History 450 - JYW Seminar in History

This seminar trains students in historical research techniques and the writing of history, and fulfills the University's Junior Writing requirement. See the History Department course description guide for various sectional sub-titles and descriptions.

Open to Seniors and Juniors in History, Middle East and Judaic majors only. The Ancient World in Popular Media

From the hit video game Hades, to the Vulcans and Romulans of Star Trek, we have a seemingly-endless fascination with the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world. Even if you've never taken a class on ancient Greece or Rome, you almost certainly have some level of familiarity with these classical civilizations through film, literature, and digital media. In this junior-year writing seminar, we will explore how Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and other peoples of the ancient Mediterranean world are represented in a range of popular media. By engaging directly with a diverse set of films, stories, and games, you will think critically about how popular media shapes our conception of history and of our own society, while developing advanced skills in written expression in a variety of genres, from media reviews, to podcasts, to formal research-based writing.