Even skeptics among us believe that in the U.S. and around the world, media make a difference in our democracy and our everyday lives. This course takes that belief to heart, asking about the social and cultural role of mass media in advanced, post-industrial Western societies (primarily in the U.S.). We consider how media and their surrounding economic and institutional framework affect cultural, political and ideological processes. We consider a range of media forms in historical context to understand how today's media systems came to be.

This course examines the emergence and material culture of the Etruscan people from their roots in the Italic Iron Age (circa 1000 BCE) through its absorption into the Roman sphere.

Not available at this time

This course explores the development and variety of ancient urban life in the Western world from its earliest formations in the Neolithic to the Medieval town.

This seminar provides an opportunity for students to reflect on how their research project relates to their previous coursework in Classics and in general education, to collaborate with peers in learning by sharing progress as they complete their projects and offering suggestions to one another for meeting challenges, and to communicate the final results of their projects orally and/or visually to each other and departmental faculty in the setting of a year-end research symposium.

Various voices of ancient Roman literature in translation, including selections from the poetry of Lucretius, elegiac and lyric poets, Vergil, Ovid, and Juvenal; from the historians Livy and Tacitus; and from the prose works of Petronius and Apuleius. Their meaning and wisdom for later generations. (Gen.Ed. AL)

Not available at this time

Our goal is to read all of Herodotus? Histories (in English) with particular attention to themes such as historical inquiry, democracy, and ethnographic and cultural differences among peoples of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. We will spend some time on Herodotus? account of the Persian Wars and examine how his major themes inform his account. We will focus on the origins of the conflict between Western culture and that of the Near East, mainly the wars between the Persians and the Greeks. We will also pay attention to Herodotus' writing style and methodology.

Archaeology of the Roman world during the Republic and Empire period. Methods, progress, and ethics of archaeological research. Emphasis on remains displaying the architectural and urbanistic development of Roman cities and colonies in Italy, North Africa, and Britain, and on their contribution to western civilization. (Gen.Ed. AT)