The Latest News from the Ancient World

Catalog description

This course will look at several ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds, examining the many different methods we use to learn about the past and learning how a multitude of modern institutions and ideas are rooted in early antiquity from religious and philosophical ideologies to social institutions to artistic and architectural forms. We will also look at many ways in which we now use the past when we are talking about the present, for example in films and literature, in political and social debates. Our focus will be on the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, and we will examine material from the early Paleolithic era up into the Byzantine and Islamic eras. Throughout the course, you will be encouraged to reflect on connections between the distant past and our contemporary world, using the past to better understand the present, and using the present to make better sense of the past.