Scroll down for the latest assignments/additions/changes...last updated 5/14/2008... FINAL IS THURSDAY, MAY 22!

Please note that the assignments on this page may differ from those provided on the preliminary syllabus linked below. Go by the assignments on this page, please, as the syllabus schedule is tentative. :) If you read ahead, be aware that the assignments may be tweaked during the week for which they have been assigned. See the schedule below for precise assignments. Remember - website readings are REQUIRED.

Administrative Stuff:

* Course Syllabus - includes course policies and general information on all assignments/exams, so MAKE SURE YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND IT. This is a copy of the syllabus I pass out at the beginning of the semester, so be aware that the schedule listed on it may change. It's important that you check the detailed assignment list below, and stay tuned in class, for precise, updated assignments. Remember - website readings are REQUIRED.

Assigments:
(assignments are to be read by the date under which they're listed)

Week 1 - January 15 - Class Introduction.

Week 1 - January 17 - The Near East: Ancient Mesopotamian Cultures (Ch. 1 in text; Gilgamesh excerpts on website)

* Gilgamesh Excerpts and Summary - For those who did not get a paper syllabus in class, the Gilgamesh and Odyssey study questions that were included on the last page are also located here. You don't need to turn in answers to these questions.

* Gilgamesh Full Text (Just for Fun)

Week 2 - January 22 - Aegean Civilizations & Archaic Greece (Ch. 2 in text; Sappho, and Odyssey excerpts on website)

* Sappho - Lyric Poetry

* Homer - The Odyssey - For those who did not get a paper syllabus in class, the Gilgamesh and Odyssey study questions that were included on the last page are also located here. You don't need to turn in answers to these questions.

* For reference: The Homeric Hymns - Includes poetic summaries of the Gods' and Goddess' lives and deeds.

Week 2 - January 24 - Classical Greece 1: The Hellenic Age (Ch. 3 in text; Sophocles, Plato, and Aristotle excerpts on website)

* Photos from Ancient Greece - Bronze Age and Beyond!

Week 3 - January 29 - Classical Greece 1: The Hellenic Age/FILM: Greek Theatre (Ch. 3 in text; Sophocles, Plato, and Aristotle excerpts on website)

* Photos from Ancient Greece - Bronze Age and Beyond!

Week 3 - January 31 - Classical Greece 1: The Hellenic Age/FILM: Greek Theatre (Ch. 3 in text; Sophocles, Plato, and Aristotle excerpts on website) - MINI-PAPER ONE ASSIGNED

* Photos from Ancient Greece - Bronze Age and Beyond!

*Paper One assigned; based on Greek tragedy/Oedipus film watched in class.

* Epicurus - Letter to Menoeceus

Week 4 - February 7 - Pre-Christian Rome (Ch. 5 in text; Vergil and Ovid excerpts on website) - MINI-PAPER ONE DUE

* Paper One Due!

* Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphosis

Week 5 - February 12 - Pre-Christian Rome (Ch. 5 in text; Vergil and Ovid excerpts on website)

* Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphosis

Week 5 - February 14 - NO CLASS!

Week 6 - February 19 - Christian Rome and Judaism (Ch. 6 in text; Tertullian)

Week 6 - February 21 - Late Rome, Byzantium, and the Early Midaeval West (Ch. 7 in text; Augustine ≥Confessions≤ and Beowulf excerpts on website)

* St. Augustine, Confessions - Book 8, Chapters 10-12 - Searching for/finding faith. St. Augustine lived at a time when the old era was dying, and a new, Christian order was beginning in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

* Beowulf - Chapters 11 & 12 (Grendel's death; the Epic Tradition in Anglo-Saxon literature). An epic poem of early Christian Britain, originating around the 8th c. AD. Like several of the other epics we've dealt with, it was first transmitted through oral tradition. The poem evidences a turning point in western civilization, in combining Christian values and the old pagan fascination with good vs. evil, as well as the exploration of heroic fragility (remember, for example, Gilgamesh's eventual failure to ultimately triumph over death; it could be argued that the eponymous hero, Beowulf, suffers the same kind of anticlimactic fate). For background on the full story of Beowulf, see this Wiki summary.

Week 7 - February 26 - Late Rome, Byzantium, and the Early Midaeval West (Ch. 7 in text; Augustine ≥Confessions≤ and Beowulf excerpts on website)

* St. Augustine, Confessions - Book 8, Chapters 10-12 - Searching for/finding faith. St. Augustine lived at a time when the old era was dying, and a new, Christian order was beginning in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

* Beowulf - Chapters11 & 12 (Grendel's death; the Epic Tradition in Anglo-Saxon literature). An epic poem of early Christian Britain, originating around the 8th c. AD. Like several of the other epics we've dealt with, it was first transmitted through oral tradition. The poem evidences a turning point in western civilization, in combining Christian values and the old pagan fascination with good vs. evil, as well as the exploration of heroic fragility (remember, for example, Gilgamesh's eventual failure to ultimately triumph over death; it could be argued that the eponymous hero, Beowulf, suffers the same kind of anticlimactic fate). For background on the full story of Beowulf, see this Wiki summary.

Week 7 - February 28 - Late Rome, Byzantium, and the Early Midaeval West (Ch. 7 in text; Augustine ≥Confessions≤ and Beowulf excerpts on website); also Islam (Ch. 8 in text; Rumi and Arabian Nights excerpts on website)

* St. Augustine, Confessions - Book 8, Chapters 10-12 - Searching for/finding faith. St. Augustine lived at a time when the old era was dying, and a new, Christian order was beginning in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

* Beowulf - Chapters11 & 12 (Grendel's death; the Epic Tradition in Anglo-Saxon literature). An epic poem of early Christian Britain, originating around the 8th c. AD. Like several of the other epics we've dealt with, it was first transmitted through oral tradition. The poem evidences a turning point in western civilization, in combining Christian values and the old pagan fascination with good vs. evil, as well as the exploration of heroic fragility (remember, for example, Gilgamesh's eventual failure to ultimately triumph over death; it could be argued that the eponymous hero, Beowulf, suffers the same kind of anticlimactic fate). For background on the full story of Beowulf, see this Wiki summary.

* Introduction to the Arabian Nights plus Rumi's poem “The Arab and His Wife,” or “A Man and a Woman Arguing”

* Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, from the Arabian Nights - Translation provided by the ELF at arabiannights.org. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of each page to progress through each section of the story.

* Photos of 20th century "Moorish" revival: Cairo's Mosque of Ibn Tulun vs. I House: http://ihouse.berkeley.edu/ & http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=334

Week 8 - March 4 - Islam (Ch. 8 in text; Rumi and Arabian Nights excerpts on website)

* Introduction to the Arabian Nights plus Rumi's poem “The Arab and His Wife,” or “A Man and a Woman Arguing”

* Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, from the Arabian Nights - Translation provided by the ELF at arabiannights.org. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of each page to progress through each section of the story.

* Photos of 20th century "Moorish" revival: Cairo's Mosque of Ibn Tulun vs. I House: http://ihouse.berkeley.edu/ & http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=334

Week 8 - March 6 - High Middle Ages (Ch. 9 in text; Lancelot and Hildegard von Bingen on website)

* Selections from Lancelot and Hildegard's poetry here.

* Hildegard von Bingen: Quia ergo femina mortem instruxit (a modern interpretation from Canticles of Ecstasy, by Sequentia). This .mp3 file works for some and not others; try downloading it to disk. If it still won't work, don't worry about it. :)

Week 9 - March 11 - High Middle Ages (Ch. 9 in text; Lancelot and Hildegard von Bingen on website)

* Selections from Lancelot and Hildegard's poetry here.

* Hildegard von Bingen: Quia ergo femina mortem instruxit (a modern interpretation from Canticles of Ecstasy, by Sequentia). This .mp3 file works for some and not others; try downloading it to disk. If it still won't work, don't worry about it. :)

Week 9 - March 13 - Late Middle Ages (Ch. 10 in text; Chaucer excerpts on website)

* Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: General Prologue and Modern English Text of The Wife of Bath. More resources on the story available here.

Week 10 - March 18 & 20 - NO CLASS!

Week 11 - March 25 - Early Renaissance (Ch. 11 in text; Alberti excerpts on website)

* Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting: Book 2

Week 11 - March 27 - MIDTERM EXAM

Week 12 - April 1 - NO CLASS!

Week 12 - April 3 - High Renaissance (Ch. 12 in text; Castiglione excerpts on website)

* Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, Books 1 & III.

Week 13 - April 8 - Northern Renaissance (Ch. 13 in text; Machiavelli, More, & Shakespeare excerpts on website)

* Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapters 15, 16, 17.

* Sir Thomas More, Utopia. Read three sections of Book II - The sections headed "Of Their Trades, and Manner of Life," "Of Their Military Discipline," and the section on religion that follows.

* Optional: William Shakespeare, Sonnets. Read Sonnets 60 and 116, including the commentary. Good site, just watch the popup ad.

*Weelkes, "As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending."

*View DaVinci's Last Supper in excrutiating detail! ;D

Week 13 - April 10 - Baroque Age (Chs. 14 & 15 in text; De la Cruz, Hobbes, and Locke excerpts on website)

* Sor Juana de la Cruz ~ Poem excerpt

* Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan - Part One, Chapter 13 (it's not very long :) )

* John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government - Chapters 9 and 19

* Vivaldi - Spring from The Four Seasons

Week 14 - April 15 - Baroque Age (Chs. 14 & 15 in text; De la Cruz, Hobbes, and Locke excerpts on website)

* Sor Juana de la Cruz ~ Poem excerpt

* Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan - Part One, Chapter 13 (it's not very long :) )

* John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government - Chapters 9 and 19

* Vivaldi - Spring from The Four Seasons

Weeks 14, 15, 16- April 17, 22, 24, 29, May 1- The Age of Reason/Revolution/FILM: Pride and Prejudice (Chs. 16 & 17 in text; Wollstonecraft, Austen)

* Mary Wollstonecraft, Introduction from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Full text here.

* Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice Chapters 1-3+.

*FILM: Pride & Prejudice

Week 17 - May 6 - The Age of Reason/Revolution (Chs. 16 & 17 in text; Jefferson, Madison, excerpts on website)

* Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (linked from main page)

* James Madison, The Federalist Papers, Federalist No.s 10 & 51

* The Industrial Revolution and the Limits of Rationalism: Roots and Early Reactions

* Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Allegro

* Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - March to the Scaffold

Weeks 17 and 18 - May 8 and May 13 - The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie/Early Modernism/FILM: Metropolis (Chs. 18 & 19 in text; Marx & Engels and Shelley excerpts on website) - PAPER TWO ASSIGNED

* Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Ch. 4 and 5 here.

* Marx & Engels - The Communist Manifesto

*FILM: Metropolis

* Paper Two assigned on May 13 and DUE on May 20.

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