Each year the Department of Classical Studies offers one or more Topics (CLST 300) classes, which focus on a specific area of Greek or Roman civilization or literature. Topics courses may be repeated for credit, provided that the topic changes. Topics courses are offered in English, with no knowledge of Greek or Latin required.

2008 Spring Topics Courses

CLST 300: Topics: Before Socrates (Cross-listed as PHL 430 Major Philosophers)
(Spring 2008- Prof. Huffman) MWF 10:10-11:10
The road up and the road down are one and the same. - Heraclitus
For in no way may this prevail, that things that are not, are. – Parmenides
And indeed all things that are known have number. For it is not possible that anything whatsoever be known without this. – Philolaus
By convention, sweet; by convention, bitter; by convention, hot; by convention, cold... but in reality atoms and void. - Democritus
Western philosophy had its origins among a group of Greek thinkers who were active in the 200 years before the death of Socrates (600-400). Both Plato and Aristotle looked back to these Presocratics as important precursors to their own work. This early Greek philosophy was in many ways an heroic age of philosophy. These thinkers are characterized by the bold nature of their speculations and the breadth of their interests. They were poets, scientists, shamans, sages and physicians as well as philosophers. One of the central questions that they addressed was how the cosmos came to be and what the requirements were for something to exist or to be known. Heraclitus is famous as the philosopher of flux, who pictured the world as a river into which you cannot step twice without its having changed. Parmenides’ account of the nature of what is has led many to argue that he thought that all change and all plurality were illusory and that all that exists is one unchanging thing. Amazingly it is as a response to Parmenides that Leucippus and Democritus developed the atomic theory. Empedocles was the first to posit the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, which would be adopted by Aristotle and dominated much of ancient and mediaeval thought. The Presocratics were also concerned with ethical issues. Pythagoras believed in the transmigration of the soul and taught his followers a way of life that was directed at obtaining the best possible rebirth. Alcmaeon gave the first argument for the immortality of the soul. In this course we will try to do justice to the variety of interests among the Presocratics, examine the cultural context in which their speculations arose, try to define what it is that makes them philosophers, and most of all discuss the intriguing arguments they developed to support their bold conjectures about the nature of reality and what constitutes a good human life.

CLST300A: Topics- Women and Literature: Ancient Greek Sources & Modern Versions (Cross listed as ENG264)
(Spring08-Prof. Altman) T Th 10-11:50
When we look into depictions of gender and sexuality in the Ancient Greek world, much seems strange to us. Still, much is also familiar, even foundational to how we think about gender and sexuality today. In law, education, and cultural life, we appeal to ancient models even as we rework them; and much important twentieth-century European and American literature was closely entwined with understanding, translating, rewriting the legacy of Ancient Greece. This new course will take a seminar/ discussion approach to exploring some connections and (disconnections) in the social construction of gender then and now. We’ll read many primary ancient literary texts, including drama (Euripides and Sophocles), poetry (Sappho and others), and a little philosophy, along with some historical and critical readings to put them in context; then some twentieth-century writers (including Anne Carson, Mary Renault, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others yet to be chosen) who draw on ancient inspirations for new gender stories. Guest lectures will help us understand some of the visual and archaeological evidence as well. All readings will be in English, though those who know Greek will be encouraged to read along in the original; the course may be counted toward a women’s studies major or minor as well as within the English department or Classical Studies.

Recent topics courses
The Archaeology of Ancient Britain (Fall 07- Prof. Foss) Image and Propaganda in the Ancient Art and Architecture (Spring 07- Prof. Nitschke) Ancient Athletics (Fall 2006, Prof. Seaman) Greek and Roman Law (Fall, 2005, Prof. Guinee) Ancient Cities (Spring 05-Prof. Liu) Senior Seminar: The Age of Alcibiades (Spring 05-Prof. Huffman) The Archaeology of Carthage and North Africa (Fall 04-Prof. Foss) Ancient Israel (Spring 04-Prof. Schindler) The Age of Augustus (Spring 04-Prof. Thibodeau) Before Socrates (Fall 2003-Prof. Huffman) Ancient Mediterranean Religions (Spring, 2003, Prof. O'Bryhim) The Archaeology of the Early Greek City (Fall, 2002, Prof. Erickson) Ancient History in Film (Spring, 2002, Prof. Foss)