML1601401 Arts & Letters Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
CLST 1700-401 Classical Traditions Alison C Traweek COLL 219 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM A broad consideration of the ways in which writers and artists from the early modern era to the present day have responded to the classical tradition, borrowing from, imitating, questioning, and challenging their classical predecessors. Through modern reworkings of ancient epic, tragedy, biography, and lyric by authors ranging from Shakespeare and Racine to contemporary poets, painters, and filmmakers, we will ask what the terms "classical" and "tradition" might mean and will track the continuities and differences between antiquity and the modern world. Should we see ancient Greek and Roman culture as an inheritance, a valuable source of wealth bequeathed to the modern age? Or is there something wrong with that picture? How do ancient texts have to be adapted and transformed if they are to speak to modern conditions and concerns? This is an introductory-level course open to anyone who cares about the relationship between the present and the past. ENGL1009401 Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
CLST 3104-401 Greek World After Alexander the Great Jeremy James Mcinerney MCNB 150 TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM This class is designed as a detailed investigation of the world created by Alexander the Great. We will cover the three hundred year period known as the Hellenistic Age from the career of Alexander the Great (354-323 BC) until the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). This was a period during which the world of the Greeks underwent extraordinary and far-reaching changes, as Greek culture was established as far afield as northwestern India, central Asia and Egypt. In the same period kingdoms controlled by Alexanders's Successors used Greek culture to define their rule, establishing a Greek culture of the elite in regions which previously had been dominated by the Persians. As Greek and non-Greek worlds collided, a new interpretation of Greek culture emerged, giving rise, among other things, to universities and professional schools, state subsidized health care, triumphalist architecture, the heroization of the noble savage, coinage with royal portraits, the deification of men and a multitude of other social, artistic and political forms familiar to us. It was an age of radical change, dislocation, as Greek populations colonized regions previously unkown to them. ANCH3104401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST3104401
CLST 3211-401 Ancient Greek Colonies Thomas F. Tartaron COHN 203 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This seminar examines the archaeology of Greek colonization from the Late Bronze Age to ca. 500 B.C. These colonies were highly diverse in their motivations, physical settings, and political and social structures, as well as in their relationships with mother cities and the new worlds they inhabited. Emphasis is placed on the colonial experience as a cross-cultural and negotiated process; several streams of the changing theoretical and conceptual approaches to Greek colonization are explored. In addition to archaeological and epigraphic evidence, literary and historical traditions are examined. Colonies from the southern Balkan peninsula, Black Sea, Ionia, northern Africa, and Magna Graecia will be the focus of reading and reports. AAMW5191401, CLST5211401
CLST 3303-401 Living World in Archaeological Science Katherine M Moore
Chantel E. White
MUSE 190 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM By focusing on the scientific analysis of archaeological remains from organic materials, this course will explore life and death in the past. Plant and animal remains from the archaeological record are studied from a variety of scales from landscapes and individual objects. The course uses laboratories in the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) at the Penn Museum. Each module will combine laboratory and classroom exercises to give students hands-on experience with archaeological materials. We will examine how organic materials provide key information about past environments, the domestication of plants and animals, and the evolution of human foods and their environmental impacts. We will integrate archaeological data through discussions of topics such as health and disease, inequality, and traditional ecological knowledge. We will also discuss current approaches in archaeological science, including molecular and genomic studies, to explore the complex ways in which humans have interacted with plants and animals over time. ANTH2267401, ANTH5267401, CLST5303401, MELC2950401
CLST 3314-401 Mining Archaeology Vanessa Workman MUSE 190 F 8:30 AM-11:29 AM In ancient times, materials such as stone and metals were used to produce artifacts including pigments, jewelry, tools, and weapons. This course is designed to introduce students to research on the early exploitation of mineral resources. Which techniques were used to access and process raw materials in antiquity? Which archaeological methods can be used to investigate these features and artifacts? The course will provide worldwide examples through time, ranging from Stone Age flint mining, Iron Age rock salt mining to Medieval silver mining. Ethnographic studies and hands-on activities will contribute to our understanding of mining in archaeology, and artifacts from the Museum's collections will undergo scientific analysis in the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials. ANTH3219401, ANTH5219401, CLST5314401, MELC4950401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST3314401
CLST 3319-401 World Heritage in Global Conflict Lynn M. Meskell MUSE 328 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Heritage is always political. Such a statement might refer to the everyday politics of local stakeholder interests on one end of the spectrum, or the volatile politics of destruction and erasure of heritage during conflict, on the other. If heritage is always political then one might expect that the workings of World Heritage might be especially fraught given the international dimension. In particular, the intergovernmental system of UNESCO World Heritage must navigate the inherent tension between state sovereignty and nationalist interests and the wider concerns of a universal regime. The World Heritage List has almost 1200 properties has many such contentious examples, including sites in Iraq, Mali, Syria, Crimea, Palestine, Armenia and Cambodia. As an organization UNESCO was born of war with an explicit mission to end global conflict and help the world rebuild materially and morally yet has found its own history increasingly entwined with that of international politics and violence. ANTH2840401, ANTH5840401, HSPV5840401, MELC2920401
CLST 3402-401 Hellenistic and Roman Art and Artifact Ann L Kuttner JAFF 113 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This lecture course surveys the political, religious and domestic arts, patronage and display in Rome's Mediterranean, from the 2nd c. BCE to Constantine's 4th-c. Christianized empire. Our subjects are images and decorated objects in their cultural, political and socio-economic contexts (painting, mosaic, sculpture, luxury and mass-produced arts in many media). We start with the Hellenistic cosmopolitan culture of the Greek kingdoms and their neighbors, and late Etruscan and Republican Italy; next we map Imperial Roman art as developed around the capital city Rome, as well as in the provinces of the vast empire. AAMW6260401, ARTH2260401, ARTH6260401, CLST5402401 Cross Cultural Analysis https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST3402401
CLST 3508-401 Literary Theory Ancient to Modern Rita Copeland BENN 322 MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM This is a course on the history of literary theory, a survey of major debates about literature, poetics, and ideas about what literary texts should do, from ancient Greece to examples of modern European thought. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. COML0540401, ENGL0540401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST3508401
CLST 3608-301 Love and Friendship in Greek and Latin Literature Joseph A Farrell Jr COHN 204 TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM The writers of ancient Greece and Rome speak of love in ways that are immediately familiar to us, but also in ways that are hard for us to understand. Some of their attitudes differ from one another, and we can even see the Romans learning about Greek attitudes and consciously adopting them, or pretending to. The same process of learning about and adopting, both consciously and unconsciously, inform our own ideas about love and related phenomena, such a friendship, loyalty, jealousy, and possessiveness. The course will acquaint students with some lesser-known literature and reacquaint them with more familiar works from a new point of view. We will emphasize discussion in class and in supplementary small groups as analytical tools. https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST3608301
CLST 3712-401 Anne Carson and the Unclassifiable Text Taije Jalaya Silverman BENN 25 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This Critical-Creative Seminar will explore the genre-defying work of classicist, poet, and essayist Anne Carson, writing creatively to form critical understanding and honing critical interpretations to enhance creative writing. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. COML0784401, ENGL0784401
CLST 5211-401 Ancient Greek Colonies Thomas F. Tartaron COHN 203 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This seminar examines the archaeology of Greek colonization from the Late Bronze Age to ca. 500 B.C. These colonies were highly diverse in their motivations, physical settings, and political and social structures, as well as in their relationships with mother cities and the new worlds they inhabited. Emphasis is placed on the colonial experience as a cross-cultural and negotiated process; several streams of the changing theoretical and conceptual approaches to Greek colonization are explored. In addition to archaeological and epigraphic evidence, literary and historical traditions are examined. Colonies from the southern Balkan peninsula, Black Sea, Ionia, northern Africa, and Magna Graecia will be the focus of reading and reports. AAMW5191401, CLST3211401
CLST 5303-401 Living World in Archaeological Science Katherine M Moore
Chantel E. White
MUSE 190 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM By focusing on the scientific analysis of archaeological remains from organic materials, this course will explore life and death in the past. Plant and animal remains from the archaeological record are studied from a variety of scales from landscapes and individual objects. The course uses laboratories in the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) at the Penn Museum. Each module will combine laboratory and classroom exercises to give students hands-on experience with archaeological materials. We will examine how organic materials provide key information about past environments, the domestication of plants and animals, and the evolution of human foods and their environmental impacts. We will integrate archaeological data through discussions of topics such as health and disease, inequality, and traditional ecological knowledge. We will also discuss current approaches in archaeological science, including molecular and genomic studies, to explore the complex ways in which humans have interacted with plants and animals over time. ANTH2267401, ANTH5267401, CLST3303401, MELC2950401
CLST 5314-401 Mining Archaeology Vanessa Workman MUSE 190 F 8:30 AM-11:29 AM In ancient times, materials such as stone and metals were used to produce artifacts including pigments, jewelry, tools, and weapons. This course is designed to introduce students to research on the early exploitation of mineral resources. Which techniques were used to access and process raw materials in antiquity? Which archaeological methods can be used to investigate these features and artifacts? The course will provide worldwide examples through time, ranging from Stone Age flint mining, Iron Age rock salt mining to Medieval silver mining. Ethnographic studies and hands-on activities will contribute to our understanding of mining in archaeology, and artifacts from the Museum's collections will undergo scientific analysis in the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials. ANTH3219401, ANTH5219401, CLST3314401, MELC4950401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=CLST5314401
CLST 5402-401 Hellenistic and Roman Art and Artifact Ann L Kuttner JAFF 113 TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM This lecture course surveys the political, religious and domestic arts, patronage and display in Rome's Mediterranean, from the 2nd c. BCE to Constantine's 4th-c. Christianized empire. Our subjects are images and decorated objects in their cultural, political and socio-economic contexts (painting, mosaic, sculpture, luxury and mass-produced arts in many media). We start with the Hellenistic cosmopolitan culture of the Greek kingdoms and their neighbors, and late Etruscan and Republican Italy; next we map Imperial Roman art as developed around the capital city Rome, as well as in the provinces of the vast empire. AAMW6260401, ARTH2260401, ARTH6260401, CLST3402401
CLST 5901-601 Post-Baccalaureate Studies in Greek Scheherazade Jehan Khan COHN 204 MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM Intensive Greek reading course for students in the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Classical Studies. Readings are chosen to expose students to a variety of prose and poetry texts during their program experience. The Fall course includes some grammar review and analysis as well as translation. Permission of instructor required for non-Post-Baccalaureate students.
CLST 5901-602 Post-Baccalaureate Studies in Greek Odysseas Espanol Androutsopoulos RM REQ CANCELED Intensive Greek reading course for students in the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Classical Studies. Readings are chosen to expose students to a variety of prose and poetry texts during their program experience. The Fall course includes some grammar review and analysis as well as translation. Permission of instructor required for non-Post-Baccalaureate students.
CLST 5902-601 Post-Baccalaureate Studies in Latin Julie Nishimura-Jensen WILL 705 MW 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Intensive Latin reading course for students in the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Classical Studies. Readings are chosen to expose students to a variety of prose and poetry texts during their program experience. The Fall course includes some grammar review and analysis as well as translation. Permission of instructor required for non-Post-Baccalaureate students.
CLST 5902-602 Post-Baccalaureate Studies in Latin Nathaniel F Solley COHN 493 F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Intensive Latin reading course for students in the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Classical Studies. Readings are chosen to expose students to a variety of prose and poetry texts during their program experience. The Fall course includes some grammar review and analysis as well as translation. Permission of instructor required for non-Post-Baccalaureate students.
CLST 7208-401 Biographical Approaches to Antiquity Julia L Wilker COHN 203 R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Biographical approaches, long used and despised as a genre that reduces history to the actions of a few protagonists, have been fruitfully repurposed in recent scholarship. Rather than focusing the historical analysis on the usual suspects (from emperors to canonical authors), recent applications of biographical approaches have deliberately decentered the narrative, employed the perspective of those whose position has been marginalized, and revealed influences and patterns that otherwise would remain unnoticed. This course will explore the potential, variations, and pitfalls of approaches that focus on individuals, from biographies that follow a traditional format yet have shaped the field of ancient studies to approaches such as microhistory, group and collective biographies, prosopographical studies, and social network analysis. Using examples from the Hellenistic period to the High Empire, we will discuss methods for reconstructing an individual life despite the general scarcity of sources, how such an approach can transform our understanding of the respective cultural, political, and social circumstances, and what insights into the broader historical processes and dynamics such a focus offers or obscures. ANCH7208401
CLST 7311-401 Petrography of Cultural Materials Marie-Claude Boileau NRN 00 W 10:15 AM-1:14 PM Introduction to thin-section petrography of stone and ceramic archaeological materials. Using polarized light microscopy, the first half of this course will cover the basics of mineralogy and the petrography of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. The second half will focus on the petrographic description of ceramic materials, mainly pottery, with emphasis on the interpretation of provenance and technology. As part of this course, students will characterize and analyze archaeological samples from various collections. Prior knowledge of geology is not required. AAMW5120401, ANTH5211401
CLST 7409-401 Roman Art and Artifact: Age of Augustus Ann L Kuttner VANP 302 W 12:00 PM-2:59 PM This seminar series explores many media and kinds of Roman private and public things, images and monuments (and, sometimes, ancient texts about them) in a range of physical and cultural settings, through an interdisciplinary lens. Special topics range between ca. 400 BCE and 800 CE, from the Hellenistic/ Republican age into the Empire and Late Antiquity, using multiple methodological and theoretical approaches to explore the global Mediterranean world, and its interaction with its neighbors in space and time. Modern archaeologies and the museum institution receive critique. The query "what is Roman about Roman art" continually recurs. AAMW7265401, ANCH7409401, ARTH7260401
CLST 9000-401 Dissertation Prospectus Workshop Joseph A Farrell Jr COHN 237 T 8:30 AM-11:29 AM Designed to prepare graduates in any aspect of study in the ancient world to prepare for the dissertation prospectus. Course will be centered around individual presentations and group critique of prospectus' in process, as well the fundamentals of large-project research design and presentation. ANCH9000401
GREK 0200-301 Elementary Classical Greek II Julie Nishimura-Jensen WILL 315 MWF 1:45 PM-2:44 PM Students complete their study of the morphology and syntax of Classical Greek. We begin the semester with continuing exercises in grammar and translation, then gradually shift emphasis to reading unadapted Greek texts.
GREK 0280-680 Elementary Modern Greek II Georgia Nikolaou WILL 201 TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM Continuation of Elementary Modern Greek I, with increased emphasis on reading and writing.
GREK 0400-301 Intermediate Classical Greek: Poetry Johanna Kaiser COHN 237 MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM We will read a selection of passages from Greek poetic authors, ranging from Homer to tragedy.
GREK 0480-680 Intermediate Modern Greek II Georgia Nikolaou WILL 317 TR 7:00 PM-8:29 PM Further attention to developing oral expression, reading, and writing skills for students with knowledge of Demotic Modern Greek.
GREK 0488-680 Greek/Heritage Speakers II Georgia Nikolaou CANCELED It is the continuation of GREK 0388 with completing Grammar (passive voice as well as unusual nouns and adjectives etc.,) and adding more challenging reading and writing material. The completion of this course satisfies the language requirement. ALL students completing the HSI GREK 0388 are eligible to enroll. ALL OTHERS will have to take a placement test.
GREK 0588-680 Advanced Greek for Heritage Speakers Georgia Nikolaou COLL 311F TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM Advanced Greek for heritage speakers. Penn Lang Center Perm needed
GREK 3207-301 Greek Parody Scheherazade Jehan Khan COHN 204 MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM The parasitic humorists referred to as “parodists” have existed as long as there have been hosts to supply them their blood. Authors of all genres, from Homer to Aristotle to Herodotus to Euripides, have fallen prey to them. The successful parodist masters their target’s style and, via reasoned application of distortions and manipulations, turns it to their own purpose. A literary parody is therefore a species of embodied criticism, the study of which (pleasurable and rewarding in itself) inevitably also enriches one’s understanding of the target text, the mechanisms of generic transformation and the rhetorical power of the comic.
GREK 3801-401 Advanced Greek Language and Composition James Ker COHN 337 TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Study of Greek grammar, vocabulary, and stylistic features, combining exercises in analysis, composition, and sight translation. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. GREK5801401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=GREK3801401
GREK 5801-401 Advanced Greek Language and Composition James Ker COHN 337 TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Study of Greek grammar, vocabulary, and stylistic features, combining exercises in analysis, composition, and sight translation. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. GREK3801401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=GREK5801401
GREK 7201-401 Troy and Homer Sheila H Murnaghan
Charles Brian Rose
MUSE 330 T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM An interdisciplinary seminar focusing on the city of Troy both as an archaeological site and as the setting of the legendary Trojan War. We will consider Homer's Iliad (with selected sections read in Greek) together with the topography and archaeology of the site of Troy in order to address a series of interrelated questions: What are the points of continuity and discontinuity between the stories told by the literary tradition and the material record? How do both types of evidence contribute to our understanding of political relations and cultural interactions between Greece and Anatolia in the Bronze Age? How do Hittite sources bear on our reconstruction of the events behind the Troy legend? How have the site and the poem contributed to each other's interpretation in the context of scholarly discovery and debate? We will give some attention to modern receptions of the Troy legend that deliberately combine material and textual elements, such as Cy Twombly's "Fifty Days at Iliam" and Alice Oswald's "Memorial: An Excavation of Homer's Iliad." The seminar will include a visit to the site of Troy during the Spring Break. AAMW7259401
LATN 0200-301 Elementary Latin II Jordan Paul De Santo Mitchell COHN 237 MWF 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Prerequisite(s): LATN 101 or equivalent. Completes the introduction to the Latin language begun in 101. By the end of the course students will have a complete working knowledge of Latin grammar, a growing vocabulary, and experience in reading simple continuous texts.
LATN 0200-302 Elementary Latin II Lantian Jing COHN 204 MWF 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Prerequisite(s): LATN 101 or equivalent. Completes the introduction to the Latin language begun in 101. By the end of the course students will have a complete working knowledge of Latin grammar, a growing vocabulary, and experience in reading simple continuous texts.
LATN 0400-301 Intermediate Latin: Poetry Emma Francina Burton COHN 203 MWF 10:15 AM-11:14 AM Prerequisite(s): LATN 0300 or equivalent (such as placement score of 600). Continuous reading of several Latin authors in poetry (e.g., Ovid, Virgil, Horace) as well as some more complex prose, in combination with ongoing review of Latin grammar. By the end of the course students will have thorough familiarity with the grammar, vocabulary, and style and style of the selected authors, will be able to tackle previously unseen passages by them, and will be able to discuss language and interpretation. Note: Completion of Latin 0400 with C- or higher fulfills Penn's Foreign Language Requirement.
LATN 0400-302 Intermediate Latin: Poetry Lorelei Haave COHN 203 MWF 12:00 PM-12:59 PM Prerequisite(s): LATN 0300 or equivalent (such as placement score of 600). Continuous reading of several Latin authors in poetry (e.g., Ovid, Virgil, Horace) as well as some more complex prose, in combination with ongoing review of Latin grammar. By the end of the course students will have thorough familiarity with the grammar, vocabulary, and style and style of the selected authors, will be able to tackle previously unseen passages by them, and will be able to discuss language and interpretation. Note: Completion of Latin 0400 with C- or higher fulfills Penn's Foreign Language Requirement.
LATN 3205-401 Medieval Latin Rita Copeland MUSE 329 MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course will be an introduction to the literature of the Latin Middle Ages. Our readings will range from the early Christian era (beginning with the Latin Vulgate translation of Scripture) and early medieval poetic philosophy (Boethius) to medieval receptions of classical myth, funny and poignant Latin poetry of the later Middle Ages, literary love letters, autobiography (Abelard), and other selections from the rich fields of medieval Latin literature. The purpose of this course is to offer a big picture of the Latin literature of the Middle Ages and to engage with some key themes that medieval Latinity offers up to us: how to engage with antiquity, how to imitate and innovate, how to be persuasive, how to value poetic effect for its own sake, how to negotiate the sacred and secular domains of Latinity. We'll be particularly interested in how medieval teachers taught Latin to non-Latin speakers (students whose native languages were French, English, German, etc.), a parallel to our modern situation. 200-level Latin or equivalent is a prerequisite for enrollment. LATN5040401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LATN3205401
LATN 3601-301 Tacitus, Agricola Johanna Kaiser COHN 493 MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Tacitus’ De vita Iulii Agricolae focuses on his father-in-law’s life, especially his military role in Britain. Initially, it appears to depict an exemplary Roman life marked by military successes. However, the text raises questions: Is Agricola’s life truly exemplary, or does Tacitus use it to reflect his own life under Domitian? The work’s genre, blending biography and eulogy, prompts discussions on historiography and rhetoric. This seminar will explore these themes, closely reading the text to understand its structure, content, and stylistic features, and examining its place within Tacitus’ larger historical works.
LATN 5040-401 Medieval Latin Rita Copeland MUSE 329 MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course will be an introduction to the literature of the Latin Middle Ages. Our readings will range from the early Christian era (beginning with the Latin Vulgate translation of Scripture) and early medieval poetic philosophy (Boethius) to medieval receptions of classical myth, funny and poignant Latin poetry of the later Middle Ages, literary love letters, autobiography (Abelard), and other selections from the rich fields of medieval Latin literature. The purpose of this course is to offer a big picture of the Latin literature of the Middle Ages and to engage with some key themes that medieval Latinity offers up to us: how to engage with antiquity, how to imitate and innovate, how to be persuasive, how to value poetic effect for its own sake, how to negotiate the sacred and secular domains of Latinity. We'll be particularly interested in how medieval teachers taught Latin to non-Latin speakers (students whose native languages were French, English, German, etc.), a parallel to our modern situation. 200-level Latin or equivalent is a prerequisite for enrollment. LATN3205401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LATN5040401
LATN 7203-301 Ugliness in Roman Literature Kate Meng Brassel PSYL C41 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This seminar explores ugliness in Roman literature in two areas: writing meant to discomfit, displease, and disgust—i.e. an ugly style—and writing about ugly bodies. We will explore ugliness in literature as it relates to disgust, fear, ridicule, and laughter, including where ugliness blurs with monstrosity. Readings in Latin will emphasize humor, invective, and satire (including Horace, Persius, Petronius) but will also include readings from Cicero, Seneca, Lucan, and Pliny. In addition to familiarizing ourselves with contemporary scholarship on disgust and horror in Roman literature, we will read reflections upon ugliness from outside the field (e.g. Eco, Hilal). In addition to weekly readings, students will be responsible for presentations, midterm exam, work-in-progress workshop, and final research paper.