CLAS 2020 | GREEK CIVILIZATION

Ms. Arthur-Montagne (hvk9ks)

DAY & TIME
TR 1230-1345
F 0900-0950 - (2) (Discussions)
F 1000-1050 - (2)
F 1300-1350
F 1400-1450

DESCRIPTION

This course satisfies Humanities and/or Historical Studies requirements.

An introduction to the literature and history of ancient Greece. All readings will be in translation, including: Homer, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Aristophanes, and Plato. Midterm, final and two papers.

CLAS 2300 | ANCIENT ROME AT THE MOVIES

Mr. Hays (bgh2n)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1100-1150

DESCRIPTION

This course satisfies Humanities requirements.

Ancient Rome has exercised a fascination on movie producers and directors almost since the beginnings of cinema itself. This class will study the representation of Rome on both the big and small screen from the early days until now. We’ll watch some of the major achievements of the genre, from Mervyn LeRoy’s Quo Vadis through William Wyler’s Ben Hur, Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, and Anthony Mann’s The Fall of the Roman Empire, to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. We’ll also view and discuss some less distinguished efforts, from the “sword-and-sandal” era and beyond. We’ll look at predecessors from the silent and black & white years, and at depictions of Rome on television. There will be readings from classical sources (e.g., Plutarch and Suetonius), from film theory, and from the historical novels that inspired some of the films. Throughout the semester we’ll be asking how these imagined Romes relate to historical reality, how they engage in dialogue with one another, and how they function as a mirror for the concerns and anxieties of our own society.

CLAS 3040 | WOMEN AND GENDER

Ms. Myers (ksm8m)

DAY & TIME
TR 0930-1045

DESCRIPTION
This course will focus on the construction of gender roles in Ancient Greece and Rome. Students will be introduced to the primary material on women and gender in antiquity and to current debates about it. We will examine the Cultural Identity or Ideal constructed for women and men in Ancient literature in comparison with the historical evidence and analyze how the cultural categories of male and female were delineated and deployed in various social, political, and literary contexts. Readings for this course will include Greek and Latin texts in translation, including poetry, history, drama, rhetoric, and inscriptions. Articles and additional readings will be assigned.

CLAS 3260 | RITUALS IN ANCIENT GREECE

Mr. Petrovic (ap2bd)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
The course explores Ancient Greek religious practices and beliefs by highlighting tensions between public and private realms. Starting with the rituals belonging to the realm of social interaction and the rites of passage, we move on to investigate the group rituals in their socio-religious contexts. Then, turning from the realm of public religion performed in, and often in service of, a city-state, we will focus on magical practices which Greeks performed in secrecy and solitude, and will explore magical rituals as a touchstone for assessment and evaluation of conceptual differences between the domains of ‘public’ and ‘private’ religiosity, and, more generally, between the realms of ‘religion’ and ‘magic’. Course structure: Each week, there will be one lecture (Wednesday) and one seminar (Monday). The preparatory reading must be done between Wednesday and Monday. Reading will average 50 pages/week.

GREE 1010 | ELEMENTARY GREEK

Mr. Petrovic (ap2bd)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1000-1050
TR 0930-1045 (Discussions)
TR 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
In this course the students will be introduced to ancient Greek, one of the most fascinating languages of the world, the language of Plato, Aristotle, Sappho, and Homer. What’s not to love? We will learn the forms of verbs and nouns, the rules of syntax, and equip you with a beginning vocabulary (imagine: after a while you might discover that you are able to write in the style of Plato!). And when you continue with your Greek at the Intermediate and Advanced levels, you will be able to appreciate the brilliance of Homer and the pathos of Euripides as people did 2500 years ago, as well to gain a much deeper understanding of the New Testament. There will be short readings, exercises in writing Greek, plenty of quizzes, a midterm and a final. It will not always be easy — really good things seldom are — but it will be a lot of fun (if you like coding, philosophy, math or physics, it won’t be difficult either).

GREE 2010 | INTERMEDIATE GREEK I

Mr. Dillery (jdd4n)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1000-1050

DESCRIPTION
The aim of this class is for the student to make the transition from an understanding of the elementary principles of ancient Greek to intermediate reading skills. Students will read portions of Xenophon’s Anabasis and Plato’s Apology. There will be weekly quizzes. Midterm and Final Exam.

GREE 3030 | ADVANCED READING IN GREEK

Mr. George (chg4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION
At the start of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos, the title character is supremely confident: he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, married the queen, and became king of Thebes. But by the end of the play, he has learned such horrible things about himself that his wife commits suicide, for she is not just his wife, and he gouges out his eyes, for they have seen what they should not have seen. In this course, we will read this play with care and precision, asking ourselves how it is that this could all happen to Oedipus.

GREE 5260 | GREEK HYMNS

Ms. Petrovic (ip3k)

DAY & TIME
TR 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION
Addressing the gods in the form of a hymn was one of the central elements of Greek religious rituals and a poem was thought to be a valuable gift to the gods. This course will offer a survey of the major hymnic genres, from rhapsodic ‘Homeric’ hymns, through inscriptional cult hymns, lyric monody, choral lyric, Hellenistic hymns of Callimachus, magical hymns, Orphic hymns, and prose hymns.

GREE 5559 | HOW TO READ GREEK GOOD

Mr. Dillery (jdd4n)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1530-1620

DESCRIPTION
This course is intended for entering and second year graduate students (and undergraduate majors perhaps interested in graduate school in Classics) to help them improve their ancient Greek reading skills, taking them from the undergraduate to graduate-level competency. Students will read Xenophon and Lysias with great care and also undertake a number of Greek composition assignments. Midterm, Final, and weekly assignments.

LATI 1010 | ELEMENTARY LATIN II

Mr. Miller (jfm4j)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1200-1250
TR 0930-1045 (Discussions)
TR 1100-1215
TR 1230-1345

DESCRIPTION
This course introduces the basic principles of Latin grammar and syntax. Lectures and elementary exercises in comprehension and composition will be complemented by reading adapted Latin passages about ancient myth and Roman history. The class meets with the lead instructor MWF; discussion sections TR with Teaching Assistants. This course continues in the spring with LATI 1020, when we cover the remaining grammar and begin reading original Latin texts.

LATI 1030 | FUNDAMENTALS OF LATIN

Mr. Celotto (gc4fw)

DAY & TIME
MTWR 0900-0950
MTWR 1000-1050

DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to introduce you to the Latin language through Wheelock’s Latin. Your main objective in this course will be to gain a working knowledge of the fundamentals of Latin grammar, syntax, and vocabulary by learning paradigms, and reading and translating sentences and passages adapted from and inspired by ancient Roman orators, historians, poets, and playwrights. At the end of this semester, the successful student will be able to identify the morphology of nouns and verbs and understand Latin syntax.

LATI 2010 | INTERMEDIATE LATIN I

DAY & TIME
Mr. Brubaker (elb5dk)
MWF 0900-0950
Ms. Raby (nr8ca)
MWF 1200-1250
Ms. Herbert (seh9b)
MWF 1400-1450

DESCRIPTION
We will be reading selections from Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses, including the stories of Daedalus and Icarus and Apollo and Daphne, and Nepos’ biography of Hannibal the Carthaginian general in its entirety. Particular attention will be devoted to issues of grammar, syntax, meter, and style. Students will complete quizzes, exams featuring unseen passages, and short composition assignments.

LATI 2020 | INTERMEDIATE LATIN II

DAY & TIME
Ms. Kuin (ik6mg)
MWF 0900-0950
Mr. Cvjeticanin (jcev)
MWF 1200-1250

DESCRIPTION
In this course you will continue your study of Latin through the translation of ancient authors in prose and poetry. This class will focus on reading the poems of Catullus and Cicero’s Pro Caelio. In addition to prepared readings, students will do in-class exercises to improve their understanding of Latin grammar, as well as short Latin compositions. Students in this course must have completed Intermediate Latin I (2010) with a minimum grade of D-. Successful completion of this course will complete the Intermediate Latin sequence and meet the language requirement for the College of Arts and Sciences. Text editions: Garrison, D.H. 2012. The Student’s Catullus (4th ed.). University of Oklahoma Press. Englert, W.G. 1990. Cicero: Pro Caelio. Bryn Mawr College Commentaries. (Out of print, PDF will be supplied.)

LATI 3010 | PLAUTUS

Mr. Celotto (gc4fw)

DAY & TIME
TR 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to introduce you to Plautus’ comedies, the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. These comedies are mostly adapted from Greek originals. Plautus reworked his models to give them a flavor that would appeal to the Roman audience. For instance, he introduced references to contemporary events and people, and used a colloquial, yet creative style, abounding in puns and wordplay. In this course we will engage in close reading of the Menaechmi. Particular attention will be devoted to issues of grammar, syntax, meter, and style.

LATI 3120 | PLINY'S LETTERS

Mr. Hays (bgh2n)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1400-1450

DESCRIPTION
Pliny the Younger’s ten books of letters offer us a vivid picture of elite Roman life in the early second century AD. Their topics include obituaries, poetry, murder, political corruption, marriage, ghosts, historiography, luxury villas, and the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD (which Pliny witnessed in person). Some notable writers make cameo appearances, including Tacitus, Martial, Suetonius, and Pliny's own uncle, Pliny the Elder. The tenth book gives us unrivaled insight into the day-to-day work of a provincial governor and the administration of the empire under Trajan. It includes some of the earliest evidence for the uneasy relationship between the Roman state and a new religious sect, the Christians. In this course we will read a selection of letters, accustoming ourselves to Pliny's style and literary habits. We will also focus on Pliny's use of the letter form and the shaping of his epistolary persona.

LATI 4010 | CATULLUS

Ms. Myers (ksm8m)

DAY & TIME
TR 1230-1345

DESCRIPTION
In this course we will engage in close reading of most of Catullus’ most famous and significant poems (translation and literary analysis), with an alertness to matters of translation, meter, style, allusion, poetics, arrangement, and cultural and political context. We will explore the poet’s negotiations with various ideologies and cultural discourses, literary, political, religious, social, and sexual. Class time will be divided between translation and discussion. Students will be required to present short in-class reports on selected poems and secondary materials. There will be quizzes, a one-hour midterm exam, and a final exam (translation and scansion) and a final paper (c. 7 pages).

LATI 5080 | LATIN LINGUISTICS

Mr. George (chg4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
This course will examine some of the major issues in Latin linguistics, including, but not limited to, the Indo-European background of Latin, the origins of the declensions and conjugations, the relationship of Latin to the other early Italic dialects, word order, and the pragmatics of Latin particles and tense usage. Particular attention will be paid to the practice of writing linguistic commentary on standard Latin texts.

LATI 5160 | VERGIL, AENEID

Mr. Miller (jfm4j)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
We will study selected books in the light of scholarship from Servius to the present day, highlighting issues of religion, contemporary ideology, literary history and reception.

ARAH 9505 | ARCHAEOLOGIES OF MEMORY IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN

Ms. Kreindler (waf5tg)

DAY & TIME
T 1700-1900

DESCRIPTION
The past is not a monolithic entity; ancient peoples were aware that they inhabited places that had been constructed and occupied by their predecessors. Moreover, they engaged with the material remains of past peoples, and such materials fundamentally influenced their present lives. This class will explore “the past in the past,” examining how social, or collective memory, specifically those centered on particular materials, helped define various Greek and Roman identities. This course will explore how materials were created to influence social memories, as both Greeks and Romans were attuned to the power of materiality to shape collective memory. It also will examine how social memory was mutable, as people perceive, conceptualize, remember, and forget in different ways. Lastly, this course will interrogate how memories of the past exist in the present, influencing both modern scholarship and political agendas.

ARTH 1503 | ART AND POWER

Ms. Kreindler (waf5tg)

DAY & TIME
MW 1200-1250

DESCRIPTION
In antiquity, those with power skillfully utilized art and architecture to communicate their authority to pre-literate societies. Many of these works, like the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Athenian Parthenon, are evocative, enduring, and still recognizable. This course will adopt a comparative approach, covering materials from across the Old World, to explore how different cultures communicated authority to the masses. Chronologically, this course will cover materials that span the Bronze Age to 400 CE, approximately when three great empires, the Roman, the Gupta, and the Han, came to an end. These works of art and architecture will come from a broad geographic area, including the Middle East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, and China. Additionally, this course will explore how monuments to power have influenced later cultures and continue to influence our own society.

ARTH 2053 | GREEK ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Ms. Smith (tjs6e)

DAY & TIME
TR 1100-1215

DESCRIPTION
The vase painting, sculpture, and other arts of the Greeks, from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic periods. Works are studied in their social, political, and religious contexts with a special focus on archaeology and material culture.

ARTH 4591 | THE PARTHENON

Ms. Smith (tjs6e)

DAY & TIME
M 1530-1800

DESCRIPTION
This seminar focuses on the Parthenon as both architectural structure and cultural icon. The monument will be studied in terms of its historical and political circumstances, as well as its setting and religious function. Various interpretations of its sculptural program will be reviewed, as will the cultural property debate and both public and scholarly reactions to the new Acropolis Museum. Students will write a series of short response papers, a lengthy term paper, and will give a least one oral presentation. Some ancient Greek texts will be read in translation.

DEM 7500 | DEMOCRACY AND LITERACY

Ms. Arthur-Montagne (hvk9ks)
Ms. Richardson (dwc7rm)

DAY & TIME
W 1400-1630

DESCRIPTION
This graduate-level seminar explores the practices of education and democracy in the ancient Mediterranean and medieval Middle East. Studying democracy transregionally in the premodern period, we question the relationship between literacy and effective participation in democratic society. This course also examines the development of early legal cultures, print technologies and the rise of “fake news,” the creation of a public sphere through civic, media, and digital literacies. The fall semester will be focused on establishing the historical and theoretical foundations for understanding these questions through a range of readings and short interpretive writing assignments. By the end of this semester, students will have developed a research prospectus for the project they wish to pursue. During the Spring semester, students will carry out these research projects and workshop them as we more broadly explore the question of how best to communicate scholarly work. We will learn about the mechanics and best practices for successfully presenting at conferences and publishing peer-reviewed articles and books, as well as exploring forms of public scholarship including writing for newspapers and magazines, digital projects, podcasts, community engagement and collaborative research, and dialogue with policymakers. The final version of student projects can take any of these forms or combine different forms of communication. We will also collectively develop a culminating event to be held in April 2024 to showcase the work produced in the course.

HIEU 2031 | AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE

Ms. Meyer (eam2n)

DAY & TIME
MW 1100-1150 + Discussion

DESCRIPTION
History of Ancient Greece from the Homeric period to the death of Alexander the Great. Development of the city-state, Athenian democracy, and the nature of Greek politics; the conflict between Greece and Persia, and between Sparta and the Athenian naval empire; consequences of the latter conflict--the Peloponnesian War--for subsequent Greek history; finally, the Macedonian conquest of Greece and Persia. Lecture and weekly discussions; midterm, final, seven-page paper, and occasional quizzes in section. Readings will average between 100 and 125 pages a week, to be taken from the following (students are not responsible--for exam purposes--for the entirety of any of these, although they will have to read all of either Herodotus or Thucydides for the paper):

• The Landmark Herodotus (R. Strassler, ed.; Free Press)
• The Landmark Thucydides (R. Strassler, ed.; Free Press)
• Plutarch, Greek Lives (Oxford)
• Plato, The Apology of Socrates (Hackett)
• J. M. Moore, Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy (California)
• S. Pomeroy et al., Ancient Greece (textbook: edition to be determined)
• a xerox packet (available at NK Print and Design on Elliewood Avenue)

HIEU 3041 | THE FALL OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

Ms. Meyer (eam2n)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION
This upper-level lecture class assumes a basic knowledge of Roman history but has no prerequisites. It will cover the most tumultuous period in Roman history, that which stretches from 133 BC to the establishment of Octavian (Augustus) as the first emperor in 27 BC. This was the age of the great generals (Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar); of great oratory (Cicero), of amazing changes in the city of Rome itself, in Italy, and in the ever-growing provinces; an age of shifting political alliances, howling crowds, and the eventual transformation of a Republic into a monarchy. How did this come about? Could the Republic maintain an empire, or was the dominance of one man unavoidable? We will read mostly primary sources in translation, averaging about 140 pages a week; there will be ten in-class discussions, a midterm, a final, one 5-6 page paper, and one 7-10 page paper. Reading will be drawn from:

• H. H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero (fifth edition, 1982/new foreword 2011)
• Plutarch, Makers of Rome and The Fall of the Roman Republic (Penguin)
• Sallust, Jugurthine War and Conspiracy of Catiline (Penguin, transl. Woodman, 2007)
• Julius Caesar, Civil Wars and Gallic War (Oxford)
• M. Tullius Cicero, On Government and Selected Political Speeches (Penguin)
• and a course packet

Note: graduate students are welcome to take this class as HIEU 9025, a "graduate tutorial" in the History Department. We will have extra meetings and extra readings, and the final paper will be longer and more professional. Meeting times will be geared to everyone's convenience.

PHIL 2110 | HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL

Mr. Secada (jes2f)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1450 +Discussion

DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to the history of philosophy from its beginnings in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor to the end of the Middle Ages. You will find a comprehensive summary of the history of philosophy during this period in one of the required readings. You will also be asked to read a number of primary texts, which will provide material for the discussion sections. During the lecture sessions, we survey some of this history and will closely read two texts, by Plato (Phaedrus) and by Anselm of Canterbury (Proslogion). We may also read closely a few early sections from Aquinas’s Summa of Theology. We will focus on the philosophical content of the texts but will also pay some attention to relevant historical and cultural context.

PHIL 5510 | PLATO

Mr. McCready-Flora (icm5h)

DAY & TIME
M 1300-1530

DESCRIPTION
Close reading, in translation, of two or three of Plato’s most demanding and philosophically-rich dialogues and state-of-the-art scholarship about them. Open to both graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Possible dialogues include: Theaetetus, Sophist, Philebus, Parmenides, Republic, Laws, Phaedrus, Timaeus and Cratylus.

The Arthur F. Stocker Lectureship

The Arthur F. Stocker Endowment Fund for Classical Lectures was established in 1984 by the colleagues, friends, and former students of Arthur F. Stocker, a longtime member of the Department, in recognition of his contributions to the field of Classics. The Endowment supports an annual lecture by a distinguished visiting scholar on a topic related to Latin literature or culture.

The James S. Constantine Lectureship

The James S. Constantine annual lectureship was established in 1987 by the colleagues, friends, and former students of James S. Constantine, a longtime member of the Department, in recognition of his contributions to the teaching and study of the Classics. Every fall a distinguished visiting scholar delivers a lecture on a topic related to Greek literature or culture.

Margaret Lowe Annual Memorial Undergraduate Lecture

A memorial lecture series endowed by Drs. Sandy and Whitson Lowe honoring the memory of their daughter, Margaret Helen Lowe. Margaret died tragically and unexpectedly at the beginning of her fourth year of study as Greek Major in 2015. Having had enough credits in order to graduate, at the Final Exercises in 2016, Margaret was awarded her BA degree posthumously. This annual talk reminds us and our future Classics students of Margaret’s kind and generous spirit and her love for Classics.

The Classics Graduate Student Colloquium

Each year the graduate students of the Department of Classics sponsor a colloquium, at which graduate students from the University of Virginia and other universities, and a distinguished senior scholar, present papers on a selected theme.

Tuesday Luncheons

At Tuesday Luncheons during the academic year, students, faculty of the Classics Department, and other persons with classical interests hear and discuss papers relevant to the Classics. Those interested in attending should contact John Miller (jfm4j@virginia.edu).

The Virginia Senior Classical League

The Virginia Senior Classical League is a statewide organization of college students who are interested in the ancient world. The VSCL assists the Virginia Junior Classical League at the VJCL Convention each fall. Each year the VSCL also runs two Certamina (academic competitions for high school Latin students) for the VJCL. Students interested in joining should consult the League website at http://vscl.webs.com/

The Classics Club at UVA

The purpose of the Classics Club is to promote community both among Classics Majors and other interested undergraduates through the facilitation of educational, social, and service-related activities. For further information send an e-mail to: classicsclub@virginia.edu.

The Archaeological Institute of America

The Archaeological Institute of America is an educational and scientific society of archaeologists and others interested in archaeological study and research. There is a chapter of the AIA in Charlottesville, and those interested in joining should contact Professor John Dobbins. The AIA sponsors a series of lectures, which are free and open to the public.