Courses Taught at Dartmouth College:

 


CLASSICAL STUDIES 4:

Mythology (Taught regularly in the summer)
An introduction to Greek myths and the way in which their use in literature developed, from the use of myths as religious story to the utilization of myth in drama and its exploitation in poetry.
Open to all classes. Dartmouth Distribution: TMV; WCult: CI.


CLST 11: Greek and Roman Engineering and Technology (next offered in Spring 2013; see syllabus)

This course will offer an introduction to the most important machines and processes of Greek and Roman technology. Emphasis will be on the practical implications and applications of ancient technologies and engineering. Within the broad range of technologies surveyed, students will focus on specific case studies to provide deeper analysis and understanding of individual topics. Reading will be based on a textbook and selected chapters and articles from secondary sources. Greek and Roman writers will also be read in translation.
Open to all students. Dist: TAS; WCult


CLST 24: Etruscan and Early Roman Archaeology: The Rise of Rome (next offered Fall 2014)
This course begins with the archaeology of Late Neolithic and Iron Age Italy, then focuses upon the Etruscans, early Latium and the development of Republican Rome and her colonies, concluding with the death of Caesar in 44 B.C. In addition to a chronological development of the material culture of Italy, we will explore at least two important cultural topics: 1) Etruscan religion and its influence on the Roman sacro-political system; 2) the machinery of Roman government as expressed in the spaces in Rome (and other sites) that played host to political ritual: the Arx, the Forum, the Comitium, the Curia, the Tribunal and the Basilica.
Open to all Classes. Dartmouth Distribution: Dist: SOC; WCult: W.


CLST 25: (sample syllabus): Early Roman Imperial Archaeology: The First Emperors (next offered Spring 2013)
Through archaeological sites and related artifacts, this course examines the Roman empire as it was transformed under the rule of the emperors. This course begins with a close look at the first emperor, Augustus, then continues with an examination of the reigns of the Julio-Claudians, Flavians, and Trajan. Discussion focuses on how ancient Italic traditions were transformed to suit the needs of the Imperial government (for example, the adaptation of the Republican, Hellenized Domus to the Imperial Palatium). The most dramatic change in religious practice is the development of the Imperial cult. Site analysis will stress the need for an imperial idiom, the accommodation of urban masses and the promotion of a sense of a shared cultural experience. The course will also examine the technological developments that led to Rome's "architectural revolution."
Open to all classes. Dartmouth Distribution: ART; WCult: W.

CLASSICAL STUDIES 26:

Later Roman Imperial Archaeology: The Golden Age and Beyond (Next offered Spring 2014)
This course surveys Roman archaeology from Hadrian to Constantine. Emphasis is placed upon the Antonine and Severan emperors, then shifts rapidly over most of the mid-third century to focus on Diocletian and the tetrarchy, Constantine and the move of the capital to Constantinople. The course ends with a look at the great church of Hagia Sophia, and consideration of the debt of early Christianity to pagan religious traditions. A major component of the course is the study of the Romanization of the provinces, and, more specifically, the complex process of cultural hybridization (imported Roman traditions melding with local practices). Such sites as Baalbek, Petra, Dura-Europos, Palmyra, Roman Egypt, Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria, Constantinian Jerusalem, Trier, Spalato, etc., may be included.
Open to all classes. Dist: ART; WCult: W.

ROME FOREIGN STUDY PROGRAM (Next offering: Fall Term 2013)
By means of extensive field trips throughout the Italian peninsula (e.g., Latium, Tuscany, Campania, Umbria) students engage in a systematic investigation of the sites, monuments, and artifacts of the Etruscan, Roman, and palaeo-Christian cultures of Italy under the direction of Dartmouth faculty. The aim of the program is to develop a coherent understanding of the processes of origin and growth, conflict and change in ancient Italy. To this end, the monuments of post-Classical Italy are also examined whenever possible, so that students may begin to understand the profound and continuing influence of ancient Italic cultures upon the development of western Europe.
The curriculum embraces architecture, the visual arts, history, religion, and the basic techniques of archaeological analysis. Students learn to see and understand the Roman world in its own context through informal lectures and discussion in situ, under the open sky. The academic requirements consist of short weekly papers, oral reports, and an optional independent study project.