"The Ancient World"
Tsai Auditorium, Tuesday 9:30 - 11 AM

Announcements

• The handout Prof. Roochnik's handout for his 11/24 lecture is available as a PDF
• Three selections from the Landmark Thucydides are now available online for CC101 students: the Mytilenian Debate, the Funeral Oration of Pericles, and the Melian Dialogue.
• Students seeking a copy of Prof. Esposito's book Odysseus at Troy: Ajax, Hecuba, and Trojan Women may contact the publisher directly to place an order.
• Prof. Eckel's notes on Prof. Scully's October 6th lecture are now available.
• Supplemental reading: introduction to Classical Greece and the Birth of Western Art introduction by Andrew Stewart
• Image: the "Queen of the Night" Relief, picturing Isthar/Inanna, ca.1800-1750 BC. Located in the British Museum. [from Wikipedia]

Course Description

Core Humanities is a four-semester sequence of courses that explore some of the world’s finest and most influential works of literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts. The courses follow a chronological sequence that allows students to look at texts from the perspectives of their authors and original audiences and also to discover the qualities that make them timeless and enduring classics.

The first semester of Core Humanities, CC101, introduces students to two fundamental components of the Western tradition: the world of the Hebrew Scriptures and the culture of the ancient Greeks. The course also considers the Babylonians and other peoples to whom the Hebrews and Greeks are indebted. Among the topics for the semester are: the character of a hero, the relationship between heroes and ordinary human beings, God or the gods, ancient cities, friendship and love, the meaning of justice. Key issues include: human experience of the divine, war (or man’s struggle with human and natural forces whose essence is strife), the development of logos (human reason or cognition) as a response to the divine and to the forces of nature, and the development of art.

Grade and Exam Policy

Grades will be determined by your seminar : Professor according to the university’s regular grading system (A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, and so forth). Final grades will be based on a combination of written work, examinations, and class participation, in the following proportions

• Midterm exam 10%
• Seminar papers 50%;
• Final exam 25%
• Seminar attendance and participation 15%

Examinations will be based on the lectures, seminars, and readings. They will include factual, short essay, and long essay questions.

The final exam will be held on Wednesday, December 16, from 9-11:00 AM in the Tsai Auditorium.

Faculty List and Office Hours

Discussion Section Schedule

Writing in CC101

Writing is an essential component of the Core Curriculum and is coordinated closely with the Boston University Writing Program. Students who successfully complete both semesters of the first-year Core Humanities (CC101 and CC102) receive credit for WR100. Students who successfully complete both semesters of the second-year Core Humanities or the Core Social Sciences (either CC201/202 together or CC203/204 together) receive credit for WR150.

Each seminar will require approximately 20 pages of writing over the course of the semester. Three assignments will be common to all seminars: a summary and commentary paper (2 pages), a paper involving the imitation and analysis of the style of a particular author (3 pages), and a thesis-driven paper with an argument analyzing a single work (5 pages). The remainder of the writing assignments will be developed by individual seminar leaders. At least one of the writing assignments will involve the study of selected works of Near Eastern and Classical art in the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Core Writing Center is available for help throughout the semester. Tutors are graduate and undergraduate students who have been trained in grammar and compositional skills and are familiar with the works read in the Core. To make an appointment with a tutor, stop by the Core office or call 353-5404. The tutors’ office is found in CAS 129.

Academic Conduct Policy

All members of the University are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity; we have the same expectations of each other in this course. Seminar leaders take the issue of plagiarism seriously and expect all the work you do in this course to be your own. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism and how it differs from the appropriate use of other people’s work, consult the Academic Conduct Code or your instructor.

Lecture and Exam Schedule