Humanities 110

Mon. 25 Jan.

Polybius, from The Rise of the Roman Empire (on e-reserves); Martin, Ancient Greece, chapters 9 and 10

Lecture: Observing Imperialism: Alexander, Hellenism and the Rise of the Roman Machine / Pancho Savery

Wed. 27 Jan.

Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura), Book 1 (lines 1-637, 921-1117), Book 2 (lines 1-293), and Book 3 (all); Garnsey & Saller, The Roman Empire, chapter 9.

Lecture: Lucretius, Rome, and the Nature of the Universe / Wally Englert

Fri. 29 Jan.

Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura), Books 5 and 6

Lecture: Epicurean Naturalism / Paul Hovda

Friday Jan. 29th - "Spartacus" (dir. Stanley Kubrick), film presentation, 7:00 – 10:00 PM, VLH

Mon. 1 Feb.

Livy, The Rise of Rome, Preface and Book I and (pp. 3-70); "The Roman Republic," from Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, eds, Oxford Classical Dictionary (on e-reserves); Clifford Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural System" (on e-reserves);

Lecture: Livy and the Re-Creation of Rome / Wally Englert

Wed. 3 Feb.

Livy, The Rise of Rome, Book II.1-25 and Book 5.19-end (pp. 71-96 & 302-341);

Lecture: What is a Body Politic? / Nathalia King

Fri. 5 Feb.

Augustus, The Accomplishments of Augustus; (on e-reserves); Jas Elsner, "Text and the Propaganda of Monuments in Augustan Rome" (on e-reserves); Horace, "Cleopatra" and "The Reign of Augustus" (on e-reserves)

Lecture: From Octavian to Augustus / Ellen Millender

Recommended: Blackwell Companion (Chapter 6, Section 1) on "Augustus"

Mon. 8 Feb.

View this slideshow of the Ara Pacis before lecture:
http://cdm-workspace.reed.edu/slideshow/1040

Reading: Peter J. Holliday, "Time, History, and Ritual on the Ara Pacis Augustae" (available on JSTOR: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3045761); Virgil, "Eclogue 4" (on e-reserves)

Lecture: Picturing Peace: Puzzles of the Ara Pacis Augustae / Margot Minardi

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Additional Resources: Images of the Ara Pacis are available in Reed Digital Collections' Ara Pacis Collection (for off-campus access, see proxy setup instructions) and at http://www.arachne.uni-koeln.de/arapacis/ (be warned the site is in German)

Wed. 10 Feb.

Virgil, Aeneid, Books 1-4

Lecture: Fathers and Sons / Christine McBride

Fri. 12 Feb.

Virgil, Aeneid, Books 5-8

Lecture: The Pale Imitation / Jay Dickson

Mon. 15 Feb.

Virgil, Aeneid, Books 9-12

Lecture: 'This is the End': Virgil's Response to Augustus/ Pancho Savery

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Wed. 17 Feb.

Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller, The Roman Empire, Chapters 2, 6, 7 & 8; Pliny the Younger, Letters 2.17 and 6.16 (on e-reserves); "The Humble Townspeople: From the Walls of Pompeii" (on e-reserves)

Lecture: Families and Friends / Michael Breen

Fri. 19 Feb.

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 1-3

Lecture: Meta-Metamorphoses / Ann Delehanty

Mon. 22 Feb.

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 4-6, 15

Lecture: Silver Latin / Nigel Nicholson

Wed. 24 Feb.

Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: On Providence, On the Tranquility of the Mind, and Letters, 47, 70, 92

Lecture: Public Philosophy / Jan Mieszkowski

Recommended: The Blackwell Companion (Chapter 6, Section 2), "The Other Julio-Claudians"

Fri. 26 Feb.

Tacitus, Annals, pp. 31-60, 90-99, 104-128

Lecture: Between Republic and Empire / Michael Breen

Mon. 1 March

Tacitus, Annals, pp. 131-133, 143-146 and 157-255

Lecture: Representations of the Emperor / William Diebold

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Wed. 3 March

Tacitus, Annals, pp. 275-324, 335-397

Lecture: Gossip / Jay Dickson

Fri. 5 March

Tacitus, Germania in The Agricola and the Germania; Tacitus, Histories 1-10 (on e-reserves)

Lecture: Two Cities: Identity and Alterity / Nathalia King

Recommended: The Blackwell Companion (Chapter 6, Section 3), "68-69 CE and the Flavians"

Mon. 8 March

Genesis 1-21; Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 1-16 & 19-28

Lecture: On Scripture and Canon / Kambiz GhaneaBassiri

Wed. 10 March

Genesis 21-50; Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 49-67

Lecture: Interpreting Indeterminacy: Literary Strategies in Reading the Bible / Marat Grinberg

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Mon. 22 March

Exodus 1-23; Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 67-74

Lecture: Moses the Nation Builder / Tamara Metz

Wed. 24 March

Exodus 24-40; Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 172-88

Lecture: Migration and Sacred Space / Laura Leibman

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Fri. 26 March

Isaiah 40-55; Amos; Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 90-113

Lecture: Hebrew Prophecy: Universality and Particularity / Steve Wasserstrom

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Mon. 29 March

Romans; 1 Corinthians 1-4, 11; Acts 9-19

Lecture: Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles / Robert Knapp

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Additional Resource: Lecture Powerpoint [PDF 6M]

Wed. 31 March

Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 28-46; Josephus, The Jewish War, pp. 27-31, 133-148, 307-354, 387-405 (read Jaffee first)

Lecture: Varieties of Religious Experience / Nathalia King

Recommended: The Blackwell Companion (Chapter 28, Section 2), "The Historical Framework"

Thursday, April 1st – "From Jesus to Christ," Part I, video presentation, 7:00 – 9:00PM, VLH

Fri. 2 April

Gospel of Matthew

Lecture: Interpretation in Matthew and Thomas / Gail Sherman

Recommended: Gospel of Thomas

Mon. 5 April

Gospel of John

Lecture: Between Jew and Hellene: The Emerging Christian Community of the Gospel of John / Ellen Stauder

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Tuesday April 6th – "From Jesus to Christ," Part II, video presentation, 7:00 – 9:00PM, VLH

Wed. 7 April

Apuleius, The Golden Ass

Lecture: A Serious Joke: The Golden Ass Between Religion and Philosophy / Steve Wasserstrom

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Recommended: The Blackwell Companion (Chapter 9, all sections), "The Administration of the Provinces"

Fri. 9 April

Apuleius, The Golden Ass; Alex Nice, "The Goddess Isis and the Roman World" (on e-reserves);

Lecture: Apuleius and Resistance to Empire / Sonia Sabnis

Recommended: Potter, Emperors of Rome, "Caesars and Their Subjects" (on e-reserves) and "The Slippery Slope"
(on e-reserves)

Mon. 12 April

The Tractate Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers) (on e-reserves); Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 74-86

Lecture: Tractate Avot and Rabbinic Law / Steve Wasserstrom

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Wed. 14 April

Annabel Jane Wharton, Refiguring the Post Classical City (on e-reserves); also, see the photos in Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 183-86

View this slideshow before lecture:
http://cdm-workspace.reed.edu/slideshow/553

Lecture: Jews and Christians in Dura-Europos / William Diebold

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Fri. 16 April

The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (on e-reserves); Athanasius, Life of St. Anthony, chapters I, II, VI, and XVII;

Lecture: The Martyrdom of Perpetua / Nathalia King

Recommended: The Blackwell Companion (Chapter 8, Sections 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7; Chapter 29, Section 3) "The Transformation of the Empire" and "The Persecution of Religious Minorities"

Mon. 19 April

Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, pp. 1-112

Lecture: Was Perpetua Black? / Laura Leibman

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Wed. 21 April

Plotinus, I.6 ("Beauty"), pp. 33-44; V.9, ("The Intelligence, The Ideas and Being"), pp. 45-58 (on e-reserves)

Lecture: Plotinus and His Roots in Plato and Aristotle / Margaret Scharle

Fri. 23 April

Augustine, Confessions

Slideshow: http://cdm-workspace.reed.edu/slideshow/1045

Lecture: "So Tiny a Child, So Many Pages": Augustine's Beginnings / Nigel Nicholson

Mon. 26 April

Augustine, Confessions

Lecture: Augustine's Confessions: This Self That Thinks / Lena Lencek

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Wed. 28 April

Augustine, Confessions

Lecture: Augustine and the Problem of Evil / Steve Arkonovich

Additional Resource: Lecture Handout

Fri. 30 April

Augustine, Confessions

Lecture: The End / Jan Mieszkowski