Special Topics

Independent reading course.

Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Intensive reading, writing

Art/Literature of Sicily

(Offered as ARHA 432 and CLAS 432) Sicily holds a special place in the ancient Mediterranean world, geographically and culturally. It’s location as a stopover point in the Western Mediterranean made it into a site of fierce colonization by Greeks, Carthaginians, and eventually Romans, demonstrating along the way the complexities of cultural interactions among these rival groups. Rome in essence learned to become an empire there, in and after the First Punic War (264-241 BCE).

Special Topics

Independent reading course.

Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Intensive reading, writing

Greek Myth and Religion

A survey of the gods and heroes of ancient Greece, their representation in Greek art and literature, and the sanctuaries and rituals in which these divine figures were worshipped. We will give particular attention to myths that live on in Western art and literature, in order to become familiar with the stories which were part of the repertory of later artists and authors. 

Three class hours per week. Limited to 75 students. Fall semester. Professor R. Sinos.

Fourth-Year Chinese I

This course, along with Chinese 402 in the spring semester, is the most advanced class in our Chinese language curriculum. Giving consistent emphasis to listening, speaking, writing, and grammar, the course focuses on advanced reading of authentic and idiomatic texts of Mandarin Chinese. With a balanced consideration to various topics, genres, and speech types, literary works will make up the principal part of the fourth-year reading materials.

Third-Year Chinese I

This course, alongside Chinese 302 in the spring semester, is our third-year class offered for students who have completed the first two years of Mandarin Chinese. We continue to emphasize pronunciation and intonation, practice listening and speaking, and work to improve our command of grammar with more complex syntax structures. The class will see a switch from textbook materials to selective authentic texts for the general Chinese reader, and introduce the students to a variety of topics, genres, and speech types ranging from literary works to media and popular cultural materials.

Second-Year Chinese I

This course is designed for students who have completed first-year Chinese classes. The emphasis will be on the basic grammatical structures. The course reinforces the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) through vigorous drills and practices. There will be three class meetings and two drill sessions each week.

Requisite: CHIN 102 or equivalent. Fall semester. Senior Lecturer Teng.

How to handle overenrollment: Majors, Amherst seniors, juniors, and then sophomores and first-years

First-Year Chinese I

This course, along with CHIN 102 in the spring semester, is an elementary introduction to Mandarin Chinese offered for students who have no Chinese-speaking backgrounds. The class takes an integrated approach to basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and it emphasizes pronunciation and the tones, Chinese character handwriting, and the most basic structure and patterns of Chinese grammar. The course meets five times per week (lectures on MWF and drill sessions on TTh).

Fall semester. Senior Lecturer Teng.

Senior Honors

A double course. Open to Senior Honors candidates with consent of the Department.

Fall semester. The Department. 

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: The course emphasizes readings from the primary scientific literature, independent research, quantitative work, and laboratory work toward the writing of a senior honors thesis.

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