Discussion: Open Discussion of Any Aspect of the Course
This page is intended for any comments on, or suggestions for improvement to, any aspect of the course. It is particularly intended to allow students, or Internet visitors from off-campus, to comment on features of the course that are not covered on any of the three preceding discussion pages. It will be monitored by the instructor and used as a partial basis for evaluating individual students' class participation [10% of the final grade].
Metis on Fri Mar 26 10:46:44 1999 wrote:
I thoroughly enjoyed this class as I have other classes taught by Professor Rutter. The professor is one of the most engaging and interesting I have had at Dartmouth. What I have learnt from Professor Ruttter will help me in all future classes regardless of the subject.
I thought that the paper topics were interesting, but not as stimulating as some of the papers topics in Professor Rutter's other classes. I thought the paper about the web was not especially useful beyond the knowledge that some materials can be found on the web.
Nausikaa on Wed Mar 17 23:09:55 1999 wrote:
I agree, the take-away from this course was tremendous. In the process of studying Classical Greek society, I became familiar with the diverse approaches involved--in art, architecture, literature, etc. Through the lectures and the readings, I gradually developed a framework with which to appreciate evaluate these various sources of information, and not only in this discipline.
The topics covered were absorbing and comprehensive, and the problems encountered challenging (even frustrating at times), but the material was always accessible--even to the non-major. This was due in no small part to Professor Rutter, who gave consistently substantial lectures but also made sure that everyone on the same page before moving on. I think it was in the course web site where the students were really able to take ownership of the material, having the opportunity to lay out their ideas and contribute to those of others. The course links page was another asset, one I used much like a ready-reference shelf. I came to appreciate the second paper topic as a continuation of the theme of grounding ideas, even those of new media. I believe this is the first class I've taken where we looked forward as intently as we looked back.
The quiz questions and paper topics were appropriate considering the ambitious range of topics covered; but I found having one of each and a final in the last two weeks a bit overwhelming. Perhaps it would have been different if it had been any other term but Winter. At any rate, I am happy to be home and anxious to visit some "old friends" of ours at the museum in town. Thanks to everyone for a memorable term!
Milo on Tue Mar 16 23:56:07 1999 wrote:
This was an excellent course. The readings were well selected and I particularly enjoyed the Hurwitt book. The reading questions were well-framed and thought-provoking. Although the web page wasn't used by the class as well as it could have been, it was definitely well conceived and well designed. The quality of the lectures was superb; the lectures were always well organized, illustrated, and were very engaging. The two papers were very stimulating and the topics encouraged creative approaches to the research and construction of the papers.
Prof. Rutter's skill as a lecture is matched by his skill as an instructor outside of class. He was always available to discuss the paper topics or other aspects of the course, and he exhibited a genuine concern for the intellectual development of his students. His detailed, thorough comments on the papers were extremely valuable. Prof. Rutter is one of the best (perhaps the best) professor that I have had at Dartmouth.
My only small complaint concerns the final. I definitely enjoyed having the questions ahead of time, since I was able to prepare organized responses. However, instead of handing in those organized responses, I hurriedly copied what I could of the responses during the 2 hr exam period, producing essays that were less complete and much less legible than the prepared versions. Perhaps the final exam could be altered so that an option for turning in a type copy of responses at the beginning of the exam period would available. Such an option would certainly be more efficient, as it would save 2 hrs. of rushed recopying. The length could be limited by imposed word count maximums, and all who didn't turn in typed responses could have the 2 hr. exam period to respond by hand in class.
This is one of the best courses that I have had at Dartmouth, and I would highly recommend it to anyone (regardless if they are classics majors or minors).
HIStory on Tue Mar 16 15:15:35 1999 wrote:
I have never taken a course past that covered material and subject matter from the B.C. period. Being a history major, I felt as though it was important to gain knowledge of the power of Europe in the 6th and 5th century B.C. I did not know much about the Ancient Greeks asides from a tidbit here or there(Parthenon, Phalanx, etc), so, as a result, I came away from the course much more knowledgeable about this civilization.
I felt that the class reading courseload was a bit heavy, but books such as Camp, Hurwit, and especially Pollitt made learning enjoyeable as well as enlightening.
The papers, especially the second was a great learning experience because it encouraged us to use the WWW as a resourse to gain information. Although, information on my topic was rather difficult to gather over the web, I still came away with the realization that the WWW is the upcoming source for research, considereing the amount of Classical Greek related pages that are up and running. Some of the links are not reliable, but that is something that has to be accepted while dealing with the web.
While on the topic of the web, I feel the GRS 22 homepage as the most user-friendly and accessible of all course webpages that I have used in the past. In fact, the page was a significant part of the course, and deservedly so.
I found the quiz questions a bit broad and sometimes too difficult to be able to come away with a viable conclusion that could be discussed in 40 minutes.
All in all, I enjoyed the format of the course, and despite the heavy demands, the information covered in the course. I also liked the open-ended questions and topics used in class because that forces the students to make their own conclusions as opposed to simply just using other people's research and conclusions.
Minerva on Mon Mar 15 20:26:25 1999 wrote:
As my name suggests, my main concern is Roman archaeology. To tell the truth, I was not willing to take this class. BUT this class was the best class that I have ever had before. Awsome. Professor Rutter is great both as a lecturer and as a person. I learned a lot from this class, which can be applied even to the other classes. The paper assignment was actually kind of embarassing at first because it does not really focus on the artifacts themselves. But it will help me do my own research next term and also give me a hint to find the way to look for the necessary information.Hurwit reading was interesting because he sometimes shows his new opinion. I do not really like to read the original text such as Pausanias.I often wonder what was the important point.The class is quite inteactive and I really enjoyed it. Just watching the professor move was fun.
I wish I could have studied at this school for 4 years! I would definitely have joined the Greek FSP.
one thing i am not satisfied with is the way the professor chose the quiz questions out of some 20. The ones which were the most difficult and hence i wanted to avoid, were chosen actually. The amount of quiz was too much for me.
But I am very glad that this class was offered while i am at dartmouth.Thank you very much, Prof.Rutter.
Jon on Mon Mar 15 16:47:59 1999 wrote:
I thought the course was taught very well, and that most of the readings were very informative (if a tad long), and that the web site was very useful. The slide selection and quality was excellent. The comments on the papers were very useful. Overall, the best of my classes to date.
single on Mon Mar 15 15:29:48 1999 wrote:
I enjoyed this course, as I have Prof. Rutter's other classes. I think the quizzes were fair, and the reading interesting. I warmed up to the Hurwit reading, and I thought the other books were useful andinteresting as well. I have enjoyed other papers more than I have the ones we had to write for this class...while it is helpful to know what kinds of sources are available on the Internet, I didn't especially like writing about them. Overall, the lectures were great and the class a good one. I appreciate the time Prof. Rutter puts into his evaluations of us.
GoldenCO on Sun Mar 14 21:01:16 1999 wrote:
The course was really good, although I think a little too much emphasis on the quizzes was given to the reading and not enough to lectures. The readings, namely the Camp, Hurwitt and Boardman books were quite interesting. Prof Rutter is a wonderful lecturer and a good guy, although his standards are very tough. The web site was a good addition, although there could have been more interaction, and the entire Course Images section did not work for me all term, and would have been nice. The course also encouraged me to use library and internet resources that I would never have dreamed of before, old-school as I am.
Happytobedonewithfinals on Sun Mar 14 18:07:53 1999 wrote:
I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this course: the lectures, the reading, and even the website interaction. As far as the quality of teaching is concerned, I don't think I have ever received such useful comments about my writing. I actually feel that coming out of this course, I've improved as a student.
Amphitrite on Sun Mar 14 16:11:57 1999 wrote:
This was my first archaeology course, and I loved it. The lectures were entralling, and I haven't laughed so hard in a class for a long time. I loved the book by Pollitt. It gives some great insight into the culture and time of Classical Greece.
I haven't "surfed" the Internet very much until this class. It was a great experience, and I have found some sites that I will not delete from my bookmarked file.
I am a little disappointed with the lack of interaction between the students in the class though. This is a relatively small class, and I had hoped I was able to get aquainted with the people in it. But, at the end of the term, I only know a few names.
Artemis on Sun Mar 14 15:07:31 1999 wrote:
Course Evaluation:
While I am a history buff, I loved this course (IF I would've taken this freshman, I'd probably be an archaeology major instead of ancient history). Professor Rutter provided enough entertainment to keep me awake and interested.
The web site baffles me. I'm not a computer savvy person. Hey, I'm a bit old-fashioned. It was nice to look at images and links, but I feel odd about the discussion pages. Since the reading questions become the quiz questions, I don't feel comfortable with people giving answers over a discussion page and then everyone else using them. I rarely used the discussion for this reason. It just seemed like a violation of the honor code or something. I think the Forums should be used more for questions that students have and less for providing answers to quiz questions.
Colt45 on Sat Mar 13 23:17:12 1999 wrote:
This web-site has been an intregal asset to the course- which goes without saying. It was disappointing that more links weren't posted on certain topics, but that is to be expected. Ideally as students get used to communicating in an on-line forum, the level of participation and the degree of sophistication will improve. The images were useful but seemed a bit limited considering how much material is available. Thankfully once this material gets posted or put into an electronic format, it doesn't require too much work to manipulate it.
A tremendous site and a tremendous course.
St. Ides on Thu Mar 11 20:56:24 1999 wrote:
The web site the superb. Marvelous in fact. Once more images become available and more links are put in more attractive places, this site will be a decent resource for web surfing greek archaeology info seekers. The course itself was the most valuable one I've taken in the classics department. The Classical age is the epitome of greatness in art. literature, etc etc. And the analyization of the art and architecture of this period was very interesting and even enjoyable. The reserve room reading became tedious towards the end of the course, but still managable. If the instructor would care to place class outlines and the like on the web, that too would be beneficial.
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Last updated 18 Dec 1998