Syllabus - Fall 2024
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Coming Up
Week 11
Mon 18 Nov
Assignment
- Excerpts from Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982), vii-xi [excerpt from
preface], 1-14 [introduction, “The Constituent Elements of Slavery”], 334-342
[chapter 12, “Slavery as Human Parasitism”] (e-reserves) - Image gallery
- Selected Passages on Slavery
Lecture: "Resistant Reading: Slavery and Social Death in Ancient Greece"
Kritish Rajbhandari
Wed 20 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction
- Bers, V. 2003. Demosthenes, Speeches 50-59, Apollodorus, “Against Neaera,” 151-194.
Lecture: "The Case against Neaera: Performing Citizen Status in the Athenian Lawcourt"
Alice Hu
- Lecture handout
- Lecture bibliography - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
- Lecture slides
Fri 22 Nov
Assignment
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Lecture: "LYSISTRATA TO LIZZO: ANCIENT ATHENS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER"
Simone Waller
Week 12
Mon 25 Nov
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.1, 1.20-23, 2.34-65, 3.36-50, 3.69-85 (trans. Warner)
Lecture: "A History for All Ages"
Ariadna Garcia-Bryce
Wed 27 Nov
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 6.1-32, 6.88-93, 7.10-18, 7.55-87
Lecture: "A Reversal in National Character? Thucydides' Account of the Sicilian Expedition."
Ellen Millender
Thu 28 Nov
Thanksgiving Break
November 28 – December 1
Full Schedule
Week 1
Wed 4 Sep
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Gilgamesh, Tablets 1-11 (pp. 1-100, trans. George)
- Students should read the whole of Gilgamesh prior to the first day of class.
Lecture: “The Epic Caring of Gilgamesh (and Others)”
Christian Kroll
- Lecture handout PDF Word
- Lecture recording
Fri 6 Sep
Assignment
- Gilgamesh, Tablets 1-11, pp. 1-100
Lecture: “Gilgamesh: When Terrified by Death…”
Nathalia King
Week 2
Mon 9 Sep
Assignment
- Gilgamesh, Tablets 1-11, pp. 1-100
Lecture: “The Forest and the Flood: Environmental Approaches to the Gilgamesh Epic”
Naomi Caffee
Wed 11 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction
- Christina Riggs, “Forty Centuries,” in Egypt: Lost Civilizations (London: Reaktion Books, 2017), pp. 33-57, 191-192.
- Christina Riggs, excerpt from “Four Little Words,” in Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 3-18
- Gallery: Narmer Palette and Great Pyramid (Gallery images should be carefully studied before conference)
Lecture: “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: THE GREAT PYRAMID IN AND OUT OF CONTEXT”
Tom Landvatter
Fri 13 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction
- “The Tale of Sinuhe,” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, ed. Parkinson, pp. 21-53
Lecture: "Egypt and its Others: Death as Return in the Tale of Sinuhe"
Kritish Rajbhandari
Week 3
Mon 16 Sep
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Introduction
- “The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, ed. Parkinson, pp. 54-88
- Charles Freeman, “Egypt, the Gift of the Nile, 3200-1500 BC,” in Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean, second ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 40-62
Lecture: “Speaking Ma’at, Doing Ma’at, Making Ma’at”
Nathalia King
Wed 18 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction
- Selections from Love Lyrics of Ancient Egypt, trans. Barbara Hughes Fowler (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), pp. xiii-xv, 6-9, 17, 38-41, 57-58, 66-67 (e-reserves)
- Selections from Love Songs of the New Kingdom, trans. John Foster (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974), front matter, pp. 67, 70-73, 102-103. (e-reserves)
Lecture: “Familiar and Strange: Love Poetry of the New Kingdom”
Dustin Simpson
Fri 20 Sep
Lecture: No Reading or Lecture
Sat 21 Sep
First paper due
Due Saturday, September 21, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 4
Mon 23 Sep
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Introduction
- Genesis, chapters 1-20 (focus on 1-11), plus introduction to Genesis, in The Jewish Study Bible, eds. Berlin and Brettler
- Martin S. Jaffee, excerpts from Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium, second ed. (Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2006), pp. 1-28. (e-reserves)
Lecture: "THE GENESES OF GENESIS"
Michael Faletra
Wed 25 Sep
Assignment
- Genesis,chapters 21-50 (focus on 21-22), in The Jewish Study Bible, eds. Berlin and Brettler
- Martin S. Jaffee, excerpts from Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium, second ed. (Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2006), pp. 50-67, 86-87. (e-reserves)
Lecture: "Another Abraham"
Jan Mieszkowski
Fri 27 Sep
Assignment
- Hesiod, Theogony (trans. Lombardo)
Lecture: “Making Gender in Hesiod’s Theogony: Cosmic Parents, Monstrous Children, and Cannibal Consorts”
Nathalia King
Week 5
Mon 30 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction
- Hesiod, Works and Days, lines 1-128, 430-500 (pp. 23-6, 35-7, trans. Lombardo)
- Anaximander (all), Anaximenes (21, 23, and 24), Xenophanes (all), Heraclitus (all), and Parmenides (all), in A Presocratics Reader, ed. Patricia Curd, pp. 16-20, 31-65
Lecture: "Presocratic Philosophy"
Meg Scharle
Wed 2 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction
- Exodus, chapters 1-15, plus introduction to Exodus, in The Jewish Study Bible, eds. Berlin and Brettler
Lecture: “A PEOPLE IN BETWEEN: EXODUS AND THE ISRAELITES AT THE CROSSROADS OF EMPIRE”
Margot Minardi
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 4 Oct
Assignment
- Exodus, chapters 15-25, 32-37, 40 (The Jewish Study Bible, eds. Berlin and
Brettler)
Lecture: The Book of Exodus: A Three Part Exploration
Chauncey Handy
Week 6
Mon 7 Oct
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Iliad: books 1, 2, 3 and 6 (trans. Lattimore)
- Summaries of the other books (Summary Handout)
Lecture: “Great Books”
Nigel Nicholson
Wed 9 Oct
Assignment
- Iliad : books 9, 16, 18, 19
Lecture: Achilleus: Brooding Whiner or Skeptical Sage?”
Ann Delehanty
Fri 11 Oct
Lecture: No reading or lecture
Sat 12 Oct
Second Paper Due
Due Saturday, October 12, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 7
Mon 14 Oct
Assignment
- Iliad : books 22, 23, 24
Lecture: “The Epic Scale; or, The World According to Homer"
Jay Dickson
Wed 16 Oct
Assignment
- Archilochus 4, 18; Tyrtaeus 7; Alcaeus 4; Sappho 1, 4, 6, 14, 18; Hipponax 1-9 (Greek Lyric, ed. Andrew Miller [Cambridge: Hackett, 1996], pp. 2, 5, 18-19, 40-1, 51-2, 54-6, 59-61, 104-6)
Lecture: "How to Read Poetry and Why."
Marat Grinberg
Fri 18 Oct
Assignment
- Galleries: Kouroi and Egyptian Sculpture
- Andrew Stewart, Art, Desire, and the Body in Ancient Greece, pp. 3-13, 63-70, 268 (glossary). (e-reserves)
Lecture: "Stay and Mourn"
Jenny Sakai
Sat 19 Oct
Fall Break
October 19 – October 27
Week 8
Mon 28 Oct
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Introduction
- Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, Sections 0-12, 28-33, 53-54, 71-91, 201-216; Book 2, Sections 1-5, 28-64, 113-120. (Page numbers differ by the edition, but for the most recent de Selincourt edition, this equates to pp. 3-8, 13-16, 23, 32-43, 88-97, 105-121, 138-142.)
- There is also a structural outline on pp. 607-614.
Lecture: “Same Difference: Telling Tales of Others in The Histories of Herodotus”
Margot Minardi
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture bibliography - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Wed 30 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction to Achaemenid Era Inscriptions
- Achaemenid era inscriptions, from The Persian Empire, vol. I, ed. Amelie Kuhrt (New York: Routledge, 2007), pp. 70-74, 141-158, 492-495, 503-505. (e-reserves)
- Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, Sections 131-140; Book 3, Sections 37-38, 61-89 (pp. 61-64, 186-187, 197-212)
Lecture: “Empire of All Kinds: Achaemenid Persia from Cyrus to Herodotus”
Margot Minardi
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 1 Nov
Assignment
- Gallery: The Apadana, from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute
- Margaret C. Root, "Circles of Artistic Programming: Strategies for Studying Creative Process at Persepolis," in A. C. Gunter (ed.), Investigating Artistic Environments in the Ancient Near East (Washington, DC, 1990), 115-39. (e-reserves)
Lecture: “The Spaces of Persepolis"
Jenny Sakai
Week 9
Mon 4 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction
- Gallery: Parthenon
- Rachel Kousser, “Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis,” Art Bulletin 91.3 (2009): pp. 263-282 (e-reserves)
Lecture: “Architecture, Memory, and Meaning: The Parthenon and Beyond”
Christian Kroll
- Lecture recording
- Lecture Handout Word & PDF
Wed 6 Nov
Assignment
- Herodotus, Histories, 6.125-130, 7.8-57, 7.101-104, 7.138-144, 7.201-238, 8.40-99, 9.114-122
Lecture: "Herodotus, Oracle of Halicarnassus"
Meg Scharle
Fri 8 Nov
Assignment
- Esther (The Jewish Study Bible, eds. Berlin and Brettler)
Lecture: "Beyond the Scapegoat"
Michael Faletra
Week 10
Mon 11 Nov
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Introduction
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Agamemnon,” (trans. Fagles)
Lecture: "The Beginnings of Tragedy"
Jay Dickson
- Lecture Handout
- Lecture recording
Wed 13 Nov
Assignment
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Libation Bearers”
Lecture: “Aeschylus to Alfaro: Tracing Lineage, Rethinking Gender”
Simone Waller
Fri 15 Nov
Assignment
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Eumenides”
Lecture: “The Eumenides”
Peter Steinberger
Sat 16 Nov
Third Paper Due
Due Saturday, November 16, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 11
Mon 18 Nov
Assignment
- Excerpts from Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982), vii-xi [excerpt from
preface], 1-14 [introduction, “The Constituent Elements of Slavery”], 334-342
[chapter 12, “Slavery as Human Parasitism”] (e-reserves) - Image gallery
- Selected Passages on Slavery
Lecture: "Resistant Reading: Slavery and Social Death in Ancient Greece"
Kritish Rajbhandari
Wed 20 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction
- Bers, V. 2003. Demosthenes, Speeches 50-59, Apollodorus, “Against Neaera,” 151-194.
Lecture: "The Case against Neaera: Performing Citizen Status in the Athenian Lawcourt"
Alice Hu
- Lecture handout
- Lecture bibliography - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
- Lecture slides
Fri 22 Nov
Assignment
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Lecture: "LYSISTRATA TO LIZZO: ANCIENT ATHENS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER"
Simone Waller
Week 12
Mon 25 Nov
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.1, 1.20-23, 2.34-65, 3.36-50, 3.69-85 (trans. Warner)
Lecture: "A History for All Ages"
Ariadna Garcia-Bryce
Wed 27 Nov
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 6.1-32, 6.88-93, 7.10-18, 7.55-87
Lecture: "A Reversal in National Character? Thucydides' Account of the Sicilian Expedition."
Ellen Millender
Thu 28 Nov
Thanksgiving Break
November 28 – December 1
Week 13
Mon 2 Dec
Assignment
- Plato, “Apology,” “Euthyphro,” and “Crito,” in Trial and Death of Socrates, pp. 20-42
(trans. Grube)
Lecture: "A Kind of Gadfly"
Pancho Savery
Wed 4 Dec
Assignment
- Plato, Republic, 357a-417a (=Books 2–3), pp. 36-102 (trans. Reeve)
- For the summary of the whole book, see Reeve, pp. xxx-xxxiii
Lecture: "Lovers of Laughter"
Jan Mieszkowski
Fri 6 Dec
Assignment
- Plato, Republic, 497a-541a (=part of Book 6 to end of Book 7), pp. 191-237
Lecture: "Plato's cave: A Metaphysical Response to Sophistry"
Meg Scharle
Sat 7 Dec
Fourth Paper Due
Due Saturday, December 7, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 14
Mon 9 Dec
In-Person lecture: 9:00-9:50am in Vollum Lecture Hall
Assignment
- No reading
Lecture: TBD
Jan Mieszkowski
Wed 11 Dec
Lecture: No reading or lecture
Week 15
Mon 16 Dec
Final Exam
Monday, December 16, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Course Logistics
REQUIRED TEXTS
- Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1977.
- Aristophanes. Lysistrata. Trans. Sarah Ruden. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003.
- Berlin Adele, and Mark Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2014
- Curd, Patricia, ed. A Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testimonia. Trans.
Richard D. McKirahan. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011. - The Epic of Gilgamesh the Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Trans. Andrew George. London: Penguin Classics, 2003.
- Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. London: Penguin, 2003.
- Hesiod. Works and Days and Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993.
- Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.
- Parkinson, R. B., ed. and trans. The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems,
1940-1640 B.C. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. - Plato. Republic. Trans. C.D.C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004.
- Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Trans. G. M. A. Grube, rev. John Cooper. 3rd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000.
- Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Rex Warner. New York: Penguin, 1954.
Additional assigned texts are available on e-reserves accessible via links embedded in the syllabus below. You will need your Reed username and password to access these texts. Please bring a copy of the day’s reading assignment to class each day. The library has on reserve a limited number of the required books.
LECTURES
On most Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of the semester, a lecture is assigned. On many
Mondays (weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) and on the very first Wednesday of the semester,
these lectures are delivered in-person, and for these lectures we will meet in Vollum
Lecture Hall at 9:00 am. Please be on time; the moments when we all gather together as a
unified class are important. In-person lecture days are flagged on the syllabus. The other
lectures will be posted so they can be accessed online; you can review these when it is most
convenient to do so, but, obviously, do so before your conference meeting. Some of these
lectures have been reused from last year, but, of course, only when still relevant. Lectures
are regularly updated.
CONFERENCE ASSIGNMENTS
Humanities 110 is a yearlong course, and students are expected to remain in the same
conference throughout the year. In cases of absolutely unresolvable schedule conflicts,
students may petition for a change of conference time. Petitions (in the form of an email)
should be addressed to Christian Kroll, including an explanation of the conflict and why it
cannot be resolved. Students granted a change of conference time will be assigned to new
sections based on available slots and the student’s schedule; requests to move into a
particular conference generally cannot be honored.
PAPERS AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Four course-wide papers will be assigned in the fall semester, due at the times designated
on the syllabus. Individual conference leaders may assign additional writing. If the due date
for an assignment conflicts with a religious holiday or obligation that you wish to observe,
please consult with your conference leader. Over the course of the semester, students are
also required to submit at least three conference discussion questions, in writing, to their
conference leader. Due dates for these questions are determined by individual conference
leaders.
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS
If you have a documented disability requiring accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services. Notifications of accommodations on exams, papers, other writing assignments, or conferences should be directed to your conference leader. Notifications of accommodations regarding lectures can be directed to the chair of the course, Christian Kroll. You are advised to consult with your conference leader about how your accommodations might apply to specific assignments or circumstances in this course.
RESOURCES FOR SUPPORT
Your conference leader is your first line of support for any questions you have about the
course. Please also be sure to explore the Hum 110 website for additional information. The
Course Resources entries provide brief introductions to upcoming readings and
suggestions for how to approach them. The Writing in Hum 110 page provides tips on the
writing process.
To support your success in HUM 110, we encourage you to sign up for tutoring early in the
semester. Tutors can help you not only with course content but also with developing
essential skills such as critical reading, and analytical writing skills. There are two main
tutoring resources available.
- Writing Tutors: Our writing tutors are here to help you with all aspects of your
writing, from brainstorming and organizing your ideas to refining your final drafts.
(Type “Writing” in the search for a course tutor box.) - HUM 110 Tutors: These tutors are specialized in helping you understand the
course material and improve your overall study skills. They can assist with both
content-specific questions and general academic skills. (Type “Hum 110” in the
search for a course tutor box.)
Students are eligible for one free hour of individual tutoring per course, per week. In
addition, they may receive one free hour of one-on-one writing tutoring per week. We
recommend scheduling regular sessions with a tutor to build a consistent support system
throughout the semester. These sessions can be scheduled well in advance of the papers,
for example. Further information on tutoring is available here.
Drop-in Writing Tutors. If you need immediate assistance or have a quick question, there
are also drop-in tutoring hours for the Writing Center, with extra hours scheduled
around Hum papers. Drop-in hours for the Writing Center are posted here. Drop-in tutoring
is free.