Graduate Seminars

2022-23

AMNE 500C: Mystery Religions in Greco-Roman Antiquity.
Instructor: Rob Cousland
Term 1

The main goal of this class is to examine the chief exemplars of Mystery Religions in the Greco-Roman world. While the format of the class precludes an exhaustive examination of the multifarious forms of the ancient mysteries (the Mysteries of Artemis of Ephesus, the Andanian Mysteries of Messenia, Arcadian mysteries and so on), the most popular and widespread instances will be considered in a roughly chronological sequence.
The readings and lectures are intended to provide the class with a selection of the key primary sources in tandem with recent scholarly analysis. Because the mysteries provide a revealing(!) entrée into a great many facets of the Greco-Roman world initiation, eschatology, soteriology, personal religion, philosophy, magic, social history they warrant study not merely for their own sake, but for the illumination they can cast on these areas, as well.
The mysteries are also situated at the epicentre of much of the recent theoretical discussion taking place in fields of Greek and Roman Religion and Social History, and for this reason they provide researchers with useful heuristic models to weigh the effectiveness of various theoretical paradigms. As the cliché has it, they are good to think with.

AMNE 540B: The Bible in Translation
Instructor: Sara Milstein
Term 1

In 1531, the first Spanish Bible was published, with one conspicuous difference in the editions that were prepared for Jewish and Christian circles. The Jewish version of Isaiah 7 stated, "A young woman would bear a child", while the Christian version asserted, "A virgin would bear a child", bringing the Hebrew into alignment with later Christian theology. Translation is a powerful vehicle in general, and all the more so with respect to the Bible, given how high the stakes can be. In this course, we will examine a range of issues related to translating the Bible, such as: theological agendas, debates about inclusive language; mistakes in translation; how translators deal with ambiguities in the original, different approaches to translation, the problem of translating emotions, and more. We will also engage with translation theory outside of the field of biblical studies.

AMNE 577B: Provincializing Africa: Archaeology, Colonialism, and the Edge of Empire.
Instructor: Matt McCarty
Term 1

This course will survey the Maghreb (roughly modern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and western Libya) under the Roman Empire to understand the dynamics of ancient imperialism on social, cultural, economic, and religious levels. How did a region undergo provincialization? How did this affect power structures? constructions of identity? practices? material life? How do we approach a Roman province in the wake of Romanization debates? And how have modern cultural and imperial metanarratives about Islam, the Berbers, and failed European colonization shaped the practice and results of archaeological investigation in Roman Africa? In attempting to answer these questions, we will also attempt to decolonize forms of scholarly enquiry that are deeply entangled with modern French colonialisms and ways-of-knowing.
We will build from readings about Romanization a field of enquiry and debate uncomfortably situated at the intersections of cultural practices and imperial control and modern anthropological theory (including a brief overview of current trends in archaeological theory: post-processualism, materialism, semiotics). Using these to frame our questions, we will explore how a range of evidence (especially survey/excavation archaeology and inscribed texts) can shed light on the transformation of communities and their practices between the second century BCE and the fourth century CE. Beyond the material, roughly one third of the course will focus on professional development: engaging with modern literature; crafting productive research questions; authoring grant applications; working with digital tools (e.g., GIS and image-editing software); and marshalling disparate forms of data to answer our questions.

GREK 503B: Greek Prose & Verse
Instructor: Florence Yoon
Term 1

Students will read substantial selections from different prose and poetic authors, all focusing on the same theme or figure. The selection will be determined in consultation with the class. Most recently we worked on katabasis (reading Homer, Plato, and Euripides); other possibilities might include a figure like Prometheus or Helen, or a place like Egypt or Delphi, or a topic like parody or spies.

LATN 501A: Tacitus
Instructor:Tara Mulder
Term 1

AMNE 541C: Comparative Approaches to the Literature of the Ancient Near East
Instructor: Willis Monroe
Term 2

This course will provide an introduction to the most important pieces of literature from the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Students will read, in translation, Egyptian, Biblical, and Mesopotamian literature with a focus on cross-cultural comparison. In addition, the students will learn quantitative methods of literary analysis with common digital tools.

AMNE 572A: A History of Power: States and Empires in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Instructor: Megan Daniels
Term 2

"Look back over the past, at the changes of empires, and you can foresee the future too." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.49) This unit takes a large-scale approach to the development of empires and states in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East in the first millennium BCE. Students will learn, through studying and analyzing the material and textual remains of various states and empires, how to (1) outline the diverse configurations, enactments, and experiences of power in human history and (2) situate the development of various parts of the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Egyptian worlds in the context of the rise and fall of states and empires. Cultural groups to be considered include the Neo-Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Lydians, Phrygians, Israelites, Greeks, and Phoenicians. Sources to be examined include the development and layout of cities as they relate to social stratification and power structures, art and symbolism and their intersections with ideologies of power, the archaeology of violence and resistance, and primary written sources in translation. As well, various theoretical approaches to imperialism, colonialism, identity, and resistance will be considered and evaluated. Overall, students will practice analyzing and evaluating both primary and secondary sources for the purposes of understanding state and empire formation in the ancient world.

AMNE 590A: Gender in the Ancient Mediterranean
Instructor: Kat Huemoeller
Term 2

This course examines recent approaches to the study of gender in the ancient Mediterranean. It will be broken down into three (unequal) parts. In the first few weeks we will examine the development of gender as a field of historical inquiry, from its origins in women's history to more recent scholarship on gender diversity. Next, we will turn to a series of case studies focused on different bodies of evidence (graffiti, law, wall paintings etc.), with an emphasis on the Roman Mediterranean. Finally, we will conclude by stepping back to consider the gendered dynamics of our research and teaching practices.

GREK 501B: Herodotus and Thucydides.
Instructor: Franco De Angelis
Term 2

This course will focus on translating selections from the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, who, as Leslie Kurke has put it (in O. Taplin [ed.], Literature in the Greek World [Oxford 2000], p. 115), were responsible for "charting the poles of history" for ancient, and by extension modern, historiography. The course will be evenly divided between these two historians, with the first six and one-half weeks devoted to Herodotus and the second six and one-half weeks devoted to Thucydides. Students will also be introduced to recent trends in modern scholarship on Herodotus and Thucydides, as well as to interpreting these historians, particularly through understanding the cultural backdrop against which they were writing and the possibilities and limitations of using them in modern historical reconstructions. Instead of just seeing differences between the approaches of Herodotus and Thucydides, we will also investigate whether any similarities in their approaches existed.

LATN 502A: Roman Comedy. Plautus.
Instructor: Toph Marshall
Term 2

AMNE 595A: Cyprus - Investigating an Ancient Urban Landscape in Cyprus
Instructor: Kevin Fisher
Summer 2023 Term 1

The primary objective of the course is to train students in the principles and methods of field archaeology as practiced in the Mediterranean and Near East today so that they can work as skilled team members or supervisors on other archaeological projects. Students will also gain an understanding of Cypriot material culture and how it is used to illuminate the rise and development of complex societies, as well as an appreciation of the island's modern culture and history. These objectives will be met mainly through intensive, “hands on” student participation in all aspects of archaeological fieldwork as part of the Kalavasos and Maroni Built Environments (KAMBE) Project. This work will include data collection and recording through archaeological excavation and geophysical survey, the processing and analysis of these data, and their interpretation as a means of understanding past human behaviour. In addition to participating in fieldwork, students will also attend a series of lectures on archaeological methods and Cypriot archaeology by project staff and other visiting scholars. Students will also visit important archaeological and cultural sites and museums throughout the island. In late June, students will attend the annual Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) workshop in Nicosia, during which archaeologists working the island present the results of their work. In addition to learning about the Cypriot past, this is an excellent opportunity for students to network and meet other students from around the world.

AMNE 595B: Romania - Apulum Roman Villa Project
Instructor: Matt McCarty
Summer 2023 Term 2

This seminar focuses on the excavation of a Roman villa (luxury estate and work spaces) in the hinterland of Apulum (mod. Alba Iulia, Romania), in the Roman province of Dacia. Students will practice field archaeology: excavation, recording, and interpretation of everything from architecture to pottery to animal bone. Accommodation will be provided at the local university, and lunch and dinner catered by a charming local restaurant. Excursions will include Roman sites, medieval castles, and modern towns within Transylvania. Alba Iulia itself is a picturesque town centered around an 18th‐century Austrian fort, with all of the amenities of a small European city plus several cultural festivals over the summer (including outdoor concerts, fashion shows, and weekly Roman versus Dacian battle re‐enactments on Friday night).

2021-22

CNRS 500B: The Global Iron Age: Movement and Identity in an Age of Transformation
Instructor: Megan Daniels
Term 1

This seminar examines the Mediterranean and Near East from a globalized perspective, starting from the dissolution of the Late Bronze Age world (ca. 1200 BCE) to ca. 500 BCE. It encourages students working in various regions and time periods to see their areas of interest against a broader backdrop of human movement and interaction, which drew together individuals and societies in complex social, economic, and political networks that spanned the Mediterranean world and beyond. In particular, we will interrogate and employ various approaches such as globalization theory, network analysis, and object agency to understand the cultural intertwinement of societies, and will question and critique overarching models of this period, including the concept of the Axial Age.

CNRS 504A: Christians in Graeco-Roman Cities
Instructor: Tony Keddie
Term 1

This course will take up a major current in recent scholarship on early Christianity by attempting to understand how the social and political dynamics of particular urban milieux in the Roman East helped to shape the expansion and development of the Jewish movement of Christ-followers that came to be known as Christianity. We will closely analyze a range of texts written by Christ-followers during the first two centuries CE (New Testament texts including parts of the gospels, most of the letters attributed to Paul, Acts of the Apostles, and Revelation, as well as some extracanonical texts such as letters of Ignatius of Antioch, the Acts of John, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla). We will develop theoretical models for interpreting these texts as products of and reactions to the distinctive milieux of cities ranging from the Galilee through Asia Minor and Greece, with special attention to Ephesus and Corinth. Students will learn methods for illuminating ancient texts, practices, and social interactions through analysis of key archaeological sources from these cities (especially art, architecture, and epigraphy). There will be a special thematic focus on the diverse ways that the earliest generations of Christ-followers navigated Roman imperialism and negotiated the intersections of religion, class, status, gender, and ethnicity in the cities of the Roman East.

GREK 501A: The Lake of Memory: Plato’s Myths and Philosophies of Immortality
Instructor: Michael Griffin
Term 2

In this seminar, we’ll read selections from Plato’s myths of the afterlife and human eternity, including the Myth of Er (Republic 10)—sometimes described as a vivid literary reconstruction of a “near-death experience”—and passages from similar narratives in the Apology, Phaedo, Gorgias, and Phaedrus. Along the way, we’ll attempt to reconstruct a coherent picture of “Platonic immortality,” juxtaposing the myths with Plato’s potential poetic influences, as well as his philosophical arguments for the immortality of the psychē.
While the core of the seminar will be our collaborative experience of reading and making sense of Plato’s myths in Greek, we’ll try to enrich our reading from a range of connected topics, methods, and comparative studies, from which you can select for further research in the course. However, the seminar is intended to be accessible—and hopefully enjoyable!—for students without any prior background in Plato, in philosophy, or in these contextual topics. Our themes include:
• Scholarly comparisons of Plato’s myths with Odyssey 11 and the ‘Orphic’ gold tablets, including attempts to track aspects of Plato’s symbolic lexicon either to ‘Orphism’ or a wider mythical tradition.
• The interdependence (or juxtaposition) of myth and argument in Plato's approach to philosophy, and his arguably positive view of ‘inspired’ poetry in contrast to ‘mimetic’ or imitative craft.
• The reception of Plato’s arguments in later Greek philosophy and commentary, including the elaboration of different senses of human immortality in Aristotelian, Epicurean, Stoic, and Neoplatonic authors.
• Several modern philosophical, psychological, and anthropological approaches to portrayals of immortality and ‘near-death experiences’.

GREK 503A: Greek Prose & Verse
Instructor: Florence Yoon
Term 1

Students will read substantial selections from different prose and poetic authors, all focusing on the same theme or figure. The selection will be determined in consultation with the class. Most recently we worked on katabasis (reading Homer, Plato, and Euripides); other possibilities might include a figure like Prometheus or Helen, or a place like Egypt or Delphi, or a topic like parody or spies.

LATN 501C: Latin Prose Composition
Instructor: Siobhan McElduff
Term 1

LATN 503A: Don't Play Games with the Dead: Latin Magical Ritual
Instructor: Antone Minard
Term 2

Studies in Latin Prose and Verse: This course looks at the intersection between the Latin language, whether prose or poetry, and magical ritual—that is, the use of words in broadly prescribed circumstances, alone or in conjunction with other behaviour, in order that a specific result be accomplished in some way other than having a human being hear the words and take conscious action. We will look at a variety of authors and anonymous texts, both prose and poetry; these will include folk magic (e.g. defixiones), magic in everyday life (e.g. Apuleius’s Apology), and literary depictions of magic (e.g. in Apuleius’s Golden Ass). We will also examine some material from later Latin such as is found in the works of John Dee. In addition to a core focus on the Latin language, the course will also cover magical theory, both in the context of Roman society and for modern scholarship.

NEST 501A: The Archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 900-612 BCE)
Instructor: Lisa Cooper
Term 2

The class focuses on the archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which flourished in northern Mesopotamia between 900-612 BCE and which at its apogee dominated the Near East from Iran to Egypt. The class will address a variety of archaeological topics in order to understand the dynamic ways in which the Assyrians used their material culture to underscore and reflect their powerful ideology of empire, kingship and military ascendancy. Topics include studies of Assyrian palatial architecture and sculpture; transformations of the imperial landscape through large-scale hydraulic technologies and agricultural intensification; the material manifestations of war and violence; and the symbolic marking of imperial territory through stelae and rock reliefs. My own recent research interests will also be brought increasingly to bear on this subject, namely varied local responses (e.g. cooperation, resistance) to Assyrian imperial presence in other parts of the Near East, especially in its eastern provinces (Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran) and subject kingdoms of the west (western Syria and Palestine). The study of the reception of ancient Assyria over the past 200 years, with the varying ideological agendas, will also be covered, from 19th century perspectives that regarded Assyria as the epitome of Oriental despotism; to early 20th century racial perspectives of Assyrians as incapable of innovation and creativity; to the more globalist perspectives of the later 20th century. Finally we will explore the persistent colonial attitude towards Iraq’s cultural heritage, of which the material culture of Assyria is an essential aspect, and how this has played out in the international theatre of war and terrorism in the Middle East in the 21st century.

NEST 505: Writing History in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, Israel: From the Sumerian King List to the Hellenistic Chronographers
Instructor: Thomas Schneider
Term 2

How did the civilizations of the ancient Near East (re)present their pasts? J.M. Alonso-Núñez (“Historiographical Models”: New Pauly. Brill’s Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Classical Tradition, vol. II, Leiden and Boston 2007, p. 889) posits that “fundamental differences exist between modern historiographical models and those found in the ancient Orient (Egypt, Hittites, Iran, Mesopotamia). There historiography was conceived of as a list of events and rulers. Oriental historiography was made obsolete by the Greeks and transformed into a presentation of events concerning all, not just certain individuals. Written on scrolls and designed for an audience, this new form of historiographical models is very different from ancient Oriental monumental inscriptions.” This statement not only misrepresents the very diverse and multifaceted evidence we possess from the ancient Near East and employs Orientalist biases. It also operates with the term “historiography” as if its meaning (and meaningfulness) in an Ancient Near Eastern context did not need closer scrutiny. On the basis of Johan Huizinga’s general definition by which written history "is the intellectual form in which a civilization renders account to itself of its past" (J. Huizinga, A Definition of the Concept of History, first published in R. Klibansky and H.J. Paton [eds.], Philosophy and History. Essays Presented to Ernst Cassirer, Oxford 1936, p. 9), this seminar explores how the civilizations of the Ancient Near East ‘rendered account to themselves of their past’ in the form of specific literary genres and forms – and what their ‘sense of history’ was. The seminar will look at historiographical traditions from the 3rd millennium BCE to the age of Hellenism – at texts from Egypt, Sumer, Assyria, Babylonia, the Hittites, the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomistic History, the Chronicles), as well as the Hellenistic chronographers of the Near East (Manetho, Berossos).

NEST 506: Archaeologies of Space and Place
Instructor: Kevin Fisher
Term 1

This course explores the role of built environments – from single rooms to urban landscapes – in past societies. Through participation in a series of seminar discussions, lectures, “hands-on” labs, and two research projects, students will come away with an understanding of contemporary (and past) approaches that archaeologists use to understand buildings, settlements and built landscapes. We’ll examine theories linking past built environments to human and material agency, daily practice, power, identity, and social reproduction, as well as concepts such as place, household, community and neighbourhood, cityscape, monumentality and memory. We’ll also emphasize the application of methods that can help us understand how built environments affect human behavior, experience, and interaction by encoding and communicating meanings. This includes an introduction to emerging digital technologies for recording, modeling, and visualizing past built environments in 3D, as well as the use of space syntax, environmental psychology, visibility analyses and other methods that can shed light on people-place relationships. Readings and case studies will be global in perspective and assignments will focus on the application of approaches and methods on local contemporary buildings and archaeological datasets within students’ area of interest. While the focus is archaeological, the course draws heavily on theory and method from anthropology, architecture, human geography, psychology, sociology, and urban planning, and should be of use to anyone interested in the relationship between people and built space, past or present.

RELG 502A: Jerusalem in Archaeology and Texts
Instructor: Gregg Gardner
2021 Summer Term 2

This seminar will explore ancient Jerusalem from its beginnings as a Canaanite town through the Israelite, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras, up to the dawn of Islam (roughly 1000 B.C.E. to 640 C.E.). This seminar will incorporate close readings of archaeological publications and literary sources, covering the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel through the formation of Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman Mediterranean world. All texts will be read in English translation. No prerequisites.

RELG 502A: The “Bible” in Antiquity: Exodus
Instructor: Philip Yoo
Term 2

The book of Exodus has long been famous for its central events, the exodus and Sinai. Yet, no original copy of Exodus has survived. A close reading of the received text along with archaeological discoveries within the last century raises an important question: What did the book (or scroll) of Exodus look like in antiquity? In this seminar, we will first examine how the narratives, hymns, laws, and instructions in Exodus emerged out of their ancient Near Eastern contexts, and investigate the process by which Exodus was shaped from its constituent parts. Then, we will see how Exodus was reshaped, reimagined, and remained authoritative for the many communities in the ancient Mediterranean world by looking at ancient textual witnesses: including the Samaritan Pentateuch; Septuagint; Dead Sea Scrolls (including Jubilees and “Reworked Pentateuch”); Targums. Throughout the seminar, students will be introduced to the critical methods that have opened new perspectives into the formation, production, and reception of biblical texts. Texts will be read in translation; students who have Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic will be encouraged to use their skills.

2020-21

CLST 518A: The Archaeology of Democracy? Public Monuments, Social Power, and the Greek City-State in the Archaic and Classical Periods
Instructor: Megan Daniels
Term 2

“We thus see that the polis exists by nature and that it is prior to the individual.” (Aristotle, Politics 1.2)

The polis, or city-state, is often portrayed in scholarship as a defining feature of the ancient Greek world, associated with the oligarchic and democratic governments that emerged in the Archaic and Classical periods. Yet, the city-state as a political entity had a long history in the Mediterranean and Middle East, stretching back to the fourth millennium. Was the Greek polis really that unique in the ancient world? This seminar will investigate the emergence of the city-state in the Archaic and Classical periods through public space and architecture, questioning in particular the relationship between public monuments, social power, and the egalitarian political formations that emerged over these periods. We will take Athens as our main case study, given the wealth of information it has yielded, but will necessarily broaden out our investigation to other city-states in Greece and Asia Minor, as well as other types of urban formations, and question whether or not there was a “typical” city-state in the Greek world. We will focus on key classes of public architecture such as sanctuaries, law courts, council houses, marketplaces, theatres, and necropoleis, and consider how public monuments and spaces both reflected and facilitated social hierarchies and political formations. At certain points we will also bring in comparative evidence from around the Mediterranean and Middle East to ask the ultimate question: was the Greek city-state unique in the broader Mediterranean and Middle East?

CLST 519B: Provincialiazing Africa
Instructor: Matthew McCarty
Summer Term 2 / Winter Term 1 (online)

This course will survey the Maghreb (roughly modern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and western Libya) under the Roman Empire to understand the dynamics of ancient imperialism on social, cultural, economic, and religious levels. How did a region undergo “provincialization”? How did this affect power structures? constructions of identity? practices? How do we approach a Roman province in the wake of “Romanization” debates? And how have modern cultural and imperial metanarratives about Islam, “the Berbers,” and failed European colonization shaped the practice and results of archaeological investigation in Roman Africa?

We will build from readings about “Romanization”—a field of enquiry and debate uncomfortably situated at the intersections of cultural practices and imperial control—and modern anthropological theory. Using these to frame our questions, we will explore how a range of evidence (especially survey/excavation archaeology and inscribed texts) can shed light on the transformation of communities and their practices tied to the provincialization of Africa. Beyond the material, roughly one third of the course will focus on professional development: engaging with modern literature; crafting productive research questions; marshalling disparate forms of data to answer them; and grant writing.

This course will run online in July-August, 2020.

CNRS 500A: Translating Gods: Uniqueness and Communication in the Ancient World
Instructor: Michael Griffin
Term 1 (online)

Translatability of divinity is no mere academic task; it is a central task of human self-understanding. Otherwise, in this situation, something of our humanity – and arguably of our divinity – may be lost. —Mark Smith, God in Translation (2008), 340.

You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the world like you. —Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood.

These quotes introduce two questions that we’ll explore together throughout this term. How do the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East represent the personal identities of gods and humans as “translatable” across places, times, and languages? Conversely, how do they represent the “uniqueness” or individuality of divine and human beings? We’ll find that these modern constructions—loosely, translatability and uniqueness—interact in unexpected ways across key moments of ancient cultural exchange: in some settings, uniqueness appears to be the factor that most resists translation, visually and lexically; in others, it appears to be the core factor that facilitates translation. By focusing on case studies that draw from the expertise of our contributors, we aim to explore a series of “key moments” in ancient material, visual, literary, religious, philosophical, and technological exchange, with implications for our own articulations of divine and personal identity, translation, dialogue, and empathy.

Several meetings will welcome guest contributors. Specific topics and a course schedule will be posted here in summer 2020: https://is.gd/uniquetranslation

CNRS 502A: Slaveries of the Ancient Mediterranean
Instructor: Katharine Huemoeller
Term 2

Slavery, broadly defined, was practiced across the ancient Mediterranean. In this seminar we will compare the diverse forms it takes in different Mediterranean contexts, as well as the ways in which slaving as a social, economic, and legal phenomenon connected the region. Each student will be responsible for one particular iteration of slavery according to their research interests so that all leave with both a broad, cross-cultural understanding of ancient Mediterranean slavery and more narrow expertise in one particular time/place/source material. Given the framework of the seminar, we will also explore the challenges (and rewards!) of comparative methodologies, including ancient-modern parallels.

GREK 501D: Herodotus and Thucydides: The Origins of Greek Historiography
Instructor: Franco De Angelis
Term 2

This course will focus on translating selections from the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, who, as Leslie Kurke has put it (in O. Taplin [ed.], Literature in the Greek World [Oxford 2000], p. 115), were responsible for “charting the poles of history” for ancient, and by extension modern, historiography. The course will be evenly divided between these two historians, with the first six and one-half weeks devoted to Herodotus and the second six and one-half weeks devoted to Thucydides. Students will also be introduced to recent trends in modern scholarship on Herodotus and Thucydides, as well as to interpreting these historians, particularly through understanding the cultural backdrop against which they were writing and the possibilities and limitations of using them in modern historical reconstructions. Instead of just seeing differences between the approaches of Herodotus and Thucydides, we will also investigate whether any similarities in their approaches existed.

GREK 503A: GREEK PROSE AND VERSE
Instructor: Florence Yoon
Term 1 (online)

Students will read substantial selections from different prose and poetic authors, all focusing on the same mythical figure. The selection will depend on student interest, but one possibility would be Helen, for which we would read selections from Homer and Euripides (verse), all of Gorgias' Encomium and selections from Isocrates (prose). The primary aims of the course are to speed up the pace of reading, to familiarize students with essential resources for language study, and to engage with different authors' writing styles and approaches to myth.

LATN 503A: Cicero and his Reputation
Instructor: Siobhán McElduff
Term 2

Readings of famous passages by and about Cicero, both the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly. Mostly prose readings with some poetry.

LATN 502C: LATIN VERSE
Instructor: TBD
Term 1 (online)

NEST 500D: Interconnections in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean
Instructor: Kevin Fisher
Term 1 (online)

From the “Great Powers Club” to the famous Uluburun shipwreck, this course examines the sociopolitical, economic and ideological interactions that connected the various polities and cultures of the Late Bronze Eastern Mediterranean world from Greece to Babylonia, c. 1700–1100 BCE. Through material evidence from cities and shipwrecks, and textual sources including diplomatic letters and treaties, we’ll look at political relations and military conflicts among the great powers of the period and how the Egyptians, Hittites and other states forged and maintained some of the earliest empires, and the effects of these interactions on both conqueror and conquered. We’ll also investigate the nature of palatial economies and the implications of royal and commercial international exchanges by looking at the production, trade, and consumption of various commodities. From metals and ceramics to organic goods such as scented oils and luxury foods, we’ll discuss methods for determining their provenience, maritime connectivity and the technological aspects of sea transportation. The course will emphasize approaches to understanding cultural interaction (e.g., mobility, hybridity, entanglement) and the materiality, meaning and social life of goods.

RELG 500B: Humour in the Bible and the Ancient Near East
Instructor: Sara Milstein
Term 2

Although we might not think of biblical and Mesopotamian writers as humorous, there are some indications that certain texts were intentionally funny. What role did humour play in Near Eastern literature and cultures? What was the relationship between humour and politics, identity formation, and/or self-deprecation? Given that humour is culturally and temporally bound, how can we identify glimpses of it when we are so far removed from the ancients? In addition to using methodologies familiar to the field, this course will also investigate biblical and Near Eastern texts through the lens of humour theory and comedy theory.

2019-2020

CLST 518B: Archaeologies of Greek Mobilities, Migrations, and Diasporas (F. De Angelis)
CLST 519A: Historical Roman Relief Sculpture (C. Gorrie)
CNRS 500B: Gender and the Legal Imagination in the Ancient Near East (S. Milstein)
CNRS 503D: Ancient and Modern Scholarship: Commentaries and Book Reviews (F. Yoon)
GREK 501C: Plato and the Search for Happiness (M. Griffin)
GREK 502B: Homer (F. Yoon)
LATN 501B: Reading and Writing Latin Prose (S. Braund)
LATN 502B: Virgil's Aeneid Book 12 (S. Braund)
NEST 500B: The Archaeology of Space and Place (K. Fisher)
RELG 500A: Apocalypse and Empire (G.A. Keddie)
RELG 503A: Christianizing Egypt (G.A. Keddie)

2018-2019

CLST 512A: The Provincialization of Roman Africa: Processes, Practices, and Power (M. McCarty)
CNRS 500A: Christians in Greco-Roman Cities (G. A. Keddie)
CNRS 503A: Mystery Religions (R. Cousland)
CNRS 503C: The Greek City (600-300 BCE) (N. Kennell)
GREK 401B/501B: Greek Prose, Xenophon's Symposium (J. Vickers)
GREK 402A/502A: Greek Verse, Theocritus (M. Hoskin)
LATN 401A/501A: Apuleius’ Apology: The Trial of a Warlock (S. McElduff)
LATN 402A/502A: Latin Verse Epistles (M. Hoskin)
NEST 401/505: Literature of Ancient Egypt or the Ancient Near East (W. Monroe)
NEST 402/506: Early Cities of the Ancient Near East (L. Cooper)

2017-2018

CNRS 500B: Gender in the Ancient Mediterranean (K. Huemoeller)
CNRS 503D: The Ancient Book (C. O'Hogan)
GREK 401A/501A: Biography (Xenophon and Plutarch) (F. Yoon)
GREK 401B/502B: Greek Tragedy (F. Yoon)
LATN 401C/501C: Inscribed History (K. Huemoeller)
LATN 402B/502B: Epyllion and Epic (C. O'Hogan)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Athens (N. Kennell)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Rome (M. McCarty)
CLST 518A: The Archaeology of Ancient Cyprus (K. Fisher)
CNRS 503B/RELG 502A Synagogues and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World (G. Gardner)
RELG 500B/CNRS 504: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Modern Contexts (S. Milstein)

2016-2017

CNRS 500A/NEST 501B: Approaches to Ethnic Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World (L. Cooper)
CNRS 502B/CLST 519D: Pompeii: Temples to Toilets (L. Bablitz)
CNRS 503A: Raw Comedy: Plautus and Mime (C.W. Marshall)
GREK 501D: Greek Prose: Herodotus and Thucydides (F. De Angelis)
LATN 501B: Latin Prose (K. Huemoeller)
LATN 502B: Latin Verse: Horace’s Odes (C. O’Hogan)
NEST 506: The Archaeology of the City in the ancient Near East: The Archaeology of Space and Place (K. Fisher)
RELG 502B: Topics in Judaism: Religion and Material Culture in Judaism (G. Gardner)
RELG 514D: Topics in Islam (R. Ahmed)

2015-2016

CNRS 500: Forum Romanum (L. Bablitz)
CNRS 502A/GREK 545: Greek Epigraphy (N. Kennell)
GREK 501B: Greek Prose (TBA)
GREK 502A: Hellenistic Poetry (C.W. Marshall)
GREK 525A/LATN 525A: Epic Transformed, Translations and Adaptations of Greco-Roman Epic Poetry (S. Braund)
LATN 501A: Reading and Writing Latin Prose Texts (S. Braund)
LATN 501C: Latin Prose (S. McElduff)
LATN 502B: Lucan, Civil War (S. Braund)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (M. McCarty)
CLST 503B: Greek Sanctuaries (N. Kennell)
CLST 511A: Hellenizing Pre-Roman Italy, Archaeological and Historical Approaches (F. De Angelis)
NEST 500A: Interconnections in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean (K. Fisher)
NEST 505: Ancient Egypt and the Bible, Interconnections between Egypt and Ancient Israel in the First Millennium BCE (T. Schneider)
RELG 500A/CNRS 502B: Making a Case: Law in Ancient Israel and Iraq (S. Milstein)

2014-2015

CNRS 500: Ancient Mystery Religions (R. Cousland)
CNRS 503C: Digital Antiquity (S. McElduff)
CNRS 503D/GREK 525: Comic Fragments (C.W. Marshall)
GREK 501C: Greek Orators: Murder, Adultery and Government Corruption (C.W. Marshall)
GREK 502D: Pindar and Lyric Poetry (M. Funke)
LATN 501D: Philippics and Their Influence (S. McElduff)
LATN 502C: Virgil’s Aeneid: from Zero to Hero – Aeneas on the battlefield (S. McElduff)
LATN 502D: Lucretius: De Rerum Natura (M. Funke)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Athens (H. Williams)
CLST 519: Topics in Roman Archaeology: The Art and Architecture of the Severan Period (C. Gorrie)
CLST 518A: The Ancient Greek State in Comparative Perspective: Theory and Reconstruction (F. De Angelis)
NEST 501A: Near Eastern Archaeology, The Philistines (T. Schneider)
NEST 506: The Archaeology of the City in the Ancient Near East: The Archaeology of Space and Place (K. Fisher)
RELG 500E: Images of Eve; Great Women of the Bible (D. Arbel)
RELG 502C/HEBR 509B: Adventures in Reading: Narratives from the Hebrew Bible/Advanced Biblical Hebrew (D. Arbel)
RELG 514A/LAW/RELG 475A: Gender and Islamic Law (A. Chaudhry)
RELG 514B/LAW 342/RELG 475B: Islamic Law and Legal Theory (R. Ahmed)

2013-2014

CNRS 500/RELG 502C: Ancient Jerusalem (G. Gardner)
CNRS 503A: Rising from the Ruins: Neoclassicism and the roots of modern Classical Studies (H. Marshall)
GREK 501A: Herodotus and Thucydides (F. De Angelis)
GREK 502B: Aeschylus (C.W. Marshall)
LATN 501B: Tacitus (C. Gorrie)
LATN 501E: Latin Prose You Should Have Read: A Selection of Great Passages from Cato to Tacitus (S. McElduff)
LATN 502A: Seneca’s Thyestes and its Reception (S. Braund)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (R. Wilson)
CLST 503B: Greek Sanctuaries (H. Williams)
CLST 511: Greek Regional Archaeology (F. De Angelis)
NEST 501A: Iron Age Archaeology (L. Cooper)
RELG 500C: Images of Eve: Great Women in the Bible (D. Arbel)
RELG 514A: Gender and Islamic Law (A. Chaudhry)
RELG 514B: Islamic Law and Legal Theory (R. Ahmed)
HEBR 509B: Narratives from the Hebrew Bible (D. Arbel)

2012-2013

CNRS 500/CNRS 503E/GREK 525A: Being like Gods: Divine Knowledge and Power in Roman Alexandria (M. Griffin & T. Schneider)
CNRS 503D/LATN 535: TBA (S. McElduff)
GREK 401D/501D: Lucian (M. Funke)
GREK 402E/502E: Homer, Iliad (C.W. Marshall)
LATN 401A/501A: Latin Letters (G. McIntyre)
LATN 402C/502C: Terence (C.W. Marshall)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Athens (H. Williams)
CLST 509A: Greek Sculpture (C. Williams)
CLST 510A: Roman Sculpture (C. Gorrie)
CLST 512A: Roman Provincial Archaeology (R. Wilson)
NEST 503: Material Culture of Ancient Egypt (TBA)
NEST 506: The Archaeology of the City in the Ancient Near East (L. Cooper)
RELG 502A: Sacred Relics in Early Judaism & Christianity (G. Gardner)
RELG 502B: Jews, Judaism & the Graphic Novel (R. Menkis)
RELG 514A: Reading the Qur’an (A. Chaudhry)
RELG 514B: Islamic Law & Legal Theory (R. Ahmed)

2011-2012

CNRS 500/RELG 500B: The Parables of Jesus (R. Cousland)
CNRS 502A: Roman Lawmaking (L. Bablitz)
CNRS 503D: Ancient Near Eastern Historiography (T. Schneider)
CNRS 503E/GREK 525B/LATN 525B: Scientific Literature in Greek and Roman Antiquity (D. Creese)
GREK 501E: Herodotus and Thucydides (F. De Angelis)
GREK 502D: Sophocles (G. Kovacs)
LATN 501D: Livy (C. Gorrie)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (R. Wilson)
CLST 503B: Greek Sanctuaries (H. Williams)
CLST 512A: Roman Provincial Archaeology (R. Wilson)
CLST 518A: Greek and Roman Maritime Archaeology (H. Williams)
CLST 518B: The Ancient Greek State: Theory and Reconstruction (F. De Angelis)
NEST 501B: Iron Age Archaeology (L. Cooper)
NEST 502A: War and Diplomacy in Ancient Egypt (T. Hikade)
RELG 502A: Introduction to Rabbinic Literature (G. Gardner)
RELG 502B: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in Film (D. Arbel)
RELG 514B: History of the Religion of Islam
HEBR 509A: Reading Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Narratives (D. Arbel)
HEBR 509B: Rabbinic Hebrew (G. Gardner)

2010-2011

CNRS 500/RELG 531: Reading Foundational Narratives (D. Arbel and S. Braund)
CNRS 503C/GREK 525A/LATN 525A: Prostitutes and New Comedy (C. W. Marshall)
CNRS 504A/LATN 535/CLST 519D: Mystery Religions and the Rise of Christinaity on the Basis of Archaeology and Iconography (R. Wilson)
GREK 401A/501A: Murder, Adultery and Assault (C.W. Marshall)
GREK 402A/502A: Homer’s Odyssey (M. Griffin)
GREK 402B/502B: Iambic, Elegiac and Lyric Poetry (B. Clausen)
LATN 401A/501A: Cicero, Philippics II (S. McElduff)
LATN 401B/501B: Latin Prose Composition (S. Braund)
LATN 402B/502B: Latin Verse Satire (L. Rae)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Athens (H. Williams)
CLST 517: Artefacts at the Museum of Anthropology (H. Williams)
CLST 519A: Cultural Contact and Interaction in Pre-Roman Italy: Archaeological and Historical Approaches (F. De Angelis)
NEST 500A: The Archaeology and Culture of the Philistines (T. Schneider)
NEST 503: Studies in the Material Culture of Ancient Egypt (T. Hikade)
RELG 500A: When Time Shall Be No More: Ancient and Modern Apocalypses (D. Neufeld)

2009-2010

CNRS 500/RELG 531: Approaches to the Ancient City (D. Neufeld)
CNRS 503A/LATN 545D: Latin Epigraphy (R. Wilson)
CNRS 503C/GREK 525B: Aristotle and the Purpose of Tragedy (C.W. Marshall)
CNRS 503D/GREK 525A: Greek Love (D. Creese)
CNRS 503E: The Ancient Greek State: Theory and Reconstruction (F. De Angelis)
CNRS 503F: Ancient Near Eastern Historiography (T. Schneider)
GREK 501A: Plato, Protagoras; Republic I (D. Creese)
GREK 501B: Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch (F. De Angelis)
GREK 502A: Aristophanes, Frogs (C. W. Marshall)
LATN 501B: Tacitus (S. Braund)
LATN 502A: Plautus, Truculentus, Pseudolus (C. W. Marshall)
LATN 502B: Vergil, Aeneid (S. McElduff)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (R. Wilson)
CLST 505A: Greek Sanctuaries (H. Williams)
CLST 512A: Roman Germany (P. Kiernan)
CLST 512B: Roman Britain (R. Wilson)
CLST 517: Greek and Roman Maritime Archaeology (H. Williams)
CLST 518A/CNRS 503E: The Ancient Greek State: Theory and Reconstruction (F. De Angelis)
NEST 501A: The Archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (L. Cooper)
NEST 502A: War and Diplomacy in Ancient Egypt (T. Hikade)
RELG 502A: Gender, Magic, Ideologies: The Witch Figure in the Ancient World (D. Arbel)
RELG 514A: Theory of Islamic Origins (M. Yazigi)

2008-2009

CNRS 500: Approaches to the Ancient City (D. Neufeld)
CNRS 501/LATN 535: Mystery Religions and the Rise of Christianity (R. Wilson)
CNRS 503A/CLST 519: Death and Dying in the Roman World (L. Bablitz)
LATN 521A: Lucan and his Reception (S. Braund)
LATN 521B: Ancient Rhetorical Theory (S. McElduff)
LATN 525B/GREK 525B: The Classical Commentary: Art and Science (S. Braund)
GREK 501B: Herodotus/Thucydides (F. De Angelis)
GREK 501A: Greek Prose (B. Clausen)
GREK 502A: Tragedy (C.W. Marshall)
LATN 501A: Roman Letters (S. McElduff)
LATN 501B: Apuleius (S. Braund)
LATN 502E: Elegy (S. McElduff)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Athens (C. Williams)
CLST 506D: Studies in Roman Town Planning (R. Wilson)
CLST 509D: Greek Sculpture (C. Williams)
CLST 511/CNRS 505: Greek Regional Archaeology/Studies in Ethnicity (F. De Angelis)
CLST 512: Roman Africa (R. Wilson)
NEST 500A: The Archaeology and Culture of the Philistines (T. Schneider)
NEST 503: Studies in the Material Culture of Ancient Egypt (T. Hikade)
RELG 500: The Social World of the New Testament (D. Neufeld)
RELG 500A: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew (R. Cousland)
RELG 502A: Magic in Ancient Judaism (D. Arbel)
RELG 502D: Talmudic Law and Literature (R. Daum)
RELG 503: Early Christian Lives (P. Burns)
RELG 514: Theory of Islamic Origins (M. Yazigi)

2007-2008

CNRS 500/CNRS 503B/GREK 525B: Greek Musical Discourse (D. Creese)
CNRS 503A/LATN 525A: Seneca’s Tragedies and their Reception (S. Braund)
CNRS 503C: Latin Poetry Englished (S. Braund)
CNRS 505B/GREK 525A: Greek Stagecraft and Performance (C. W. Marshall)
LATN 545: Seminar in Latin Epigraphy (R. Wilson)
GREK 501A: Xenophon’s Anabasis (C. W. Marshall)
GREK 502A: Hellenistic Verse (D. Creese)
GREK 502B: Homer’s Odyssey (D. Creese)
LATN 501A: Cicero (S. McElduff)
LATN 502B: Myth, Magic and Witchcraft in the Roman World (S. McElduff)
LATN 502C: Latin Poetry 43-27 BCE (S. Braund)
CLST 502: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (R. Wilson)
CLST 503B: Greek Sanctuaries (H. Williams)
CLST 512A: Roman Britain (R. Wilson)
CLST 513A: Maritime Archaeology (H. Williams)
NEST 501B: Archaeological Approaches to Ethnicity (L. Cooper)
NEST 502B: Warfare and Diplomacy in Ancient Egypt (T. Schneider)
RELG 500B: Religions of Ancient Israel (P. Mosca)
RELG 500E: Sacred Space and the Gospels (R. Cousland)
RELG 502A: Art of Rabbinic Narrative (R. Daum)
RELG 503B: Augustine’s “City of God” (P. Burns)
RELG 531: Methods in the Study of Religion (faculty)
HEBR 509A: Readings in Jeremiah (P. Mosca)

2006-2007

CNRS 500: Proseminar in Ancient Mediterranean Studies (D. Neufeld)
CNRS 503B/GREK 525B: Greek Love (D. Creese)
GREK 545B: Greek Epigraphy (F. De Angelis)
CLST 501: Topography and Monuments of Ancient Athens (H. Williams)
CLST 505A: Studies in Greek Town Planning (H. Williams)
CLST 511A: Ancient Sicily (F. De Angelis)
NEST 501A: Archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (L. Cooper)
NEST 502A: Warfare and Diplomacy in Ancient Egypt (T. Hikade)
NEST 503A: Introduction to Middle Egyptian (T. Hikade).