Ancient Studies
The courses below are offered through the Department of Classics.
For questions about specific courses, contact the department.
For questions about specific courses, contact the department.
Courses
Course Number
ANCS3996V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Th 16:10-18:00Section/Call Number
001/11308Enrollment
5 of 15Instructor
Carmela FranklinPrerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. Program of readings in some aspect of ancient studies, supervised by an appropriate faculty member chosen from the departments offering courses in the program in Ancient Studies. Evaluation by a series of essays, one long paper, or oral or written examination(s).
Course Number
ANCS3997V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsIt might come as a surprise, but the ancients were obsessed with superficiality. Image, style, reputation, gossip, and slander: all were fundamental parts of the cultural and political life of ancient society, particularly in the context of the city. In this class we will investigate and historicize the phenomenon of celebrity in the Ancient World - from Classical Athens to the Roman Empire - and in particular the relationship between democratic institutions, popular politics, and the outsized role played by political and cultural celebrities in ancient society. Although celebrity is often viewed as a phenomenon projected from above on a passive audience, we will approach it as a dynamic of negotiation and contestation involving equally powerful participants: public(s) and celebrities. We will apply a diverse range of critical methodologies in approaching these questions, and we will likewise read broadly from ancient authors both well known (Thucydides, Plato, Aristophanes) and less commonly approached in undergraduate courses (from the celebrity orator Dio Chrysostom and the enigmatic satirist Lucian of Samosata to the 3rd century dream interpreter Artemidorus). A general familiarity with the broad strokes of ancient history is helpful, but not required. There are no prerequisites.
Course Number
CLCV3016W001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 16:10-17:25We 16:10-17:25Section/Call Number
001/11311Enrollment
15 of 15Instructor
Geoffrey HarmsworthThis course is designed as an accompaniment to the Greek or Latin
play that is put on by the Barnard and Columbia Ancient Drama Group each year, though
it is open to any student interested in the aesthetics and politics of theater and drama.
Course focus and some content will rotate year to year, calibrated to serve the play or
plays chosen by the student director. We will read these and other relevant other plays or
similarly adjacent texts, as well as scholarly literature on topics centered around the body
in performance, including ancient theaters and stage space, costumes and masks,
deportment and gestures, proxemics, and so on. We will also explore aspects of ancient
drama and theatricality that relate to translation and reception, as well as inflections of
gender and status. Other topics may include the mythic background (e.g., in epic and/or
lyric), politics of aesthetics in ancient Athens, and gender-genre dynamics.
Each component will extend over three or four classes and consider the ancient
plays through readings of primary texts (in translation) and conceptual / contextual
backgrounds. There will be an additional class hour for those who wish to read the play
in the original language (signed up for as a 1-point directed reading).
Course Number
CLCV3212X001Points
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 14:40-15:55Th 14:40-15:55Section/Call Number
001/00359Enrollment
6 of 15Instructor
Nancy WormanCourse Number
CLCV3535V001Points
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 14:40-15:55We 14:40-15:55Section/Call Number
001/00345Enrollment
14 of 20Instructor
Ellen MorrisProseminar is designed to offer beginning MA and PhD students an overview of (i) the major sub-disciplinary areas that are gathered under the umbrella term ‘classics’, making it a fundamentally interdisciplinary field of enquiry, and (ii) the diverse methodologies that are standardly applied in many subfields of classical research and publication.
Course Number
CLCV5011G001Format
In-PersonPoints
1 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Fr 14:10-16:00Section/Call Number
001/15090Enrollment
0 of 15Instructor
Gareth WilliamsProseminar is designed to offer beginning MA and PhD students an overview of (i) the major sub-disciplinary areas that are gathered under the umbrella term ‘classics’, making it a fundamentally interdisciplinary field of enquiry, and (ii) the diverse methodologies that are standardly applied in many subfields of classical research and publication.
Course Number
CLCV5011G002Format
In-PersonPoints
1 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 16:10-18:00Section/Call Number
002/15092Enrollment
0 of 15Instructor
John MaThis seminar explores the relationship between literature, culture, and mental health. It pays particular emphasis to the poetics of emotions structuring them around the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and the concept of hope. During the course of the semester, we will discuss a variety of content that explores issues of race, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, abilities/disabilities, gender expressions, sexualities, and stages of life as they are connected to mental illness and healing. Emotions are anchored in the physical body through the way in which our bodily sensors help us understand the reality that we live in. By feeling backwards and thinking forwards, we will ask a number of important questions relating to literature and mental health, and will trace how human experiences are first made into language, then into science, and finally into action.
The course surveys texts from Homer, Ovid, Aeschylus and Sophocles to Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, C.P. Cavafy, Dinos Christianopoulos, Margarita Karapanou, Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke, Katerina Gogou etc., and the work of artists such as Toshio Matsumoto, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Anohni.
Course Number
CLGM3650W001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 14:10-16:00Section/Call Number
001/10648Enrollment
16 of 15Instructor
Nikolas KakkoufaFocusing on a canonical author is an immensely productive way to explore translation research and practice. The works of Sappho, Dante, Rilke, Césaire or Cavafy raise the question of reception in relation to many different critical approaches and illustrate many different strategies of translation and adaptation. The very issue of intertextuality that challenged the validity of author-centered courses after Roland Barthes’s proclamation of the death of the author reinstates it if we are willing to engage the oeuvre as an on-going interpretive project. By examining the poetry of the Greek Diaspora poet C. P. Cavafy in all its permutations (as criticism, translation, adaptation), the Cavafy case becomes an experimental ground for thinking about how a canonical author can open up our theories and practices of translation. For the final project students will choose a work by an author with a considerable body of critical work and translations and, following the example of Cavafy and his translators, come up with their own retranslations. Among the materials considered are commentary by E. M. Forster, C. M. Bowra, and Roman Jakobson, translations by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, James Merrill, Marguerite Yourcenar, and Daniel Mendelsohn, poems by W.H. Auden, Lawrence Durrell, and Joseph Brodsky, and visual art by David Hockney, and Duane Michals.
Course Number
CLGM4300W001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 12:10-14:00Section/Call Number
001/10649Enrollment
9 of 15Instructor
Karen Van DyckCourse Number
CLPH4901G001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsCourse Number
CLPH4901G002Points
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
002/00747Enrollment
0 of 15Instructor
Nancy WormanPrerequisites: the instructors permission. Topics chosen in consultation between members of the staff and students.
Course Number
CLPH4902G002Points
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
002/00748Enrollment
1 of 15Instructor
Nancy WormanCourse Number
CLPH5000G001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFor students who have never studied Greek. An intensive study of grammar with reading and writing of simple Attic prose.
Course Number
GREK1101V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 13:10-14:25We 13:10-14:25Fr 13:10-14:25Section/Call Number
001/11313Enrollment
3 of 15For students who have never studied Greek. An intensive study of grammar with reading and writing of simple Attic prose.
Course Number
GREK1101V002Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 18:10-20:00Th 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
002/11314Enrollment
6 of 15Course Number
GREK1121V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 13:10-14:25We 13:10-14:25Fr 13:10-14:25Section/Call Number
001/11315Enrollment
6 of 15Prerequisites: GREK UN1101- GREK UN1102 or the equivalent. Selections from Attic prose.
Course Number
GREK2101V001Points
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 11:40-12:55Th 11:40-12:55Fr 11:40-12:55Section/Call Number
001/00360Enrollment
15 of 15Instructor
Nancy WormanCourse Number
GREK3309V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 13:10-14:25Th 13:10-14:25Section/Call Number
001/11316Enrollment
4 of 15Instructor
Paraskevi MartzavouPrerequisites: junior standing. Required for all majors in classics and classical studies. The topic changes from year to year, but is always broad enough to accommodate students in the languages as well as those in the interdisciplinary major. Past topics include: love, dining, slavery, space, power.
Course Number
GREK3996V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Th 16:10-18:00Section/Call Number
001/11318Enrollment
4 of 15Instructor
Carmela FranklinPrerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. A program of reading in Greek literature, to be tested by a series of short papers, one long paper, or an oral or written examination.
Course Number
GREK3997V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
001/11319Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Elizabeth ScharffenbergerCourse Number
GREK4009W001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 11:40-12:55Th 11:40-12:55Section/Call Number
001/11320Enrollment
8 of 15Instructor
Deborah SteinerThis course is designed to provide incoming first-year graduate students in Classics with a small reading class that will allow a faculty instructor to assess students’ needs before they advance further into the graduate program.
Course Number
GREK5100G001Format
In-PersonPoints
2 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 16:10-18:00Section/Call Number
001/11324Enrollment
2 of 5Instructor
John MaPrerequisites: at least four terms of Greek, or the equivalent. An intensive review of Greek syntax with translation of English sentences and paragraphs into Attic Greek.
Course Number
GREK5139G001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 13:10-14:25We 13:10-14:25Section/Call Number
001/11325Enrollment
5 of 15Instructor
Elizabeth ScharffenbergerThis seminar explores a set of interrelated ideas, puzzles, problems, and assumptions that Aristotle’s Politics presents concerning human flourishing, community, and political organization. It seeks to historically situate Aristotelian conceptions of the polis and of citizens (politai), both as products of actual circumstances in Hellenic city-states during the classical period and as responses to theoretical speculations by contemporaries such as Plato. Its overarching goal is to examine in detail Aristotle’s conception of the polis as the exclusive setting in which individual human beings can achieve their full potential as deliberators on matters of importance who exercise authority over others and are simultaneously subject to the determinations of others. We account for the assumptions and prejudgments that shape and limit his conceptions of who is able to participate in the activities of deliberation that are critical to the mature flourishing of individuals as well as the functioning of the polis. As we consider the emphases Aristotle places on political and social significance of economic factors and his interest in the individual household as a crucial building block of the polis, we investigate Politics’ sustained interest in the means by which senses of community, trust, “friendship,” and common interest are either fostered or inhibited, and its recurrent concerns for phenomena of factionalism, division, and distrust that render political communities dysfunctional. The seminar aspires to afford opportunities for thinking critically about Aristotle’s Politics and its legacy, and for considering the paths it might open up for creative engagement with the challenges we face today.
Course Number
GREK8020G001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
001/11326Enrollment
5 of 15Instructor
Elizabeth ScharffenbergerThis is the first semester of a year-long course designed for students wishing to learn Greek as it is written and spoken in Greece today. As well as learning the skills necessary to read texts of moderate difficulty and converse on a wide range of topics, students explore Modern Greeces cultural landscape from parea to poetry to politics. Special attention will be paid to Greek New York. How do our, American, Greek-American definitions of language and culture differ from their, Greek ones?
Course Number
GRKM1101V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 12:10-14:00We 12:10-14:00Section/Call Number
001/10651Enrollment
7 of 15Instructor
Nikolas KakkoufaCourse Number
GRKM2101V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 18:10-20:00We 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
001/10652Enrollment
9 of 15Instructor
Chrysanthe FilippardosCourse Number
GRKM3935W001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 12:10-14:00Th 12:10-14:00Section/Call Number
001/14271Enrollment
15 of 15Instructor
Dimitris AntoniouCourse Number
GRKM3997V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
001/10654Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Nikolas KakkoufaCourse Number
GRKM3997V002Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
002/10655Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Stathis GourgourisCourse Number
GRKM3997V003Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
003/10656Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Dimitris AntoniouCourse Number
GRKM3997V004Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
004/10657Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Karen Van DyckCourse Number
GRKM3997V005Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
005/10658Enrollment
1 of 5Instructor
Paraskevi MartzavouCourse Number
GRKM3998V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
001/10659Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Nikolas KakkoufaCourse Number
GRKM4460W001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
001/10660Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Nikolas KakkoufaCourse Number
GRKM4460W002Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
002/10661Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Stathis GourgourisCourse Number
GRKM4460W003Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
003/10662Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Dimitris AntoniouCourse Number
GRKM4460W004Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
004/10663Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Karen Van DyckCourse Number
GRKM4460W005Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
005/10664Enrollment
0 of 5Instructor
Paraskevi MartzavouCourse Number
LATN1101V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 10:10-11:25Th 10:10-11:25Fr 10:10-11:25Section/Call Number
001/11327Enrollment
3 of 15Course Number
LATN1101V002Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 18:10-20:00We 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
002/11328Enrollment
4 of 15Prerequisites: LATN UN1101. A continuation of LATN UN1101, including a review of grammar and syntax for students whose study of Latin has been interrupted.
Course Number
LATN1102V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 18:10-20:00Th 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
001/11330Enrollment
8 of 15Course Number
LATN1121W001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 18:10-20:00We 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
001/11329Enrollment
3 of 15Prerequisites: LATN UN2101 or the equivalent. Selections from Ovids Metamorphoses and from Sallust, Livy, Seneca, or Pliny.
Course Number
LATN2101V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 10:10-11:25Th 10:10-11:25Fr 10:10-11:25Section/Call Number
001/11331Enrollment
10 of 15Prerequisites: LATN UN2101 or the equivalent. Selections from Ovids Metamorphoses and from Sallust, Livy, Seneca, or Pliny.
Course Number
LATN2101V002Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 18:10-20:00We 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
002/11332Enrollment
11 of 15This course condenses the second semester of Intermediate Latin (2102) into a sixweek summer session. Its goal is to further develop reading and interpretation skills in Classical Latin through engagement with Roman authors while continuing to review the essentials of Latin grammar. In the first half of the course, we cover selections from Ovid’s epic poem, the Metamorphoses; in the second, we take up the prose writings of Seneca the Younger including selections from his Epistulae Morales and the philosophical dialogue De vita beata.
Prerequisites: LATN UN2101 or the equivalent. Selections from Ovids Metamorphoses and from Sallust, Livy, Seneca, or Pliny.
Course Number
LATN2102V001Format
In-PersonPoints
4 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 18:10-20:00Th 18:10-20:00Section/Call Number
001/11333Enrollment
15 of 15Prerequisites: LATN UN2102 or the equivalent. Selections from Vergil and Horace. Combines literary analysis with work in grammar and metrics.
Course Number
LATN3012V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 14:40-15:55We 14:40-15:55Section/Call Number
001/11334Enrollment
7 of 15Instructor
Gareth WilliamsPrerequisites: four semesters of college Latin or the instructors permission. This course offers an introduction to medieval Latin literature in conversation with its two most important traditions, classical literature and early Christian culture. Illustrative passages from the principal authors and genres of the Latin Middle Ages will be read, including Augustine and biblical exegesis; Ambrose and poetry; Bede and history and hagiography; Abelard and Heloise and the 12th century Renaissance. The course is suitable both for students of Latin and of the Middle Ages.
Course Number
LATN3033V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Tu 14:40-15:55Th 14:40-15:55Section/Call Number
001/11335Enrollment
4 of 15Instructor
Carmela FranklinCourse Number
LATN3309V001Points
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 10:10-11:25We 10:10-11:25Section/Call Number
001/00346Enrollment
4 of 15Instructor
Kristina MilnorPrerequisites: junior standing. Required for all majors in Classics and Classical Studies. The topic changes from year to year but is always broad enough to accommodate students in the languages as well as those in the interdisciplinary major. Past topics include: love, dining, slavery, space, power.
Course Number
LATN3996V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Th 16:10-18:00Section/Call Number
001/11336Enrollment
6 of 15Instructor
Carmela FranklinCourse Number
LATN3997V001Format
In-PersonPoints
3 ptsFall 2024
Section/Call Number
001/11337Enrollment
2 of 5Instructor
Gareth WilliamsPrerequisites: LATN V3012 or the equivalent. Since the content of this course changes from year to year, it may be repeated for credit.
Course Number
LATN4009W001Points
3 ptsFall 2024
Times/Location
Mo 14:40-15:55We 14:40-15:55Section/Call Number
001/00347Enrollment
4 of 15Instructor
Kristina MilnorThis course is designed to provide incoming first-year graduate students in Classics with a small reading class that will allow a faculty instructor to assess students’ needs before they advance further into the graduate program.