Classical Studies: incl. Classical Civilization and Tradition (in English), Ancient Greek, and Latin

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  • CAS CL 230: The Golden Age of Latin Literature
    An in-depth exploration in English of some of the greatest poets from Ancient Rome, including Catullus, Virgil, and Ovid. Examines the Romans' engagement with Greek literature and the development of their own "Classics," from personal love poetry to profound epic. All texts in translation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Research and Information Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 237: Race and Ethnicity in Ancient Greece and Rome
    Students explore and better understand the changing conceptions, motives, and effects of racial and ethnic formations and categorizations with a primary focus on the views presented in ancient Greek and Roman literature and art and the influence which those views have had in later historical periods and places, especially the United States. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS CL 249: Classics in Popular Culture
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or 120) - This course explores the ways in which modern myth-makers have reimagined ancient Greek and Roman legends for contemporary audiences. It examines a wide variety of popular artforms to investigate how to they use the past to interrogate the present. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 261: Greek 3: Prose
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL162) or equivalent. - Reading of selections from Greek prose. Authors read may include Herodotus, Plato and Lysias, as ,well as selections from the New Testament. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Aesthetic Exploration. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS CL 262: Greek 4: Homer
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL261) or equivalent. - Reading of selections from the Iliad or Odyssey. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Aesthetic Exploration. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS CL 300: The Age of Pericles
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL101 OR CASCL321) or consent of instructor. - History, literature, and culture of Athens during the mid-fifth century BCE. Development of the empire, the rise of democracy, the Sophistic movement, tragedy, the construction of the Parthenon and other monuments. Readings (in translation) from Aeschylus, Sophocles, Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, and fragmentary sources. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • CAS CL 302: The Age of Augustus
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL102 OR CASCL222) First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) or consent of inst ructor - The culture of the age of Augustus; political institutions, literature, art, architecture, engineering works, coins, religion, social institutions and life, the role of women, and life in the Roman provinces. Some familiarity with the civilization of Ancient Rome recommended. All texts in translation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 303: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL102 OR CASCL322) or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - The causes and consequences of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Topics include Romans and barbarians; the rise and spread of Christianity; Constantine the Great; the death of classic paganism; theories of decline; the grand strategy of the Roman Empire; monasticism; the emergence of Byzantium and Constantinople; the origins of Islam; and the transformation of classical art, literature, and thought and their influence on Christianity. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 305: Topics in Myth
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or WR 120) - This course may be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Fall 2024: The Theatre of Dionysus. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 310: The Classical Tradition in Modern Literature
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar - Explores the ways in which the theatre, myth, and literature of Ancient Greece and Rome have sparked ideas, debates, and conversations among contemporary authors and artists. Students analyze modern works of literature in different genres together with the classical works that inspired them. All Greek and Latin literature is read in translation. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 313: The "Odyssey" and "Ulysses"
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This course consists of a close reading of James Joyce's Ulysses with particular attention to his use of the Odyssey. We also examine the relation of oral and book cultures and other works Joyce takes in, such as the Aeneid, Divine Comedy and Hamlet. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 321: Greek History
    Introduction to the political, social, and economic history of Greece from the earliest historical period through the death of Alexander the Great. All texts in translation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS CL 322: Roman History
    Introduction to the political, social, and economic history of Rome from the foundation of the city through the fall of the western empire. All texts in translation. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS CL 325: Greek Tragedy and Film
    Explores Greek tragic myth's afterlife, both directly and obliquely, in cinema and in the modern literature spawning cinema: how certain Greek tragic myths have come to life as film and how "non-mythic" stories have acquired a mythic power in literary and cinematic form. All texts in translation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • CAS CL 351: Latin Seminar
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL212) or equivalent. - Intensive study of selected major authors. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Fall 2023: Apuleius' Metamorphoses. Topic for Spring 2024: Ovid's Metamorphoses. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS CL 391: Greek Seminar
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCL262) or equivalent. - Intensive study of selected major authors. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Fall 2023: Goddesses in the Homeric Hymns. Topic for Spring 2024: Thucydides. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS CL 406: Advanced Topics in Classical Civilization
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two courses in classical civilization, or consent of instructor. Firs t Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - In depth examination of an aspect of classical civilization(s). All texts in translation. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Fall 2023: Greek Tragedy and Modern Literature. Topic for Spring 2024: Greek Tragedy and Modern Literature. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication , Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS CL 451: Advanced Latin Seminar
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two 300-level Latin seminars or equivalent. - Advanced-level Latin seminar emphasizing close reading and literary analysis. Changing topics explore a variety of texts linked by chronology, genre, or theme.
  • CAS CL 461: Advanced Greek Seminar
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: one 300-level Greek seminar or equivalent. - Advanced-level Greek seminar emphasizing close reading and literary analysis. Changing topics explore a variety of texts linked by chronology, genre, or theme.
  • CAS CL 502: Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Literature
    Topics vary. Open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The literature studied is read in its original language, either ancient Greek or Latin, so advanced skill in the appropriate language is required.