Syllabus | Fall 2021
Coming Up
Mon 27 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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
- Lecture handout - Word and PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Wed 29 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Exodus, chapters 15-25, 32-35, 40
Lecture: "Moses as a Nation Builder?: A Political Philosopher’s Readings of Exodus"
Tamara Metz
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 1 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Esther
Lecture: "NARRATIVES AND IDENTITIES, GENDER AND GENRE: JEWS IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE"
Gail Sherman
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
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.
- 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.
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 resources 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. The schedule of the writing drop-in tutoring is available on the academic support 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.
Schedule of Readings and Lectures
Week 1
Introducing the Humanities: Egyptians, Israelites, and Achaemenids
Mon 30 Aug
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 1 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- “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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 3 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- “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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Week 2
Mon 6 Sep
Campus closed
Labor Day
Wed 8 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 10 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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: "Karnak: Between Two Worlds"
Jonathan Winnerman (UCLA)
- Lecture recording Note: this lecture is one hour long.
Week 3
Mon 13 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- “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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 15 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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 17 Sep
Assignment
Note: the lecturer advises that you begin watching the lecture before beginning the reading for today.
- Introduction and resources
- 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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Sat 18 Sep
Week 4
Mon 20 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 22 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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: "The Geneses of Genesis"
Michael Faletra
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 24 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Genesis, 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
- Lecture recording
Week 5
Mon 27 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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
- Lecture handout - Word and PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
Wed 29 Sep
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Exodus, chapters 15-25, 32-35, 40
Lecture: "Moses as a Nation Builder?: A Political Philosopher’s Readings of Exodus"
Tamara Metz
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Fri 1 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Esther
Lecture: "NARRATIVES AND IDENTITIES, GENDER AND GENRE: JEWS IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE"
Gail Sherman
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Week 6
Archaic Greece and the Rise of the Polis
Mon 4 Oct
Assignment
Note: Open the handout before you start listening to the podcast. It include maps and quotes that will help you follow along.- Hesiod, Theogony
Lecture: "Making Gender in Hesiod’s Theogony: Cosmic Parents, Monstrous Children, and Cannibal Consorts"
Nathalia King
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 6 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Hesiod, Works and Days
- Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982), vii-xi, 1-14.
Lecture: "A house, an ox, and an enslaved woman: social structures and social death"
Gail Sherman
Fri 8 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- “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
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Sat 9 Oct
Second Paper Due
Due Saturday, October 9, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 7
Mon 11 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- “Sappho” in Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation, pp. 51-63
Lecture: "READING SAPPHO"
Lena Lencek
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 13 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- 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
Fri 15 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Presocratics Reader: Xenophanes (pp. 31 -38); Heraclitus (pp. 39-54); Parmenides (pp. 55-65)
Lecture: "IF HORSES HAD HANDS..."
Troy Cross
Sat 16 Oct
Fall Break
October 16 – October 24
Week 8
Mon 25 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resouces
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Agamemnon”
Lecture: "THE BEGINNINGS OF TRAGEDY"
Jay Dickson
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture recording
Wed 27 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia: “Libation Bearers” and “Eumenides”
- Gallery
Lecture: TBA
Peter Steinberger
Fri 29 Oct
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Herodotus, Histories, 1.1-12, 1.25-94, 1.107-140, 1.201-216
Week 9
Mon 1 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Herodotus, Histories, 2.1-64, 2.113-120, 2.142-151, 2.164-182, 3.30-38, 3.61-89
Lecture: TBA
David Garrett
Wed 3 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Herodotus, Histories, 6.125-130, 7.8-57, 7.101-104, 7.138-140, 7.201-238, 8.40-99, 9.114-122
Lecture: TBA
Meg Scharle
Fri 5 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Gallery: Parthenon
- Rachel Kousser, “Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis,” Art Bulletin 91.3 (2009): pp. 263-282
Lecture: TBA
Christian Kroll
Week 10
Mon 8 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Susan Lape, “Theorizing Citizen Identity,” in Race and Citizen Identity in the Classical Athenian Democracy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 1-50.
Lecture: "Calling It Race: Constructing Difference in Democratic Athens (and Beyond)"
Margot Minardi
- Lecture handout - Word or PDF
- Lecture slides
- Lecture recording
- Supplementary Resource: Parthenon metopes
Wed 10 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.1-22, 1.31-55, 1.66-88, 1.139-146, 2.34-65
Lecture: TBA
Mary Ashburn Miller
Fri 12 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 3.36-50, 3.69-85, 5.83-116, 6.8-24
Lecture: “THUCYDIDEAN THOUGHT”
Peter Steinberger
Sat 13 Nov
Third Paper Due
Due Saturday, November 13, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.
Week 11
Mon 15 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 6.1-41, 6.88-93, 7.1-18, 7.49-87
Lecture: No lecture
Wed 17 Nov
Fri 19 Nov
Assignment
- Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory,” Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-531.
Lecture: TBA
Elizabeth Drumm
Week 12
Mon 22 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Plato, “Euthyphro,” “Apology,” and “Crito” in Trial and Death of Socrates, pp. 1-54
Lecture: TBA
Pancho Savery
Wed 24 Nov
Assignment
- Introduction and resources
- Plato, Republic, 1-2
Lecture: “WHO IS CEPHALUS?”
Peter Steinberger
Thu 25 Nov
Thanksgiving Break
November 25 – November 28
Week 13
Mon 29 Nov
Wed 1 Dec
Fri 3 Dec
Sat 4 Dec
Fourth Paper Due
Due Saturday, December 4, at 5:00 PM to your conference leader.