Core Courses

Descriptions

ART 341. Classical Art (A)
Aegean, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman architecture, sculpture, and painting from 2,500 B.C.E. to 330 C.E. Prerequisite: 110 or consent of instructor.

ART 342. Medieval Art (M)
Architecture, sculpture, and painting of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval, Romanesque, and Gothic periods - 300 to 1300. Prerequisite: 110 or consent of instructor.

ART 343. Italian Renaissance Art (R)
Architecture, sculpture, and painting in Italy from the Proto-Renaissance through Mannerism - 1300 to 1600. Prerequisite: 110, 111 or consent of instructor.

ENG 330. Medieval Literature (M)
English literature from its Anglo-Saxon beginnings through the 15th Century. The works read in the course illustrate the generic range and imaginative spirit of this near-millennium: Beowulf The Wanderer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Malory's Morte d'Arthur, Piers Plowman, The Pearl, and selections from The Book of Margery Kempe and from Julian of Norwich's Showings.

ENG 340. The English Renaissance: The Power and the Glory (R)
A study of major works of English literature (excluding the drama) from the period known as the English Renaissance, with special attention to the ideals of virtue, grace, and glory that those works bequeathed to early modern culture. Students compare the uses of literacy and literature in their own culture with those of men and women in the Age of Shakespeare: Thomas More, Shakespeare (the poetry), John Donne, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Andrew Marvell. Special topics include the construction of male vs. female virtues, sexuality and violence, and the literature of martyrdom in both Renaissance and modern texts.

ENG 342 / THEA 351 Drama and Theatre to 1640 (R)
The theatre and representative plays, illustrating the development of drama and theatre in its various forms and styles in Western Europe in the following periods: Classical Greek and Rome; Medieval and Renaissance. Consideration is given to the influence of the social setting, the physical theatre, prevalent theories of drama and criticism, and other theatrical conditions in each period. Also listed as ENG 342.

ENG 391. Issues in English Linguistics (M)
In this course students will be exposed to various ways of analyzing the structure of the English language, and will explore the interplay of language and social identity as it is shaped by gender, race, class and regionality (e.g. dialects). The course also addresses issues such as how the English language has changed over time, how children acquire language, and how language use defines what it means to be human.

ENG 395. History of the English Language (M)
This course offers answers to questions such as, "Why is English spelling so crazy?" and "Why does English language vary so much from Beowulf to Chaucer to Jane Austen to Alice Walker and other contemporary writers?" The course looks at the origins and traces the development of the English language from prehistoric (Indo-European) times, through the Middle Ages, to the present with reference to English literature across the ages, and with the aid of audio and videotapes.

GREE 110-111. Introduction to Classical Greek (A)
Basics of grammar, and then, readings in original texts as well as some oral and written exercises. Consideration of the culture and history of the areas in which Greek was spoken and written. Attention to Greek roots of English vocabulary. Useful for students of literature, history, philosophy, theology, and medicine.

HIST 340. Ancient Greek History (A)
After briefly surveying the early history of the Aegean world from the Minoans through the archaic period, the course will focus upon 5th-century Athenian society. Through careful reading from a variety of primary sources (Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, and others) students will examine both the events and the ideas that have contributed to Classical Greece's prominence in the Western canon. There will be a strong emphasis on critical thinking and learning historical methodology.

HIST 341. Roman Empire (A)
A topical examination of the Roman Empire at its zenith, focusing on the first two centuries of the Principate. In addition to reviewing the political history of the period, the course will also consider how Roman society was organized and assess the consequences of Romanization upon Europe, North Africa, and the Near East.

HIST 342. "Christians and Barbarians" in Early Medieval Europe (300-1000) (M)
Examines the development of Western Europe from the end of the Roman empire to the dawn of the High Middle ages-the period popularly known as the "Dark Ages." The class will devote particular attention to such topics as: the "fall" of Rome, the nature of the "barbarian" kingdoms in comparison to the Carolingian Empire, and the impact of the Vikings.

HIST 343 Knights, Peasants, and the Cross in the High Middle Ages (1000-1348) (M)
A topical examination of the High Middle Ages in Europe (1lth-13th centuries), focusing on the major changes in social and religious organization, such as the growth of cities, the university, the development and regulation of religious practices, and the crusades. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources the class will consider the causes of these changes, and examine the mentalités of the age.

HIST 345 / REL 332 The Reformation Era (R)
The religious upheaval of the 16th Century, including the medieval sources of the Reformation, the rise of the Protestant Churches, the Counter Reformation, and the emergence of early modern European political, economic, and social conditions. Also listed as REL 332.

HIST 355. The Making of Britain (M)
A survey of the history of Great Britain and Ireland from earliest times through the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and its settlement. Scotland, Ireland, England & Wales, and British continental and colonial holdings receive attention. Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Medieval, and Tudor-Stuart society and institutions are considered. Political structures, economic life, intellectual developments, cultural values, as well as war and diplomacy are treated.

HMCL 251. Women in Antiquity (A)
A historical survey of women's lives and roles in Lesbos, Sparta, Athens, Alexandria, and Rome. Topics will include political, economic, legal, medical, religious, familial, and artistic questions. Contrasts between various communities and various periods will be examined. Useful evidence includes: archaeology, inscriptions; prose works of history, law, medicine, and philosophy; drama; poetry by and about women. Serves as a core requirement in Women's and Gender Studies.

HMCL 310. Literature and Thought of Ancient Greece (A)
An introduction to the major works of Greek literature and the Greek contribution to epic and lyric poetry, tragic and comic drama, historiography, and philosophy. Homer, Archilochus and Sappho, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plato constitute the basic texts. All works are read in English translation. Recommended: HMCL 122.

HMCL 320. Literature and Thought of Ancient Rome (A)
An introduction to the most important authors of ancient Rome, including dramatists (Plautus, Terence, Seneca), lyric poets (Catullus, Horace), essayists (Cicero), epic poets (Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid), satirists (Horace, Juvenal), and historians (Livy, Tacitus). All works are read in English translation. Recommended: HMCL 122.

HMCL 330. Medieval and Renaissance Thought (M,R)
An introduction to Western European thought during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This course examines the emergence of spiritual and political ideals, humanism, and the attempts to synthesize classical and Christian traditions. Among the authors considered are Boethius, Benedict, Dante, Erasmus, Thomas Aquinas, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Christine de Pisan.

LATI 110-111. Introduction to Latin (A,M,R)
Basics of grammar, and then, readings in original texts of moderate difficulty such as short poems of Catullus and passages of Cicero's prose. Oral and written exercises, also consideration of the culture and archaeology of the areas in which Latin was spoken. Consideration of the debt of our language to Latin. Useful for students in any field.

PHIL 346. History of Ancient Philosophy (A)
Leading philosophers and intellectual currents from the early Greeks to the Roman Period. The major emphasis is on the genesis of western thought among the pre-Socratic philosophers, and its crystallization in the works of Plato and Aristotle.

PHIL 347. History of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy (M,R)
A survey of major intellectual trends from the Stoics through Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and selected Renaissance thinkers. Special emphasis on the historical background and intellectual development of Islam.

REL 316. Ancient Mediterranean Religions (A)
Survey of the religions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Greece, and the Hellenistic World from the end of the third millenium to the beginning of the Christian era. The myths, symbols, and rituals of these ancient cultures are studied for their understanding of humanity and its place in society and the cosmos.

REL 326. Religions of the Roman Empire (A)
Survey of the religions of the Hellenistic World from Alexander the Great to Theodosius including such phenomena as Hellenistic cults, Mystery Religions, Emperor Cults, Divine Men, Judaism, Hermeticism and Orphism, Astrology and Magic, and Gnosticism.

REL 331. History of Christian Thought (M)
The history of the doctrinal traditions of the church and the systematic ideas of its theologians from the beginnings of Christianity to the present. The course will include a survey of the development of Christian theology as well as focus upon representative thinkers such as Paul, Origen, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, Wesley, Schleiermacher, and Tillich.