Classics 239QU - Topics in Classics: 'Arts and Cultures Across Antiquity'

Ancient peoples produced some of the most striking and significant works of art known to man, architecture like the Great Pyramids at Giza, sculpture like the Aphrodite of Knidos and the Prima Porta of Augustus, and literature like The Iliad and The Book of Songs. We will examine materials that span the Neolithic Period to roughly 400 CE, approximately when three great empires, the Roman, the Gupta, and the Han, came to an end. We will cover a broad geographic area, including the Middle East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, and China. Our goal will not simply be to gain an appreciation for the aesthetic and technical excellence of works of art, but we will contextualize, analyze, and interrogate them to better understand the peoples who produced them, along with their institutions, cultures, and lived experiences.

Course limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors