Course Descriptions
Classical Mediterranean and Middle East
CLAS 101 - The Classical Mediterranean and Middle East
Why are Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Latin all taught in the same department at Macalester? Today Islam and the Arab world are often presented in contrast with the West in a sort of timeless and unending 'clash of civilizations.' Classics 101 aims to counter this narrative by exploring the multiple deep, long-term connections among the languages, religions and peoples around the Mediterranean Sea. What were the relationships among speakers of these languages in the past? How did Judaism, Christianity and Islam develop among them? Why are Greek and Roman traditions sometimes seen as in tension with Christian or Arab traditions -- and has that always been the case? Readings include selections from Genesis, Exodus, Homer, Herodotus, Euripides, Plato, Vergil, the Gospels, Josephus, Imru Al-Qays, the Qur'an and 1,001 Nights. Legendary and historical figures include Moses, Helen of Troy, Cyrus, Darius, Pericles, Alexander, Cleopatra, Jesus, Augustus, Perpetua, Constantine, Muhammad, Fatima, Aisha and Omar. Suggested subtitles for the course include Before East and West, We Hear Dead People, Great Books Reimagined, and Hey, You Should Know This Stuff. Required for all majors in the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East.
Frequency: Spring semester.
CLAS 111 - Elementary Latin I
This two-term sequence introduces the grammar and vocabulary of Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. Students learn through reading adapted passages, by breaking down grammatical structures into recognizable patterns, and through tutorials and drills. We aim to cover all basic grammar by the end of the year. In the second semester, students begin to read easy Latin such as the Bible, Pliny, Cornelius Nepos and/or Caesar.
Frequency: Every year.
CLAS 113 - Elementary Arabic I
In this two semester program, students learn to read, write and converse in Modern Standard Arabic, the form of Classical Arabic used in contemporary news media, documents, literature, education and religious practice in the many countries of the Arab world. The purpose of this course is to develop beginning students' proficiency and communication in the four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will also participate in tutorials and/or practice labs.
Frequency: Every year.
CLAS 115 - Elementary Greek I
This two-semester program introduces students to ancient Greek, the language of Greece, Asia Minor, and the Hellenistic world, including several Jewish and early Christian writers. Students will learn the grammar and vocabulary necessary for reading Greek literature and documents of many periods. During the second term, students begin to read extended prose, such as passages from Plato, Xenophon, the New Testament or documentary sources. Students will also participate in tutorials and/or practice labs.
Frequency: Alternate fall semesters.
CLAS 117 - Elementary Hebrew I
An introduction to the language and literature of classical Hebrew. The study of grammar and vocabulary is supplemented with practice in oral recitation and aural comprehension. Basic biblical texts are analyzed and translated, including selections from the books of Genesis and Ruth.
Frequency: Alternate years.
CLAS 121 - The Greek World
This course surveys the political, economic, and cultural development of the peoples of the ancient Greek world from the late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era. Students will hone their critical thinking skills while working with translations of ancient literature, archaeological remains and works of art. The basic structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the interaction between physical landscape and historical change; rule by the one, the few and the many; the nature and development of literary and artistic genres; the economic, military, and/or cultural dimensions of empire; or the intersections of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, slave/free status and civic identity in the Greek world.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 121
CLAS 122 - The Roman World
This course introduces students to the Roman world, which at its height stretched from Britain to Iran, from Germany to Africa, and lasted well over a thousand years. Students will develop critical thinking skills while working with Roman literature in translation, art, architecture and other archaeological remains. The structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the development of Roman literature out of and in response to Greek culture; the effects of the civil wars and the resulting political change from a republic to a monarchy; the cultural, religious and/or military aspects of the Roman empire and its immediate aftermath; Roman conceptions of gender, sexuality, slave and free status, citizenship and/or ethnicity, and how these social categories were used to legitimize or exercise power.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 122
CLAS 127 - Women, Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome
This course investigates contemporary approaches to studying women, gender and sexuality in history, and the particular challenges of studying these issues in antiquity. By reading ancient writings in translation and analyzing art and other material culture, we will address the following questions: How did ancient Greek and Roman societies understand and use the categories of male and female? Into what sexual categories did different cultures group people? How did these gender and sexual categories intersect with notions of slave and free status, citizenship and ethnicity? How should we interpret the actions and representations of women in surviving literature, myth, art, law, philosophy, politics and medicine in this light? Finally, how and why have gendered classical images been re-deployed in the modern U.S.- from scholarship to art and poetry?
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 127
CLAS 129 - Greek Myths
This course studies some of the world's great storytellers-the ancient Greeks. First, we read from translations of Greek poetry to become familiar with the key figures and events in mythology, including the Olympian gods and their origins, the major heroes, and the Trojan War. Then we explore more broadly the adaptable nature of these myths and the variety of forms in which the Greeks told stories, from epic and personal poetry to philosophy, drama, sculpture and vase painting. At the same time, we investigate the ways in which moderns have interpreted these stories. We analyze myths using Freud's psychoanalytical techniques, as folklore and ritual, and through theoretical perspectives including structuralism, new historicism and feminism. Finally, we investigate the later life of Greek myths, focusing on how and why these stories have been retold by the Romans, later European authors and artists, American film makers and playwrights, and science fiction writers.
Frequency: Alternate years.
CLAS 130 - Early Arab and Persian Empires
From the Rise of the Seleucids to the Abbasid Caliphate, this course focuses on the rise and transformation of Arab and Persian empires and city0states between 200 BCE through the founding of Baghdad (762) to the close fo the second great Islamic caliphate, the Abbasids in c. 950. This period in the religious, cultural and political history of the Middle East, Levant and Persian region east to at least the Zagros mountains is an extremely productive and formative period, yet is largely overlooked or neglected altogether in our histories and analyses of the millennium between c. 250 BCE-950 CE. In many respects the developments and effects of this period have wide-ranging implications for our contemporary world. We will attempt to acquaint ourselves with this period, and the players and powers that shaped it. Every other year. (4 credits)
Frequency: Every other year.
CLAS 135 - India and Rome
This course is taught jointly between the department of Religious Studies and the department of Classics, by a specialist in the Roman East and a specialist in classical India. We will start on either side of this world, with Alexander the Great and Ashoka, exploring the relationship between empire and religion from Rome to India in the world's crossroads for the thousand years between Alexander and the rise of Islam.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: RELI 135
CLAS 145 - Pagans, Christians and Jews in Classical Antiquity: Cultures in Conflict
This course studies the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and pagan cultures, and the protracted struggle for self-definition and multi-cultural exchange this encounter provoked. The course draws attention to how the other and cultural and religious difference are construed, resisted, and apprehended. Readings include Acts, Philo, Revelation, I Clement, pagan charges against Christianity, Adversus Ioudaios writers, the Goyim in the Mishna, and apologetic literature.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: RELI 145
CLAS 155 - January in Rome: The Art, Archaeology, and Urban History of Ancient Rome
A survey and exploration of the major spaces, surviving monuments and artifacts of the city of Rome from the earliest occupation of the Palatine around 1000 BCE to the first major Christian buildings in the 4th-5th centuries CE. Students explore how politics and culture shape the urban landscape, challenges in identifying buildings and the way that spaces were used, and the Roman imperial consumption of Greek art. We consider the incorporation of Roman monuments into subsequent architecture, including Fascist political (re)use of archaeology, as well as problems of conservation in the context of the modern city. Visits to the excavated cities of Pompeii and Ostia make visible the lives and activities of those lost in the literary record, including women and enslaved people. Students give two presentations to help teach the city, use their developing knowledge to interpret archaeological sites, and conduct a self-guided site visit as coursework. No prerequisites - students from all disciplines and years are welcome to apply. See the website of the Department of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East for more information.
Frequency: Alternate years.
CLAS 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
CLAS 200 - Ancient and Medieval Philosophies
A study of major philosophers of ancient Greece, Rome and the medieval period, including the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: PHIL 200
CLAS 201 - Classics in Film
This course will explore the filmic legacy of selected texts from ancient Mediterranean traditions. We read and discuss a number of epic and dramatic sources from Mediterranean antiquity, and trace how those narratives are creatively appropriated and deployed in cinema. The films explored in this course will include not only direct adaptations of ancient stories, but also points of connection between antiquity and film along thematic and stylistic lines. This course will feature group film viewings and draw upon a broad array of genres from global film-making.
Frequency: Alternate years.
CLAS 202 - Sanskrit and Classical Religion in India
Like Latin and Greek in Europe, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language of scholarship and revered as the perfect medium for discourse on everything from science and sex to philosophy and religion. It flourished in its classical form after the age of the Buddha (5th century BC) and served as a scholarly lingua franca in India until the Islamic period. This course serves as an introduction to the grammar an script of Sanskrit, and we will advance to a point of reading simplified texts from the classical epic Ramayana.Students will be expected to attend class regularly and spend at least ten hours a week outside class studying the grammar and vocabulary. Without this sort of effort, no progress is possible in such a complex language. In addition to the rigorous study of the language, we will consider both the role of the language in classical Indian culture and religion, and some texts from the Ramayana, looking at both English translation and Sanskrit originals.
Frequency: Alternate years.
CLAS 212 - Elementary Latin II
This two-term sequence introduces the grammar and vocabulary of Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. Students learn through reading adapted passages, by breaking down grammatical structures into recognizable patterns, and through tutorials and drills. We aim to cover all basic grammar by the end of the year. In the second semester, students begin to read easy Latin such as the Bible, Pliny, Cornelius Nepos and/or Caesar.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 111.
CLAS 214 - Elementary Arabic II
In this two semester program, students learn to read, write and converse in Modern Standard Arabic, the form of Classical Arabic used in contemporary news media, documents, literature, education and religious practice in the many countries of the Arab world. The purpose of this course is to develop beginning students' proficiency and communication in the four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will also participate in tutorials and/or practice labs.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 113.
CLAS 218 - Elementary Hebrew II
An introduction to the language and literature of classical Hebrew. The study of grammar and vocabulary is supplemented with practice in oral recitation and aural comprehension. Basic biblical texts are analyzed and translated, including selections from the books of Genesis and Ruth.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 117.
CLAS 220 - Ancient Healing and Medicine
This course reconnects with early approaches to medicine, health and healing. We study and discuss earlier wisdom that informed health practices for centuries. These traditions shaped a role for the caregiver, healer- physician. They inherited traditions and practices from earlier generations and from their own schools and teachers. These early practitioners combined traditional, popular practices, with newer advances and medical discoveries. Health care givers and Physicians were philosophers, botanists, observers and students of nature who built the foundations of modern medicine and continued the ancient traditions that had been handed down to them. This course is not a critique of modern medical practices. It is a retrieval of other and earlier ideas and practices about health and wellness.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
CLAS 223 - Introduction to Archaeology
This course introduces students to archaeology, the study of the material remains of human culture. Students will explore the history of the discipline and profession, its basic methods and theories, and the political and ethical dimensions of modern archaeological practice. Students learn to examine and interpret evidence using specific examples, from artifacts to sites to regions.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: ANTH 223
CLAS 231 - Intermediate Latin I: Prose
A thorough review of Latin grammar followed by a study of a Roman prose author or authors. Students build reading skills while gaining an appreciation for the literary and cultural aspects of Latin prose. Particular texts to be studied may include Petronius' Satyricon , the letters and/or speeches of Cicero, letters of Pliny, or Livy's History of Rome.
Frequency: Every fall.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 212 or its equivalent.
CLAS 235 - Elementary Greek II
This two-semester program introduces students to ancient Greek, the language of Greece, Asia Minor, and the Hellenistic world, including several Jewish and early Christian writers. Students will learn the grammar and vocabulary necessary for reading Greek literature and documents of many periods. During the second term, students begin to read extended prose, such as passages from Plato, Xenophon, the New Testament or documentary sources. Students will also participate in tutorials and/or practice labs.
Frequency: Alternate fall semesters.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 115 .
CLAS 237 - Intermediate Hebrew I
Hebrew prose selections from the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic parables. Translation of texts will be supplemented with grammar review. Students will gain facility with such tools as the lexicon, commentary and critical apparatus and will become familiar with critical trends in contemporary research.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 218 or its equivalent.
CLAS 241 - Intermediate Arabic I
This course focuses on expanding vocabulary and grammar through simple texts, dialogs and stories.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 214 or equivalent.
CLAS 260 - Introduction to Art History I: From Prehistory to the Medieval Period
This course surveys the visual and material culture of Europe, the Middle East and the broader Mediterranean world from prehistory through the late Medieval period, including early Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultures. We consider the artistic and archaeological remains from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece, Etruria, Rome, and western Europe from a contextual perspective in order to understand each culture's ideologies, and the diverse social and artistic purposes for which art and architecture was created and used.
Cross-Listed as: ART 160
CLAS 261 - Intermediate Greek: Prose
This third course in the ancient Greek language sequence involves review of basic grammar and extensive reading in works of ancient prose. Students will build familiarity with forms and vocabulary while gaining confidence as readers and an appreciation for ancient literature. Authors may include Plato, Herodotus, Attic orators, or Lucian.
Frequency: Alternate fall semesters.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 235 or equivalent.
CLAS 270 - Cultural Resource Management
Archaeology in the United States is no longer practiced exclusively by universities and museums. In fact, since the 1970s, the vast majority of archaeological projects undertaken involve individuals employed in either private industry or with the federal or state government. This shift toward cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology transformed the traditional role of archaeology practiced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So, what changed? This course explores the role of public archaeology in the United States through an examination of the laws and practices dictating the protection of historic properties, consultation with descendant communities, and the design of archaeological management plans.
Frequency: Occasionally offered.
Cross-Listed as: ANTH 270
CLAS 283 - Art and Architecture of Ancient Greece and Rome
This course will survey the art and architecture of ancient Greek and Roman worlds from the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 - 1200 BCE) to Late Antiquity (ca. 5th century CE). The class discussions will focus on concepts of design, representation and aesthetics in Greco-Roman art and architecture, and explore the uses of art objects and monuments in daily life, politics, imperialism, religion, burial practices, private rituals and state cults. The course will examine the developments in artistic forms and practices in their social, economic and historical context, taking into consideration the interaction between Greece and Rome, and the influences from contemporary societies such as the Near East and Egypt.
Frequency: Alternate spring semesters.
Cross-Listed as: ART 283
CLAS 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
CLAS 332 - Intermediate Latin II: Poetry
A course in the poetic literature of the Republican and/or Augustan Ages with concentrated study on one or two authors. Students work toward grammatical and lexical mastery while learning about the forms, styles and cultural aspects of Latin poetry. Authors to be studied may include Plautus, Catullus, Horace, Vergil, or Ovid. May be repeated for credit.
Frequency: Every spring.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 231or equivalent.
CLAS 338 - Intermediate Hebrew II
The final semester in the two-year survey of the Hebrew language from ancient to modern. Students will read selections from the Biblical books of poetry such as Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Psalms. The second half of the semester is devoted to modern conversational Hebrew.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 237 or equivalent.
CLAS 342 - Intermediate Arabic II
This course introduces students to more authentic texts and samples a variety of authors and genres from around the Arab world.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 241 or equivalent.
CLAS 362 - Intermediate Greek: Poetry
This fourth course in the ancient Greek language sequence involves extensive reading in works of ancient poetry. Students will work toward mastery of grammar and vocabulary while exploring the formal, artistic and cultural dimensions of poetic composition. Most often readings will be from the Homeric epics (Iliad or Odyssey), but other works may be taught, including tragedy, comedy or lyric.
Frequency: Alternate spring semesters.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 261or equivalent.
CLAS 392 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
CLAS 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
CLAS 482 - Advanced Archaeology Seminar
Archaeology, CRM, courses focusing on material culture, or through conservation or preservation work, or excavations. And for those who sense they may be inclining toward work in or exploring archaeology, conservation work, or museum related studies.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 223
CLAS 483 - Advanced Reading in Latin
Students who pursue Latin at the advanced level will study closely one or more works and explore relevant problems in literary or textual criticism, linguistic, social or cultural history, and/or reception. Authors may include Tacitus, Seneca, Apuleius, Juvenal, Martial or others. May be repeated for credit.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 332or equivalent.
CLAS 485 - Advanced Arabic
A survey course of Renaissance and classic writers from around the Arab world. We explore social issues, with the focus still on language acquisition.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 342.
CLAS 487 - Advanced Reading in Greek
Students who pursue ancient Greek at the advanced level will study closely one or more works and explore relevant problems in literary or textual criticism, linguistic, social or cultural history, and/or reception. Offered upon consultation with department.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 362 or equivalent.
CLAS 490 - Senior Seminar
The Senior Seminar caps the experience of being a Classics major. Students in all three tracks (Archaeology, Civilization, and Languages) join together to explore the history of the discipline and its relationship to their own histories and future plans. Students learn about, draft and critique documents useful for their next steps, including resumes, personal statements and cover letters, along with discussing selected readings in a seminar setting. Each student also works with an advisor from the department to develop and execute a major piece of work in their chosen field, Majors who have completed the Senior Seminar have thus executed a substantive independent project and can articulate the place of their Classics major within their personal and professional development.
Frequency: Every fall.
Prerequisite(s): Must be a declared Classics major
CLAS 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
CLAS 601 - Tutorial
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 602 - Tutorial
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 603 - Tutorial
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 604 - Tutorial
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 611 - Independent Project
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 612 - Independent Project
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 613 - Independent Project
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 614 - Independent Project
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
CLAS 631 - Preceptorship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
CLAS 632 - Preceptorship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
CLAS 633 - Preceptorship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
CLAS 634 - Preceptorship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.