Ancient History and Classical Civilization: AHC

Lower-Division Courses

AHC X10. Topics in Introductory Surveys in Premodern History.

Introductory survey of premodern history with emphasis on regions outside of the ancient Mediterranean world.

AHC X10.1. Introduction to the History and Culture of Spain.

The history of Spain from its beginnings in the stone age through the great social and economic upheavals of the twentieth century.

AHC X10.3. The Ancient Middle East.

Survey the history of the Middle East from the beginning of the Neolithic period (9000 BCE) through the invasion of the region by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and into the pre-Islamic era.

AHC X10.4. The Premodern World.

Survey of world history from human origins to the sixteenth century.

AHC X10.5. The Medieval Millennium in Europe.

Explore new conceptions of medieval Europe by examining how the social practices, ideas, and institutions of the middle ages developed through interactions with Europe's neighbors.

AHC X10.6. Medieval Material Culture.

Explore the history of medieval Europe primarily through the lens of material culture.

AHC X10.7. Gods and Goddesses of India.

Explore a variety of gods and goddesses who have dominated the sacred landscapes of India and beyond, especially North America, from the past until now. Examine various issues relating to patriarchy, power, gender, sexuality, social hierarchy, and devotion.

AHC X19D. The Ancient Mediterranean World.

Survey of the ancient Mediterranean from ca. 3000 BC to AD 476. Focus on the development of ideas and institutions in the Greek and Roman worlds and on the active cultural exchange among the diverse civilizations of the broader region that shaped Greek and Roman history and cultural identity.

Upper-Division Courses

AHC X25. Topics in Ancient History.

Topics in the history of the Greek and Roman empires and the surrounding area.

AHC X25.1. The History of Rome: The Republic.

A survey of Roman history from the founding of Rome to the death of Julius Caesar.

AHC X25.10. Ancient Slavery.

Examine the practices of slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world, focusing on the case of Rome.

AHC X25.13. The Ancient Historians.

Examines the main works of ancient historiography, and provides grounding in the central issues with which these works engage.

AHC X25.15. Civil War in Rome.

Examines the sequence of civil conflict in Rome from the struggle of the orders through the rise of Constantine the Great.

AHC X25.16. Romans in Court.

Examine how Roman law operated at three levels of granularity, focusing mainly on attested disputes that made it to court for resolution.

AHC X25.17. Ruling the Roman Republic.

Examine the core question about the way the Late Roman Republic was governed: To what extent and in what ways was the Republic "democratic or not?

AHC X25.2. The History of Rome: The Empire.

A survey of the Roman world from Augustus to Constantine the Great.

AHC X25.6. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World.

History of Asia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean world from Alexander's expedition to Asia to Rome's defeat of the last of the Hellenistic monarchs at Actium (ca. 334 to 31 BC).

AHC X25.7. Archaic and Classical Greece.

Survey of Greek history from the emergence of the city-states to the rise of Macedonia.

AHC X25.8. Archaeology of Greek Prehistory.

Explore the development of complex societies in ancient Greece by studying its prehistory through archaeology.

AHC X25.9. Roots of Democracy.

Examine the historical development and ideological underpinnings of Athenian democracy, the first known democracy, from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. Explore a broad range of primary sources and some secondary scholarships and gain a familiarity with the key principles and practices of this unique participatory government in its political, historical, and intellectual context.

AHC X30. Topics in Premodern History.

Topics in premodern history with emphasis on regions outside of the ancient Mediterranean world.

AHC X30.1. The Dead Sea Scrolls.

AHC X30.2. Epics and Heroes of India.

Focus on India's classical epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, with emphasis placed on understanding the epic characters in relation to the heroic traditions of premodern India, as well as on the role of the epics in contemporary Indian political and religious culture.

AHC X30.4. Lost Languages and Decipherment.

AHC X30.5. The Crusades.

An exploration of the religious encounters between eastern and western Christians, Christian heretics, Jews, Muslims, and polytheists; political, military, and cultural changes of the high middle ages; and the ways that crusading ideas and symbols have been reused in contemporary politics and popular culture.

AHC X30.6. Machiavelli: Politics and Culture.

Through Niccolo Machiavelli's chief writings, consider the local, regional, Mediterranean, European, and global aspects of his work.

AHC X30.7. Great Works In Medicine.

Examine signature works in the history of medicine.

AHC X30.8. Twelfth-Century Renaissance: 1050-1200.

An examination of social, cultural, and intellectual developments in eleventh- and twelfth-century Europe.

AHC X30C. Death and the Afterlife in Ancient China.

Investigate ancient Chinese beliefs and practices surrounding death and the afterlife from the Neolithic era to the arrival of Buddhism. Explore tombs, burial objects, and funeral rites; philosophical essays and historical accounts; medical practices; religious relics, tokens, and talismans; ghost stories; poetry; and paintings.

AHC X78. Topics in Undergraduate Seminar in Ancient History.

Lectures, discussion, reading, and research on selected topics in Greek and Roman history.

AHC X78.1. Roman Law.

Introduction to Roman law with close study of primary sources.

AHC X78.10. Roman Social History.

Examine Roman social history: family structure and demography, gender systems, official social hierarchies, urban/rural interactions and labor. Consideration both of primary evidence and the historiography of the field.

AHC X78.2. Aegean Prehistory.

Traces political, social, economic, and general cultural developments on Crete and the Greek mainland between roughly 2200 and 1100 BCE.

AHC X78.3. Writing Ancient History Today.

Questions that engage ancient historians today and the methods that they use. Some background in ancient Greek history is recommended.

AHC X78.4. The Athenian Empire.

Explores Athenian society, democracy, and empire from the development of Athenian hegemony in the 470s BCE through the break up of the Athenian Empire in 404 BCE.

AHC X78.5. Space and Place.

Multidisciplinary approach to the cultural concepts of space and place using Greek and Roman literary, historical, and archaeological sources.

AHC X78.6. Ancient Sparta.

Examines topics and problems in the social, political and economic history of the ancient city-state of Sparta.

AHC X78.7. Cognitive History of the Ancient World.

Examines aspects of the organization of thought in the ancient world.

AHC X78.8. Herodotus, Ethnography, and Archaeology.

Explore the ethnographic component of the Histories of Herodotus.

AHC X78.9. Literacy, Numeracy, and Visuality.

Analyze literacy, numeracy, and visuality, that is "reading" and writing" by means of visual representations, largely by tracing the history of how modern scholars have analyzed those practices.

Graduate Courses

Professional Courses