Classics
Students in Classics at Holy Cross investigate surviving texts and material remains from several cultures around the ancient Mediterranean in courses on ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel/Palestine, Greece, and Rome from the 3rd millennium BCE to the first millennium CE. We offer courses on an array of archaeological, art historical, historical, and literary subjects. We offer language courses every semester in ancient Greek and Latin, along with new offerings in Biblical Hebrew. In addition to their work at Holy Cross, students may participate in a variety of study abroad programs both during the academic year and in the summer.
The Billy Collins '63 Scholarship for Studies in Classics, a need-based grant administered by the Financial Aid Office, is awarded to two declared majors in Classics to support "their passion for the study of classics regardless of their background and financial means." The department also offers three scholarships for incoming students — two Rev. Henry Bean, S.J., Scholarships (annually) and the Rev. William Fitzgerald, S.J., Scholarship (every four years). Recipients of the Bean and Fitzgerald scholarships are granted full tuition, independent of need. Candidates interested in applying for the Bean and Fitzgerald scholarships should address inquiries to:
Department of Classics
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA 01610
The application deadline is Jan. 15.
Advanced Placement Credit
Holy Cross awards credit for Advanced Placement exams taken through the College Board Advanced Placement Program and the International Baccalaureate Program and will accept some Advanced Level General Certificate of Education (A-Level) exams. One unit of credit is awarded for an Advanced Placement score of 4 or 5 in any discipline recognized by the College. One unit of credit is awarded for a score of 6 or 7 on a Higher Level International Baccalaureate Examination in a liberal arts subject. One unit of credit is awarded for a score of A/A* or B on an A Level exam in a liberal arts subject. The College does not award credit for the IB Standard Exam or the A-Level Exam. AP, IB, and A-Level credit may be used to satisfy deficiencies and common area requirements. Each academic department has its own policy regarding the use of AP or IB credit for placement in courses and progress in the major. The Department Chair must also review the A-Level score to determine placement in courses and progress in the major. See departmental descriptions for further information.
Students with AP credit in Latin do not normally receive credit toward the major.
Mary K. Ebbott, Ph.D., Professor, Chair
Timothy A. Joseph, Ph.D., W. Arthur Garrity Sr., Professor in Human Nature Nature, Ethics and Society
Thomas R. Martin, Ph.D., Jeremiah W. O'Connor, Jr., Chair in the Classics
Ellen E. Perry, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities
Aaron M. Seider, Ph.D., Professor
Nancy E. Andrews, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Katherine Lu Hsu, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dominic Machado, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Danielle Candelora, Ph.D, Assistant Professor
Elizabeth Knott, Ph.D, Assistant Professor
Jacob Damm, Ph.D, Visiting Assistant Professor
Ann Glennie, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
Emily Smith-Sangster, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
Latin (LATN)
LATN 101 — Introduction To Latin 1 Course count: 1
A first course in Latin. As you are introduced to fundamentals of Latin grammar, you encounter a historical language and culture, and engage with how that language and culture continue to shape structures of power today.
Prerequisite: Placement score of LATN 99-LG
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 102 — Introduction To Latin 2 Course count: 1
A continuation of Latin 101.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 211 — 1st Readings in College Latin Course count: 1
For students with two or more years of study in Latin at the secondary-school level. This course includes a systematic review of grammar, and selected readings from Latin authors
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 211C — 1st Readings in College Latin Course count: 0
GPA units: 0
LATN 213 — Intermediate Latin 1 Course count: 1
For students who have completed LATN 101 and 102. This course includes selected readings from Latin authors and an extensive grammar review.
Prerequisite: LATN 102. Students who have taken a higher level LATN course may not register for LATN 213.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 214 — Intermediate Latin 2 Course count: 1
For students who have completed LATN 101 and 102 or two years of pre-college Latin. This course includes selected readings from Latin authors and an extensive grammar review.
Prerequisite: LATN 213 or LATN 211-1st Readings in College Latin. Students who have taken a higher level Latin course may not enroll in LATN 214. Students without the prerequisite should consult the Department.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 301 — Seminars in Roman Literature Course count: 1
LATN 320 — Sallust & Livy Course count: 1
Extensive readings from the works of the Roman historians Sallust and Livy. Study of the sources and methods of Roman historiography.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 321 — Tacitus Course count: 1
Concentrates on the Annals of Tacitus. Consideration is given to the Historiae, Agricola, and Germania.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 322 — Cicero's Speeches Course count: 1
Selected orations of Cicero are read in the original. Emphasis is placed on rhetorical analysis and on the interpretation of historical and political developments of the first century B.C.E.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 323 — Roman Letter Writers Course count: 1
Selected letters of Cicero and Pliny are read in the original Latin, while those of Seneca are read in English. Consideration is also given to historical background and to the development of letter writing as a literary form.
Prerequisite: LATN 214 or LATN 315 or equivalent. Students without the prerequisite should consult the Department.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 324 — Juvenal Course count: 1
A detailed study of selected satires of Juvenal. Although emphasis is placed on the literary analysis of satire, some attention is also given to Juvenal's works as a source for understanding first century CE Rome.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 343 — Horace: Odes Course count: 1
Selected poems from the four books of Odes are read in the original. Emphasis is placed on literary analysis and interpretation. In addition, students read a sampling of Horace's other poetic works in the original.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 344 — Catullus Course count: 1
A literary study and analysis of the poems of Catullus.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 350 — Early Christian Literature Course count: 1
Reading in the original of selected works from the Patristic period. This course can count toward fulfillment of the Religious Studies major.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature, Studies in Religion
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 358 — Vergil: Aeneid Course count: 1
A study of Vergil's epic with emphasis on its literary artistry.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 359 — Vergil, Eclogues & Georgics Course count: 1
The development of pastoral and agricultural poetry, as exemplified in Vergil's two poetic masterpieces, Eclogues and Georgics.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 363 — Roman Comedy Course count: 1
Selected plays of Plautus and Terence read in Latin, combined with a study of Greek sources of Roman comedy.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 365 — Latin Elegy Course count: 1
Selected poems from the four books Propertius' elegies are read in the original. Appropriate attention is paid to the background of the elegiac genre. Emphasis is placed on literary analysis and interpretation. One unit.
Prerequisite: LATN 214 or LATN 315 or equivalent. Students without the prerequisite should consult the Department.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
LATN 366 — Ovid's Metamorphoses Course count: 1
A close examination of the literary artistry of a number of individual stories in the Metamorphoses.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 370 — Josephus Course count: 1
Study of the ancient Latin translation of Josephus with comparison to the original Greek text.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
LATN 401 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
LATN 402 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
Greek (GREK)
GREK 101 — Introduction To Greek 1 Course count: 1
A first course in Greek language involving a systematic introduction to Attic or Homeric Greek through an intensive study of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 102 — Introduction To Greek 2 Course count: 1
A first course in Greek language involving a systematic introduction to Attic or Homeric Greek through an intensive study of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 213 — Intermediate Greek 1 Course count: 1
Translation and analysis of Greek prose and poetry, with close attention to grammar and syntax. Students without the prerequisite should consult the department.
Prerequisite: GREK 102 or equivalent.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 214 — Intermediate Greek 2 Course count: 1
Translation and analysis of Greek prose and poetry, with close attention to grammar and syntax. Students without the prerequisite should consult the department.
Prerequisite: GREK 213 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level GREK course may not enroll in GREK 214.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 301 — Seminars in Greek Literature Course count: 1
The GREK 301 seminars offer students the opportunity to study a variety of themes and authors in ancient Greek literature. The topics of the seminars change each semester, and typically one seminar is offered per semester. Students may take a GREK 301 seminar in as many semesters as they would like, so long as the material in that seminar does not substantially overlap with the material of a previous seminar the student has taken.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 330 — Greek Lyric Poetry Course count: 1
A close reading in Greek of a variety of lyric poets such as Alcaeus, Pindar, and Sappho.
Prerequisite: GREK 214 or equivalent. Students without the prerequisite should consult the Department.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 332 — Homer Course count: 1
A reading of selected books of the Iliad and/or Odyssey with special attention to their literary value as well as to problems of oral composition, metrics, linguistics, authorship and text history.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 338 — Plutarch Course count: 1
Exegesis and translation of a biography by Plutarch, with attention to his essays and his place in Greek literature.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 340 — Herodotus Course count: 1
An examination of selected passages from the historian Herodotus' account of the Persian Wars.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 341 — Thucydides Course count: 1
An in-depth survey of Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War. Extensive selections of historical and literary significance are read in the original Greek.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 351 — Attic Orators: Demosthenes Course count: 1
A close study of the speeches of one or more Attic orators. One unit.
Prerequisite: GREK 213
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
GREK 360 — Aeschylus Course count: 1
A detailed study of the Agamemnon and other dramas of Aeschylus in the original.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 362 — Euripides Course count: 1
An analysis of two plays in Greek, with special attention to Euripides' dramatic technique.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
GREK 401 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
GREK 402 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
Hebrew (HEBR)
HEBR 101 — Introduction to Biblical Hebrew 1 Course count: 1
A first course in biblical Hebrew language involving a systematic introduction to biblical Hebrew through an intensive study of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary that includes reading sections from Genesis 1-11 in Hebrew.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Fall
HEBR 102 — Introduction to Biblical Hebrew II Course count: 1
We will continue learning biblical Hebrew to gain a solid grasp of morphology (i.e. its forms) and syntax (i.e. grammar and sentence structure). We will use these skills to read and translate texts in the Hebrew Bible. You will also be required to enroll in a Practicum.
Prerequisite: HEBR 101 or permission of the instructor.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Language Studies
Classics (CLAS)
CLAS 100 — Opening Classics Course count: 1
In this course, we will critically examine various fields of study of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East and engage in collaborative research projects that open up new questions and ideas about future work in these fields. As we explore using different methods of investigating the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, we will consider the history of the fields that focus on a geographical area that extends from Iran to Spain and from Egypt to Britain. Through thinking more about the current and future states of fields such as Classics and Near Eastern Studies, we will analyze what areas of study these fields have included and what they have not, what work the names of these fields are doing in making claims about the ancient world, and how these different fields have been shaped and used in particular times and places. After learning about how we know what we think we know about the ancient Mediterranean and Near East and how we learn more about these areas, students will have the means and opportunity to formulate and pursue research topics of their own.
Prerequisite: Enrollment is limited to Classics majors and 1st and 2nd year students only.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CLAS 101 — Women & Men in Greek Lit & Soc Course count: 1
A selection of ancient Greek literature read in translation, from Homeric epic to classical history and drama, with a focus on the relation between literature and social conditions.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 102 — Women & Men in Roman Lit & Soc Course count: 1
A selection of ancient Roman literature read in translation, including authors such as Vergil, Tacitus, Cicero, and Plautus, with a focus on the relationship between literature and social conditions.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 103 — Greek & Roman Epic Course count: 1
A study of classical epic, with special emphasis on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil's Aeneid, but including also other examples of the genre, such as Lucan or Statius. Topics to be considered include oral and literary epic, their social and political contexts, and the influence of classical epic on later literature.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 106 — Classical Drama Course count: 1
Study in depth of a selection of ancient Greek and/or Roman tragedies and comedies, with an emphasis on performance practices and contexts.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 120 — Mythology Course count: 1
An exploration of the significance of myths, their meanings and functions in the cultures of Greece and Rome. Special attention is given to more recent developments in the study of myths and their relation to rituals and folk tales. Babylonian, Egyptian, Hindu and American Indian mythology may be used for comparative purposes.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CLAS 129 — The Greek Hero in Myth and Art Course count: 1
This course will focus on a variety of ancient Greek heroes: Herakles, Achilles, Odysseus, Agamemnon, MeleagerJason, Aeneas, Thesus, Perseus and more. We will read great epics such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, Virgil's Aeneid; we will also read about these heroes in Greek tragedies, lyric poetry of Pindar and Bacchyides and the Metamorphoses of Ovid. In addition to literary sources, we will be looking at artistic representations of these heroes on Greek vases and sarcophagi, and in later art up to and including modern art.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 130 — Introduction to Ancient Egypt Course count: 1
This course explores the civilization, art, archaeology, history and literature of ancient Egypt from the formation of the first Egyptian state in the 4th millennium BCE to the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Throughout this course, we will examine archaeological and textual sources in combination in order to study the way in which the pharaonic state emerged and developed over time. Our focus is not only on reconstructing historical events (narrative history), but also on understanding how complex societies come about and how they function. In addition to the basic historical outline, we will discuss the development of agriculture, the emergence of writing, formation of the Egyptian state and identity, Egyptian kingship, construction and development of the pyramids, ancient bureaucracy and social structure, Egyptian funerary practices, and the effects of climate on societies. Ancient Egypt was one of the first complex civilizations to arise, and its study can help us to understand why humans form complex societies, how they sustain one through both tradition and ingenuity, and how they react when the system collapses.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 141 — Anc Greece: Freedom & Slavery Course count: 1
A study of Greek history from its beginnings to the death of Socrates. Emphasis is placed on a close analysis of the primary sources.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Fall
CLAS 143 — Athenian Democracy Course count: 1
An analysis of the institutions, literature, and political thought inspired by the democracy of fifth- and fourth-century Athens.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature, Social Science
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 145 — TheClassics&Conflict in the US Course count: 1
This course will look at uses of ancient Greece and Rome in American civic life and culture, with a focus on the reception of Classical ideas and models during periods of conflict in the US. This will include American engagement with the Classics in the revolutionary and constitutional periods, in the abolitionist movements of the nineteenth century and the civil rights era of the twentieth century, and in discussions about race, gender, and class identity in the twenty-first century.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
CLAS 151 — History Of Ancient Rome Course count: 1
A survey of Roman civilization from the Regal period to the late Republic, with a special focus on the political and social forces that led to the establishment of the Principate. Concentrates on the primary sources for this period, including the historians, inscriptions, and monuments.
Students who have taken HIST 110 - Rome: Republic Empire may not enroll in this course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 152 — History of Rome 2: Empire Course count: 1
A survey of Roman imperial civilization from the first to the sixth century. Concentrates on the primary sources for this period, including the historians, inscriptions, monuments, and coins.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Fall
CLAS 160 — Intro To Classical Archaeology Course count: 1
An introduction to the methodologies employed by archaeologists. Most examples will be drawn from the artifacts, sites and monuments of the ancient Mediterranean world.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CLAS 163 — Archaeology & the Bible Course count: 1
The relationship between archaeology and the biblical text is complex. Beginning with the traditional field of Biblical Archaeology, where excavation was done with a Bible in one hand and a spade in the other, to the more nuanced modern state of the field, this class will explore how archaeology has shed light on the biblical world. While the primary focus will be on what archaeology doesor often does nottell us about the biblical text, we will also explore this theme through the complex geopolitical history of the Holy Land. As we will see, it is impossible to fully disentangle histories of the region, religious thought, and archaeological practice from the ways in which archaeology has been used to understand the biblical world.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Studies in Religion
Typically Offered: Annually
CLAS 165 — Refugees in Ancient Myth&Today Course count: 1
An exploration of myths about migration and refugees in ancient drama and epic, considered alongside contemporary narratives of global migration. Special attention will be given to the 2015 migration crisis in Greece. This class will include a community-based learning component.
Prerequisite: Students who have taken MONT 199G-F02 and MONT 199G-S02 may not enroll in this course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Annually
CLAS 165C — Refugees in Ancient Myth & Today CBL Course count: 0
GPA units: 0
CLAS 166 — Ancient Painting and Mosaics Course count: 1
Introduces students to the art of mural (wall) painting in the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age through Late Antiquity, and to the art of mosaic from its origins in Classical Greece through Late Antiquity. Topics addressed are the techniques of fresco and mosaic; the relationship of mural painting to lost panel paintings by famous artists; the social meaning of wall and floor decoration in the ancient world; the roles of artist and patron; the Roman response to Greek painting and mosaic; and the Christian response to pagan painting and mosaic.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 168 — Photographing Antiquity Course count: 1
This course provides an introduction to the practices of cultural heritage photography and interrogates the ways in which photography renders small-scale antiquities in particular. How have the fields of archaeology, art history, and philology sought to document ancient objects from the Middle East? What do these practices of photography tell us about our own values and interests? Through a combination of critical analysis and creative practice we will explore the extent to which seemingly neutral photography is, in fact, a form of interpretation. Students will learn how to read photographs as expressions of meaning and explore the relationship between form and content. While we will analyze a range of photographs, our practice will focus in particular on the documentation of small finds. Students will learn the basics of macro photography, from initial capture through final editing using software such as Adobe Photoshop. Materials documented in the course could include: replicas of ancient Middle Eastern antiquities; objects in the collection of the College of the Holy Cross or other nearby museums/institutions; and even small personal items. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to photograph the world around them, thinking about the choices that lay behind the production of an image. A project at the end of the semester will allow students to create their own curated display of object photographs.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
CLAS 180 — Jerusalem: The Holy City Course count: 1
The city of Jerusalem has been a focal point within religious and secular imaginations for millennia. Beginning with the biblical Israelite kingdoms and continuing up to the present day, we will explore the tangible and intangible ways in which people across cultures have configured (and reconfigured) Jerusalem as a sacred space. We will draw on archaeology, art, literature, music, architecture, and historically situated personal accounts to understand the deep emotional attachments that have been layered into the very foundations of the city.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion
Typically Offered: Annually
CLAS 188 — Alexander the Great and Asia Course count: 1
Considers the political, religious, and cultural encounters between the ancient Greek world and Asia generated by the expedition of Alexander the Great and the interpretations of the story of Alexander found in different cultural traditions from antiquity to the present day, from religious texts to heavy metal music.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 199-F12 — Color in Ancient Art & Thought Course count: 1
From the 18th through the 20th centuries, ancient Greek and Roman art were widely celebrated for the supposed minimalist aesthetics of white marble and black-figure pottery. But the arts of these cultures were actually quite colorful. In this course, we will examine diverse mediaincluding wall paintings, sculpture, gemstones and textilesto understand how color was deployed to communicate status, identity, and emotion. Topics we will investigate include the the cultural associations of specific colors, the reconstruction of lost colors on Greek and Roman statuary, and the ways in which ancient texts can (and cannot) help us to make sense of the ancient experience of color.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
CLAS 199-F13 — World of the Etruscans Course count: 1
Ancient Italy was populated by many groups, the most well-known among them the Romans. But concurrent with the early 1st millennium BCE development of Roman culture in ancient Latium (modern Lazio), a people known to us today as the Etruscans was emerging in ancient Etruria (modern Tuscany). Many technologies and cultural traits of the Etruscans would later be appropriated by the Romans, somewhat obscuring them to a casual observer. The Etruscans, reaching beyond their homeland of Etruria, fostered connections not just with the Romans to their immediate south, but also with the wider Mediterranean world. Moreover, largely on the basis of their pre-Indo-European language, in the popular imagination the Etruscans are often characterized as mysterious. To that end, this course seeks: to explore the Etruscan culture based on its own archaeological remains, to understand Etruscan agency in interactions with other contemporary peoples, to analyze ancient external perspectives on the Etruscans, and to investigate how modern viewers have treated the enigmatic Etruscans alongside what is in fact concretely known about them.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
CLAS 199-F14 — Violence, Love and the Family Course count: 1
Violence dominates the mythological landscape of Greek culture. The family provides intricate contexts for these intense examples of violence. These acts of destruction range from castration in the creation of the gods, to the rage of Achilles, which leads to the death of Patrokos. his closest friend, to the dysfunctional families of Greek tragedy. You will find no nexus of romantic love, but you will read about complex tales and together we will talk about the roles of men and women in the household.We will begin with Hesiod's Theogony, and move on to the Iliad and Odyssey. Some examples of lyric poetry (short musical poems in which myth plays a central role) may be part of our repertoire. Reading and perhaps performing selections from well-known tragedies about the families of Oedipus, Agamemnon, Dionysus, Meleager, and Jason and Medea, to name a few. We will also look at some artistic representations of these myths and think about the subject of violence from a visual perspective.Student feedback in the form of short essays, group presentations, directed discussions in class, and possibly some quizzes will be the foundation of your evaluation in this course. You will learn to speak and write more eloquently, which will contribute to your future success and intellectual development.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
CLAS 199-F15 — Drama in Community Course count: 1
This course is centered around a community-based learning (CBL) collaboration with local English learners in Worcester. Holy Cross students will collaborate with community English learners at the Worcester Public Library to build an acting company and perform an abridged version of a well-known drama. As English learners develop their confidence and fluency in English expression, Holy Cross students will develop skills in close reading, public speaking, analytical writing, communication, and reflection. HC students will also study the plays literary features and later adaptations. To enroll in this course, students must commit to a weekly required CBL component at the Worcester Public Library on Wednesday evenings.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
CLAS 199-F16 — Archaeology of Ancient Landscapes Course count: 1
From the built landscape of the Acropolis to the imagined sacred landscape of Abydos, ancient populations lived, died, and operated within a myriad of significant and insignificant landscapes, all of which played their own roles as agents in society and culture. This course aims to examine these landscapes through an interdisciplinary lens, considering the ways in which these spaces affected, and were affected by, the associated human communities and their material and immaterial networks. This course will begin with a historiographic overview of key aspects of Landscape Theory and the Archaeology of Landscape, during which time we will discuss the foundations of the theoretical field and its applications. We will then apply these ideas and methodologies to case studies pulled from the landscapes of ancient Egypt and Nubia, the ancient Mediterranean, and the Levant, considering the role of the natural, built, and imagined spaces throughout the country. In addition to the archaeology and anthropology of landscape, we will also consider questions of space, memory, and the ways in which landscapes can be understood as tools of political, religious, or social power.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
CLAS 199-F17 — Disability in Antiquity Course count: 1
Relying on the archaeological remains related to disabled individuals, material evidence for disability and accessibility, and the depiction of different bodies in the artistic corpus, this course will serve as an examination of how people of all social statuses (even kings!) with disabilities existed within the social structures of the ancient North African, Southwest Asian, and Mediterranean world. In addition to examining ancient material and comparing how ancient societies conceived of, and responded to, bodily difference, students can expect to spend time analyzing how early archaeologists may have affected our views of disability in antiquity. Examining antiquity through the lens of disability theory and archaeology allows for a deeper understanding of the complexities of ancient society, while also reminding us that disabled individuals always have and always will exist as part of wider social structures.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
CLAS 199-S12 — Sicily: Ancient and Modern Crossroads Course count: 1
Sicily, the tricornered isle (insula triquetra) that the boot of Italy winds up to kick, is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The first peoples arrived at least 16,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period, and developed into indigenous Sicilian Bronze Age cultures (ca. 3,000 BCE). Due to its positioning, Sicily became a crossroads between the eastern and western realms of the Mediterranean worldvisited, colonized, conquered, and transformed by many other Mediterranean peoples including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Germans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards, and Bourbons, before becoming part of the nation of Italy in 1860 CE. Willingly or not, Sicily became a melting pot, and the benefit of its diversity gave rise to many Mediterranean architectural, artistic, and literary innovations among others. This course explores the history of Sicily that grew out of these complex and varied cultural interactions.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
CLAS 201 — Seminar in Ancient Cultures Course count: 1
In this course, students explore an expansive theme related to the ancient Mediterranean and Near East and, in a lab associated with the course, analyze that theme through engagement with primary material, interdisciplinary frameworks, or another instructor-created framework. Students who enroll in CLAS 201 are required to sign up for one of the course's four lab sections.
GPA units: 1.5
CLAS 221 — Women in Classical Mythology Course count: 1
Examines the representations of mortal and immortal women in a variety of mythological narratives and in art. Consideration is given to the relationships between these representations and contemporary ideas about and images of women. Students should read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in translation before enrolling in this class.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 222 — Archaeology of Pompeii Course count: 1
Examines the ancient city of Pompeii, with particular emphasis on the houses in which families lived. Domestic spaces both reflected and reinforced certain family structures, and so the houses of Pompeii provide us with information about subjects as varied as the power of the father, ancient slavery, the experience of childhood, the role of women, and ancient notions of public and private space, all of which topics will be addressed in this course through an examination of material culture. For purposes of comparison, the course will also briefly investigate the domestic spaces of the nearby site of Herculaneum, as well as other Italian sites like Cosa and Ostia.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 223 — Ideological Destruction of Art Course count: 1
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 226 — Democracy and Rhetoric Course count: 1
Study of the power of words to create and to resolve conflict in Ancient Greek and Roman democracy. Close examination of ancient literary and historical sources in translation with comparison to modern parallels. Public speaking exercise on the model of the rhetoric of Georgias.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 233 — Nature in the Classical World Course count: 1
In this course, we will explore how the ancient Greeks and Romans engaged with the natural world surrounding them. Our course will consider several themes, including the relationship between city and country; philosophical treatments of the natural world; the role of the environment in literature; and the conceptualization of the universe and its origins. We will base our discussion of these themes on our analysis of evidence from antiquity, which will span both material remains like Greek temples and Roman villas as well as literary and philosophical works central to western civilization. Looking back at ancient philosophy, pastoral poems, and early epics, we will read selections from authors such as the pre-Socratic philosophers, Homer, Hesiod, Plato, Aristotle, Lucretius, and Seneca. Alongside our study of the ancient world, we will glance ahead to consider the reception of the Greeks and Romans' treatment of nature, with our contemporary readings including selections from Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature, Philosophical Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 235 — The Iliad and its Reception Course count: 1
This course introduces in depth the Homeric ILIAD and ideas and methods connected with reception studies. We read the ILIAD in its entirety and consider both its ancient context and 20th and 21st century reception in poetry, novels, essays, and film.
Prerequisite: Enrollment is limited to 2nd,3rd,4th Year Students.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Literature
Typically Offered: Every Third Year
CLAS 242 — Race & Antiquity Course count: 1
This course will consider how the relationship between race and antiquity. We will begin this course by thinking critically about what we mean when we talk about race, exploring a number of ways in which the concept has theorized and understood. We will then move on to consider the role played by antiquity (broadly Greco-Roman, but also Carthaginian, Egyptian, and West Asian) in the development of various forms of racial thinking from 16th to 20th centuries as well as how different racialized groups used antiquity to respond to this process. We will end the course by considering the ways in which race and racialized ways of thinking has shaped and continues to shape the way that antiquity has been studied in the field of classics.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Fall
CLAS 264 — Roman Sanctuaries & Religion Course count: 1
A detailed study of the archaeological remains from ancient sanctuaries. The buildings and monuments are studied in connection with other evidence for religious behavior in the different ancient cultures. Emphasis is on the cults and shrines of Ancient Greece and Rome but in different years, the ancient Near East and Egypt also are considered. Counts toward fulfillment of the Visual Arts major.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall
CLAS 270 — Women and Power in the Ancient Mediterranean Course count: 1
This course examines gender ideologies, systems of social power, and the ways in which women were either systematically excluded from or worked their way into positions of power in the ancient Mediterranean. Discussions of gender theory and the origins of the gender binary within early states will foreground regional case studies focusing on gender roles and womens rights in Egypt, Greece, Persia, Rome, the Levant and Mesopotamia. The course then explores themes such as the interplay between Orientalism and the ancient and modern receptions of specific women of power, like Cleopatra and Semiramus, how the introduction of monotheistic religions altered these gendered systems, and how women resisted or assisted in the construction of empires. We will analyze primary source texts written both by and about women, as well as artifacts and art historical sources to compare how certain power systems, institutions, and historical circumstances facilitated womens rise to power over others, and what effects these systems are still having today.
Prerequisite: Enrollment is limited to 2nd,3rd,4th Year Students.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
CLAS 272 — Ritual in Mesopotamia Course count: 1
In todays world, ritualssuch as a wedding or a funeral, an annual religious holiday, or weekly worship servicesgive rhythm and meaning to the passing of time. The same was true in the ancient world, and though the direct experience of ancient rituals is lost to us, we know about ritual activities through surviving pieces of evidence and textual records in particular. In ancient Mesopotamia, rituals were often written down on clay tablets in cuneiform writing. Translations of these ritual texts provide us glimpses of cultures that are two, three, or even four thousand years old. This class explores select ritual texts from ancient Mesopotamia, using multiple methodological lenses (e.g., ritual studies, performance studies, and textual studies). Our study will provide an introduction to the concept of ritual, Mesopotamian history, and cuneiform writing. Students in the class will become familiar with select cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. We will learn about temples, shrines, and cities; gods, goddesses, and divine things; and people, rulers, and religious specialists. We will focus on a selection of ritual texts (often a single text), thinking about how the act of writing is related to the performance of ritual and how ritual performance and ritual writing can be linked to specific historical contexts. We might explore, for example, the creation of a musical instrument for temple worship across different periods of history, the seasonal celebration of the New Years Ritual at the end of cuneiform culture, or so-called substitution rituals that were used to ensure an individuals well-being. Following an introduction to the texts being studied, students will: (1) explore the goals of ritual studies and how such perspectives can help us understand the ancient texts, (2) engage with modern ritual celebrations in order to think more critically about ritual as performance, and (3) undertake close analysis of the primary historical evidence through the lens of textual studies. These three modes of analysis will be used to help students think about the historical function of the texts and their rituals. A semester-long newsletter project invites students to read, summarize, and analyze secondary scholarship for nonspecialist audiences.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Historical Studies, Studies in Religion
Typically Offered: Annually
CLAS 299-S02 — Archaeology & Pottery Analysis Course count: 1
Nothing unites archaeology in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa like the sheer volume of pottery recovered by archaeologists. When we think of ancient ceramics, we tend to think in terms of beautiful vessels on display in museums around the world. Behind this lies the true reality, which are the veritable tons of pottery fragments excavated by archaeologists around the region. In fact, these fragments are among the most indestructibleand therefore most commonfinds of any archaeological site in the region. So, what do archaeologists do with all this material, and how do they use it to derive meaningful interpretations about past societies? This class will focus on exactly that question, teaching students the techniques that archaeologists use to document and analyze ancient pottery, including field techniques like technical drawing and microscopic photography, among others. Importantly, this course will be hands-on, with students working with genuine ancient ceramics as part of a research project that is aimed at documenting the ancient pottery held in the collections of a local Massachusetts school. Students will learn the requisite skills in a seminar setting, after which the semester will culminate in a final project wherein students write an entry that will eventually be published in an online catalog.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
CLAS 299C — Community English with Drama CBL Course count: 0
GPA units: 0
CLAS 401 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
CLAS 402 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Designed for selected students with approval of a professor and the Department Chair. This work may be done for one or two semesters.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring