Undergraduate courses in Classics General

(F,Sem) (Same as DRAMA 12N.) Stanford Introductory Seminar. Preference to freshmen. Tensions inherent in the democracy of ancient Athens; how the character of Antigone emerges in later drama, film, and political thought as a figure of resistance against illegitimate authority; and her relevance to contemporary struggles for women's and workers' rights and national liberation. Readings and screenings include versions of Antigone by Sophocles, Anouilh, Brecht, Fugard/Kani/Ntshona, Paulin, Glowacki, Gurney, and von Trotta. GER:DB-Hum, EC-Gender

4 units, Win (Rehm, R)

CLASSGEN 9. Greek and Latin Roots of English

Goal is to improve vocabulary, comprehension of written English, and standardized test scores through learning the Greek and Latin components of English. Focus is on patterns and processes in the formation of the lexicon. Terminology used in medicine, business, education, law, and humanities; introduction to principles of language history and etymology. Greek or Latin not required.

3 units, Sum (Myers, M)

CLASSGEN 18. Greek Mythology

The heroic and divine in the literature, mythology, and culture of archaic Greece. Interdisciplinary approach to the study of individuals and society. Illustrated lectures. Readings in translation of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and the poets of lyric and tragedy. GER:DB-Hum

3-5 units, Aut (Clayton, B)

CLASSGEN 20N. Mapping the Mediterranean

Preference to freshman. How the Mediterranean has been represented, visually and textually, and the contexts in which such representations evolved. The roles of polytheistic and monotheistic religions in cartography. From the ancient period including Homer's Iliad to the times of Gerhardus Mercator, 1512-94. How the time span from Homer to Mercator reveals the changes that make it necessary to examine the idea of the map. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, offered occasionally

CLASSGEN 22. Technologies of Civilization: Writing, Number, and Money

The technological keys to the growth of civilization that enabled the creation of complex societies and enhanced human cognition. The role of cognition in shaping history and the role of history in shaping cognition. Global perspective, emphasizing the Western tradition and its ancient Greek roots. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, Aut (Netz, R)

CLASSGEN 45N. Conversations: Catullus, Virgil, and their Influence on the Prose and Poetry of Robert Frost

(F,Sem) Stanford Introductory Seminar. Preference to freshmen. Poems by Catullus and Virgil (in Latin or in translation) and by Robert Frost. Why Frost kept the poetry of Catullus close at hand throughout his life; the relationship between a writer's reading and writing; and how emotional experience can be transmuted into verbal at. Sound, rhythm, meter, the order of words, artful construction of short poems, and the dramatic function of conversation. Poetry recitation and creative writing.

3-5 units, Spr (Lain, N)

CLASSGEN 48N. Ethical Wisdom in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy

(F,Sem) Stanford Introductory Seminar. Preference to freshmen. What sorts of ethical values are found in Greek tragedies? Modes of ethical wisdom promoted and enacted in Greek tragedy and philosophy in the classical period emphasizing modes of wisdom that reflected traditional Greek religion and traditional social and political values in democratic Athens. GER:DB-Hum

3-5 units, Spr (Nightingale, A)

CLASSGEN 60. The Life and Death of a Roman City: Pompeii

The development of Pompeii from its early settlements to its luxurious urban center. Focus is on aspects of daily life such as family, slavery, economy, women, politics and religion. The décor of private houses and civic buildings, including the imperial display of power. The impact of Pompeii on the modern world, including art, architecture, and urban design. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, offered occasionally

CLASSGEN 66. Herodotus

For Ancient History field of study majors; others by consent of instructor. Close reading technique. Historical background to the Greco-Persian Wars; ancient views of empire, culture, and geography; the wars and their aftermath; ancient ethnography and historiography, including the first narrative of ancient Egypt. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, offered occasionally

CLASSGEN 81. Philosophy and Literature

Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. GER:DB-Hum

4 units, Win (Anderson, L; Vermeule, B)

CLASSGEN 94. Ethics of Pleasure

The concept of pleasure in Greek culture, thought, poetry, and philosophy. How physical, sensual, and intellectual types of pleasure are described and defined in Greek texts and visual arts. The relationship between individual and public/political experiences of pleasure; the intersection between aesthetics and ethics. GER:DB-Hum, GER: EC-EthicReas

3-5 units, not given this year

CLASSGEN 101. Stoics and Epicureans: Explorations in Embodied Philosophical Practice

Two of the main philosophical schools of Hellenistic and Roman times, Epicureanism and Stoicism, focusing on these philosophies as practices, especially bodily practices. Their shared emphasis on the body and the physical self as an inevitable concern in the quest for freedom from disturbance. The body and its needs as the central vehicle for demonstrating the success of each philosophy's account of the natural world. Ancient bodily practices and modern receptions of these practices. GER:DB-Hum

3-5 units, Aut (Staff)

CLASSGEN 111. Croesus and Solon: Polemical Interpretation of Olbos

Croesus, ruler of Lydia in the 6th century B.C.E. until the kingdom was absorbed into the Persian Empire; how he became a part of Greek culture. Historical, artistic, and poetic sources relating to his personality and reign. The concept of olbos or prosperity. Readings include the Athenian legislator and poet Solon, Herodotus, and the praise poet Bacchylides. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, Spr (Gonzalez, A), given once only

CLASSGEN 119. Gender and Power in Ancient Rome

Ideals, norms, and transgressions of behavior. Masculinity and femininity in founding legends and public rituals; the ambiguous status of vestal virgins; the masculinity of the Roman Forum; the spatial logic of Roman prostitution; gendered accounts of good and bad emperors in ancient texts. Practices of gender and power in life and death, public and private space, religion, spectacles, and sex in the urban landscape of ancient Rome GER:DB-Hum, EC-Gender

3-5 units, Win (Trimble, J)

CLASSGEN 123. Urban Sustainabilty: Long-Term Archaeological Perspectives

(Same as CLASSGEN 223, URBANST 115.) Comparative and archaeological view of urban design and sustainability. How fast changing cities challenge human relationships with nature. Innovation and change, growth, industrial development, the consumption of goods and materials. Five millennia of city life including Near Eastern city states, Graeco-Roman antiquity, the Indus Valley, and the Americas.

3-5 units, Spr (Shanks, M)

CLASSGEN 130. Singers of Tales: Ancient and Contemporary Epic in Action

How epic reflects and molds the thinking of its audiences and practitioners in many parts of the world today. The content and methods of epic performance in Egypt, Central Asia, north and central India, and among the Nyanga of Africa. Emphasis is on the aesthetic and ethnographic: that is, on the epic as crafted, meaning-rich performances, and on its role in the everyday life of common people in contemporary non-Western cultural areas. GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom

3-4 units, Spr (Staff)

CLASSGEN 154. Social Power: The Law and the State, a Comparative Study of Ancient Legal Systems

(Same as CLASSGEN 354.) For ancient history majors and those interested in the history of law. Ancient Mediterranean legal systems, from ancient Egypt and the Near East to Greece and Rome. Focus is on ancient documents including the Code of Hammurabi, Egyptian sale contracts, as well as analysis of ancient law such as Maine's Ancient Law, and Weber. The development of the law; solutions in ancient societies to the common problems of crime, contract, inheritance, marriage, and the family; and the enforcement of property rights. GER:DB-SocSci

3-5 units, offered occasionally

CLASSGEN 160. Directed Readings (Undergraduate)

1-15 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

CLASSGEN 174. Martyrdom in the Ancient World

(Same as RELIGST 174.) Jewish, Christian, and pagan narratives of persecution and resistance. Emphasis is on ancient documents in translation. Competing agendas of parties involved, group dynamics, individual motivation, symbolic violence, and the body as a locus of power and control. GER:DB-Hum

4 units, Aut (Gleason, M)

CLASSGEN 176. Majors Seminar: Gods and Physicians, Saints and Dreams,Health and Healing in the Ancient World

Required of Classics majors and minors in junior or senior year; students contemplating honors should take this course in junior year. In the ancient world, what we now call science and religion intersected in practices of health and healing. Beliefs and practices that converged on the body through case studies. Close reading and decoding of cultural clues from a of religious and medical traditions. WIM

4-5 units, Win (Gleason, M; Haas, C)

CLASSGEN 199. Undergraduate Thesis: Senior Research

2-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

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Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

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Undergraduate courses in Classics General