Syllabus - Fall 2020
Full Schedule
Week 1
Mon 31 Aug
Assignment
- Christina Riggs, “Forty Centuries,” in Egypt: Lost Civilizations (London: Reaktion Books, 2017), pp. 33-57, 191-192.
- Christina Riggs, excerpt from “Four Little Words,” in Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 3-18
- Gallery: Narmer Palette and Great Pyramid
Lecture: “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: THE GREAT PYRAMID IN AND OUT OF CONTEXT”
Tom Landvatter
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 2 Sep
Assignment
- “The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, ed. Parkinson, pp. 54-88
- Charles Freeman, “Egypt, the Gift of the Nile, 3200-1500 BC,” in Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean, second ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 40-62
Lecture: "Speaking Ma’at, Doing Ma’at, Making Ma’at"
Nathalia King
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 4 Sep
Assignment
- “The Tale of Sinuhe,” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, ed. Parkinson, pp. 21-53
Lecture: "Egypt and its Others: Death as Return in The Tale of Sinuhe"
Kritish Rajbhandari
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Week 2
Mon 7 Sep
Campus closed
Labor Day
Wed 9 Sep
Assignment
- Visual images: study these images before lecture and conference
- "The Great Hymn to Osiris" (Lichtheim II 81-86)
- "Coffin Text 148" (Simpson 263-265)
- "Horus and Seth" (Lichtheim II 214-223)
- "The Book of the Dead 125" (Lichtheim II 124-132)
- “The Dialogue of a Man and His Soul,” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, ed. Parkinson, pp. 151-165
- "Harper Songs" (Simpson 332-333; Lichtheim II 115-116)
Lecture: "'Sirius Rising': Religion and Art in Ancient Egypt"
Pancho Savery
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 11 Sep
Assignment
- Jan Assmann, “The Temple” and “Image and Cult,” in The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, trans. David Lorton (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001), pp. 27-47, 248-249.
- Richard H. Wilkinson, “Amun, Amun-Re,” “Khonsu,” “Min,” “Mut,” and “Montu,” in The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003), pp. 92-97, 113-114, 115-117, 153-156, 203-204
- Richard H. Wilkinson, “Karnak and Luxor,” in The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2000), pp. 154-171
- Video: "Digital Karnak - Terms and Definitions"
- Video: "Digital Karnak - Temple Development"
Lecture: TBA
Jonathan Winnerman (UCLA)
- Course resources
- Lecture recording Note: this lecture is one hour long.
Week 3
Mon 14 Sep
Assignment
- “Obelisk Inscription of Hatshepsut,” in Writings from Ancient Egypt, trans. Toby Wilkinson (London: Penguin, 2016), 191-196
- “The Birth Narrative from Deir el-Bahri: Hatshepsut’s Birth and Coronation Narratives,” ed. and trans. Thomas Landvatter (2019)
- Gallery: Hatshepsut
Lecture: "I’M WITH HER: GENDER, POWER, AND KINGSHIP IN THE MONUMENTS OF HATSHEPSUT"
Tom Landvatter
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 16 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction to Egyptian Love Lyrics
- Selections from Love Lyrics of Ancient Egypt, trans. Barbara Hughes Fowler (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), pp. xiii-xv, 6-9, 17, 38-41, 57-58, 66-67
- Selections from Love Songs of the New Kingdom, trans. John L. Foster (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974), front matter, pp. 67, 70-73, 102-103.
Lecture: “Familiar and Strange: Love Poetry of the New Kingdom”
Dustin Simpson
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 18 Sep
Assignment
Note: the lecturer advises that you begin watching the lecture before beginning the reading for today.
- Introduction to Achaemenid Era Inscriptions
- Inscriptions from the Achaemenid era, from The Persian Empire, vol. I, ed. Amelie Kuhrt (New York: Routledge, 2007), pp. 70-74, 117-122, 141-158, 492-495, 503-505
- Gallery: Achaemenid Persians in Egypt and Beyond
Lecture: “Empire of All Kinds: Achaemenid Persians in Egypt and Beyond”
Margot Minardi
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 18 Sep
FIRST PAPER DUE
Due Friday, September 18, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 4
Mon 21 Sep
Assignment
- Visual Images: explore these images from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute before lecture and conference.
- Margaret C. Root, "Circles of Artistic Programming: Strategies for Studying Creative Process at Persepolis," in A. C. Gunter (ed.), Investigating Artistic Environments in the Ancient Near East (Washington, DC, 1990), 115-39.
Lecture: "Parsa, Persepolis, Takht-e Jamshid"
Tom Landvatter
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 23 Sep
Assignment
- Genesis, chapters 1-20 (focus on 1-11), plus introduction to Genesis from The Jewish Study Bible
- Martin S. Jaffee, excerpts from Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium, second ed. (Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2006), pp. 1-28.
Lecture: "Babble"
Jan Mieszkowski
Fri 25 Sep
Assignment
- Genesis, review chapters 15-18 and read chapters 21-50 (focus on 22, 37-38)
- Martin S. Jaffee, excerpts from Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium, second ed. (Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2006), pp. 50-67, 86-87.
Lecture: "Covenant, Narrative, and Gender in Genesis"
Gail Sherman
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF Note: please review handout before watching the lecture.
- Lecture recording
Week 5
Mon 28 Sep
Assignment
- Exodus, chapters 1-15, plus introduction to Exodus from The Jewish Study Bible
Lecture: “A People in Between: Exodus and the Israelites at the Crossroads of Empire”
Margot Minardi
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture Recording
Wed 30 Sep
Assignment
- Exodus, chapters 15-35; 40.16-34
Lecture: "MIGRATION LEGENDS"
Laura Leibman
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 2 Oct
Assignment
- Esther
Lecture: "Narratives and Identities, Gender and Genre: Jews in the Persian Empire"
Gail Sherman
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture Recording
Week 6
Mon 5 Oct
Assignment
- Homer, The Iliad, Books 1-6 (focus on 1, 2, 5, 6)
Lecture: "The Oral Tradition in Homer: the Extended Simile as an Analysis of Action"
Nathalia King
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF. Please follow along on the handout while listening to the lecture podcast.
- Lecture Recording
Wed 7 Oct
Assignment
- Homer, The Iliad, Books 7-12 (focus on 9, 11)
Lecture: "Iliad IX: "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts""
Elizabeth Drumm
Fri 9 Oct
Assignment
- Homer, The Iliad, Books 13-18 (focus on 15, 16, 18)
Lecture: “The Languages of Violence”
Jan Mieszkowski
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Week 7
Mon 12 Oct
Assignment
- Homer, The Iliad, Books 19-24 (focus on 19, 22, 24)
Lecture: "Love is a Battlefield"
Jay Dickson
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 14 Oct
Assignment
- Hesiod, Works and Days and Theogony
Lecture: "Goddesses and Gods"
Michael Faletra
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 16 Oct
Assignment
- “Archilochus” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 1-12
- “Tyrtaeus” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 13-19
- “Solon” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 64-76
- “Hipponax” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 104-106
Lecture: "Exhortation, Invective, and Complaint in Archaic Greek Poetry"
Sonia Sabnis
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording Note: this lecture is downloadable.
Sat 17 Oct
SECOND PAPER DUE
Due Saturday, October 17, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 8
Mon 19 Oct
Assignment
- “Sappho” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 51-63
Lecture: "Reading Sappho"
Lena Lencek
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 21 Oct
Assignment
- Gallery: Sarpedon vase
- Khan Academy: Ancient Greek vase production and the black-figure technique
- Khan Academy: Exekias, amphora with Ajax and Achilles playing a game
- Excerpt from Richard T Neer, Style and politics in Athenian vase-painting : the craft of democracy, ca. 530-460 B.C.E. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002) pp. 1-3, 9-13, 32-35, 39-43, 65, 86.
Lecture: "'Bound in a Single Fate': Exploring Concepts of Equality on the Sarpedon Vase"
Nathalia King
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture Recording
Fri 23 Oct
Assignment
- Presocratics Reader: Xenophanes (pp. 31 -38); Heraclitus (pp. 39-54); Parmenides (pp. 55-65)
Lecture: "If horses had hands..."
Troy Cross
Week 9
Mon 26 Oct
Assignment
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Agamemnon”
Lecture: "The Beginnings of Tragedy"
Jay Dickson
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 28 Oct
Assignment
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Libation Bearers” and “Eumenides”
- Gallery
Lecture: "Justice and Gender in the Oresteia: The Eumenides"
Gail Sherman
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 30 Oct
Assignment
- Herodotus, Histories, 1.1-12, 1.23-94, 1.107-140, 1.201-216
Lecture: “Oracular History and Athenian Empire”
Margot Minardi
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording. Note: this lecture contains an optional bonus segment.
Week 10
Mon 2 Nov
Assignment
- Herodotus, Histories, 2.1-64, 2.113-120, 2.142-151, 2.164-182, 3.30-38, 3.61-89.
Lecture: "Myth and History"
Ariadna García-Bryce
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 4 Nov
Assignment
- Herodotus, Histories, 6.125-130, 7.8-57, 7.101-104, 7.138-140, 7.201-238, 8.40-99, 9.114-122
Lecture: "Look to the End”
Jay Dickson
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 6 Nov
Assignment
- Gallery: Parthenon
- Rachel Kousser, “Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis,” Art Bulletin 91.3 (2009): pp. 263-282
Lecture: "Goddess and Polis"
Laura Leibman
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Week 11
Mon 9 Nov
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.1-22, 1.31-55, 1.66-88, 1.139-146, 2.34-65
Lecture: "Law, Virtue, and the Perils of Democracy"
Michael Breen
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 11 Nov
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 3.36-50, 3.69-85, 5.83-116, 6.8-24
Lecture: “Thucydidean Thought”
Peter Steinberger
Fri 13 Nov
Assignment
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 6.1-41, 6.88-93, 7.1-18, 7.49-87
Lecture: Panel: Jan Mieszkowski, ”Spectacular History,” Mary Ashburn Miller, Alex Montgomery, “Thucydides in Our Time”
- Prof. Mieszkowski's lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Prof. Montgomery's lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Sat 14 Nov
THIRD PAPER DUE
Due Saturday, November 14, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 12
Mon 16 Nov
Assignment
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Lecture: "Lysistrata: Thinking Through Gender"
Laura Leibman
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 18 Nov
Assignment
- Plato, “Euthyphro,” “Apology,” and “Crito” in Trial and Death of Socrates, pp. 1-54
Lecture: "A Kind of Gadfly"
Pancho Savery
- Course resources
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 20 Nov
Assignment
- Plato, Republic, 1-2
Lecture: “Who is Cephalus?”
Peter Steinberger
Sat 21 Nov
Thanksgiving Break
November 21 – November 29
Week 13
Mon 30 Nov
Assignment
- Plato, Republic, 3-5
Lecture: “Sex, Gender and the Power(s) of Philosophy”
Tamara Metz
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 2 Dec
Assignment
- Plato, Republic, 6-7
Lecture: "Plato's Theory of Forms and the Republic"
Paul Hovda
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Fri 4 Dec
Assignment
- Plato, Symposium, 1-44
Lecture: “House Party”
Jan Mieszkowski
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
- Course resources
Week 14
Mon 7 Dec
Thu 10 Dec
FOURTH PAPER DUE
Due Thursday, December 10, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Course Logistics
REQUIRED TEXTS
- Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1977.
- Aristophanes. Lysistrata. Trans. Sarah Ruden. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003.
- Berlin, Adele, and Mark Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Curd, Patricia, ed. A Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testimonia. Trans. Richard D. McKirahan. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011.
- Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. London: Penguin, 2003.
- Hesiod. Works and Days and Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993.
- Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.
- Miller, Andrew M., ed. Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996.
- Parkinson, R. B., ed. and trans. The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
- Plato. Republic. Trans. C. D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004.
- Plato. Symposium. Trans. Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1989.
- Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Trans. G. M. A. Grube, rev. John M. Cooper. 3rd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000.
- Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Rex Warner. New York: Penguin, 1954.
Additional assigned texts are available on e-reserves accessible via links embedded in the syllabus below. You will need your Reed username and password to access these texts. Please bring a copy of the day’s reading assignment to class each day. The library has on reserve a limited number of the required books, as well as multiple copies of a course packet containing the electronic readings.
CONFERENCE ASSIGNMENTS
Humanities 110 is a yearlong course, and students are expected to remain in the same conference throughout the year. In cases of absolutely unresolvable schedule conflicts, students may petition for a change of conference time. Petitions (in the form of an email) should be addressed to the course Chair, Paul Hovda, including an explanation of the conflict and why it cannot be resolved. Students granted a change of conference time will be assigned to new sections based on available slots and the student’s schedule; requests to move into a particular conference generally cannot be honored.
PAPERS AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Four course-wide papers will be assigned in the fall semester, due at the times designated on the syllabus. Individual conference leaders may assign additional writing. If the due date for an assignment conflicts with a religious holiday or obligation that you wish to observe, please consult with your conference leader.
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS
If you have a documented disability requiring accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services. Notifications of accommodations on exams, papers, other writing assignments, or conferences should be directed to your conference leader. Notifications of accommodations regarding lectures can be directed to the chair of the course, Paul Hovda. You are advised to consult with your conference leader about how your accommodations might apply to specific assignments or circumstances in this course.
RESOURCES FOR SUPPORT
Your conference leader is your first line of support for any questions you have about the course. Please also be sure to explore the Hum 110 website for additional information. The Course Resources page provides brief introductions to upcoming readings and suggestions for how to approach them. The Writing in Hum 110 page provides tips on the writing process.
The Writing Center is a particularly valuable resource for Hum 110 students working on papers. You can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. In Fall 2020, the Writing Center will be virtual, and offer drop-in help online from 7:00-10:00p.m. Pacific time; you can find links to the Writing Center session posted on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the weeks leading up to paper due dates.
For additional information about support resources available to you on the Reed campus, please see Student Life’s Key Support Resources for Students.
If you have questions that aren’t answered here, please consult your conference leader or email Hum110@reed.edu.