LIBERAL STUDIES 210: ROME FROM ROMULUS TO THE RENAISSANCE
North Island College Winter 2015
Meeting Time:
T-TH: 11:30 am - 12:50 pmMeeting
Place: DIS 204Instructor: Dan Hinman-Smith
Office: Village G6
Office Hours:
Tues. 1:00 pm - 2:20 pm; Wed. 11:30 am - 12:50 pmOffice Phone: 334-5000, Extension 4024
Home Phone: 250-336-0238
Web- Site for Course:
http://www.misterdann.com/contentsancientrome.htmE-Mail: dan.hinmansmith@nic.bc.ca
Course Description
LIB 210 is designed as an introduction to the culture and history of a particular world region or to a comparative global theme. The topics vary from year to year. For Winter 2015, all roads lead to Rome. This edition of the course will survey Rome as a civilization from its eighth century BCE historical and mythical origins through to the decline of the Western Empire more than a millennium later. Emphasis will be placed upon the late Republican and early Imperial eras, and upon the complex image of Rome both during its heyday and down to the present. Rome From Romulus To The Renaissance will be interdisciplinary in nature and will combine lecture, documentaries and intensive seminar discussion.
Books
Virgil. Aeneid, trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1984.
Livy. Early History Of Rome, trans. Aubrey DeSelincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.
Suetonius. Twelve Caesars, trans. Robert Graves. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.
Beard, Mary. Fires Of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost And Found. Cambridge: Harvard, 2008.
Pliny. Letters Of The Younger Pliny, trans. Betty Radice. New York: Penguin Classics, 1969.
Perrottet, Tony. Pagan Holiday: On The Trail Of Ancient Roman Tourists. New York: Random House, 2002.
Optional Textbook: For a variety of reasons I have not included a survey textbook as a core reading. For those of you who would like to have a popular textbook to complement class lectures, I can recommend the following: Nigel Rodgers, Rise And Fall of Ancient Rome (London: Hermes House, 2008). National Geographic has recently issued Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire as a special magazine volume. Although the NG material is much more condensed than that in the Rodgers text, it still offers a basic overview of Roman civilization.
Tentative Class Schedule
WEEK1
Tuesday, January 6
a) Course Introduction
b) On Facing Janus -- Of Doorways And New Beginnings
Thursday, January 8
a) Video: "All Roads Lead To Rome," Episode 1 of Meet The Romans (Mary Beard, BBC, 2012) [59 minutes]
Reading Assignment:
Mary Beard, "Do The Classics Have A Future?," New York Review Of Books (January 12, 2012).
"40 Maps That Explain The Roman Empire," Vox (August 19, 2014).
WEEK 2
Tuesday, January 13
a) Lecture: Romulus Is From Mars And Aeneas Is From Venus -- The Mythic Foundations Of Rome
Thursday, January 15
a) Discussion:
Aeneid, Books 1-6Reading Assignment:
Virgil, Aeneid, Books 1-6
Optional Listening Assignment:
"
The Aeneid," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, April 21, 2005 [45 mins.]
WEEK 3
Tuesday, January
20a) Finish Lecture: Romulus Is From Mars And Aeneas Is From Venus -- The Mythic Foundations Of Rome
b) Start Lecture: "Carthage Must Be Destroyed" -- The Punic Wars
Thursday, January
22a) Discussion:
Aeneid, Books 7-12Reading Assignment:
Virgil, Aeneid, Books 7-12
WEEK 4
Tuesday, January 27
a) Discussion: The Etruscans
b) Finish Lecture: "Carthage Must Be Destroyed" -- The Punic Wars
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
Etruscans Discussion Topic.Listening
Assignment:"
The Ghosts Of Cannae," Ideas, CBC, October 13, 2011 [54 mins.]Optional Reading Assignment:
Richard Miles
, "Carthage: The Lost Mediterranean Civilisation," History Today, 60 (July 2010): 10-17.
Thursday, January 29
a) Student Mini-Presentations:
Places Assignment (I)WEEK 5
Tuesday, February 3
a) Student Mini-Presentations: Places Assignment (II)
Thursday, February 5
a) Video: "Killing Caesar" (When Rome Ruled National Geographic Series, 2010) [46 mins.]
Listening Assignment:
"Caesar: Life Of A Colossus," On Point, NPR, September 15, 2006 [45 mins.]
"
The Roman Republic," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, December 30, 2004 [45 mins.]WEEK 6
Tuesday, February 10
a) Video: "Street Life," Episode 2 of Meet The Romans (Mary Beard, BBC, 2012) [59 minutes]
Thursday, February 12
a) Discussion:
Early History Of RomeReading Assignment:
Livy, Early History Of Rome (Books I-III)
Reading Break, February 16-20
WEEK
7Tuesday, February 24
a) Lecture: Rise And Fall Of The Roman Republic (I)
***First Half Journal Due
Thursday, February 26
a) Introduce Faces Assignment and Second Half Preview
b) Lecture: Rise And Fall Of The Roman Republic (II)
c) Discussion: Julius Caesar And The Fall Of The Roman Republic
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
Julius Caesar And The Fall Of The Roman Republic Discussion Topic.WEEK
8Tuesday, March 3
a) Video: "Ancient Superpower" (When Rome Ruled National Geographic Series, 2010) [45 mins.]
Thursday, March 5
a) Discussion:
Twelve CaesarsReading Assignment:
Suetonius,
Twelve Caesars (Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero)
Optional Reading Assignment:
Optional Viewing Assignment:
"
WEEK 9
Tuesday, March 10
a) Lecture: "I Found Rome A City Of Bricks And Left It A City Of Marble" -- The Augustan Age
Listening Assignment:
"
The Augustan Age," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, June 11, 2009 [43 mins.]
Thursday, March 12
a) Video: "The Other Pompeii -- Life And Death In Herculaneum" (BBC, 2013) [59 mins.]
Optional Reading Assignment:
Stephen S. Hall
, "Vesuvius: Asleep For Now," National Geographic (September 2007).WEEK 10
Tuesday, March 17
Class Cancelled
Thursday, March 19
a) Discussion:
Fires Of VesuviusReading Assignment:
Mary Beard, Fires Of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost And Found
WEEK 11
Tuesday, March 24
a) Discussion: Roman Britain
b) Lecture: Of Rome And Jerusalem
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
Roman Britain Discussion Topic.Optional Reading Assignment:
Neil Faulkner
, "Apocalypse," History Today, 52 (October 2002).
Thursday, March 26
a) Lecture: Under The Volcano -- Pompeii And Herculaneum
WEEK 12:
Tuesday, March 31
a) Discussion:
Letters Of The Younger PlinyReading Assignment:
Pliny, Letters Of The Younger Pliny
Optional Listening Assignment:
"
Pliny The Younger," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, December 12, 2013 [43 mins.]
Thursday, April 2
a) Video: "Rise Of Christianity" (When Rome Ruled National Geographic Series, 2010) [45 mins.]
Listening Assignment:
"
The Cult Of Mithras," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, December 27, 2012 [43 mins.]
WEEK 13
Tuesday, April 7
a) Discussion: Women In Roman Society
b) Lecture: Women In Roman Society
Reading Assignment:
Mary T. Boatwright, "Women And Gender In The Forum Romanum," Transactions Of The American Philological Association, 141 (Spring 2011).
Thursday, April 9
a) Discussion:
Pagan HolidayReading Assignment:
Tony Perrottet, Pagan Holiday: On The Trail Of Ancient Roman Tourists
WEEK 14
Final Assignments are due on Thursday, April 16
Evaluation
| Assignment |
Faces And Places Option: Details And % |
Journal Option: Details And % |
| Letter Of Introduction | 1% | 1% |
| Places Assignment | 20% | N/A |
| Faces Assignment | 40% | N/A |
| First Half Journal | N/A | 30% |
| Second Half Journal | N/A | 30% |
| Class Participation | 39% | 39% |
| Totals | 100% | 100% |
a) Letter Of Introduction (1%)
Who are you? Where are you from? What are your interests? Why are you taking this course? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as we start the course? Write two or three informal paragraphs for the second class of the semester to introduce yourself to me.
b) Places And Faces Option (60%) or Journal Option (60%)
Pick either the Textbook Option or The Journal Option early in the course. I do want you to be firm in your choice here. The Places and Faces option is much less writing-intensive and should provide you with more time to focus upon core and supplemental reading. Those who choose the Journal Option will engage in ongoing semester-long critical commentary upon required and supplementary curriculum materials. The Journal Option is clearly the more time-consuming option. I recommend choosing that option only if you enter the course with considerable intellectual enthusiasm about Roman History and if you think you could benefit from intensive writing about our subject matter.
Places And Faces Option (60%)
There are two distinctive components to the Places And Faces Option
i) Places (20%)
You will complete a mini-research project about one particular Roman monument or historic site. The finished product will consist of at least one large poster board and an accompanying informal but well-organized short class presentation about your topic. This will be due at the end of Week 4.
ii) Faces (40%)
This assignment will ask you to research assorted significant figures and terms from the Ancient Roman World and then to portray each in an over-sized bubblegum card biographical and informational format.
Journal Option (60%)
The purpose of the Journal for those of you who choose this option is to provide you the opportunity for frequent thoughtful, analytical and personal commentary upon course-related material. The advantages of the Journal, to my mind, are that it breaks work down into regular and manageable chunks, and that it enables you to seize hold of the curriculum in a way which reflects your own interests and style.
The Journal will be graded in two installments. It will be due at the mid-point of the semester. This installment will count for 30% of the course grade. The Journal will then again be due at the end of the semester. That installment will also contribute 30% towards the course grade.
The excellent journal will:
be approximately 30+ pages long.
include a Places entry in either poster-board or mini-essay format.
include analytical Reading Responses to most of the core course books.
include a variety of Reading, Viewing and/or Listening Responses to the required and supplementary course material.
include other entries that draw upon class material and/or your independent research.
demonstrate that you are approaching the readings and the course with care and effort.
The embedded tension within the Journal assignment between structure and flexibility is deliberate. The entries will, no doubt, vary in format, length and quality. Do not hesitate to take risks and to express your own opinions. It's fine if some entries read more like summary than analysis; it can be useful to put what you have learned from an article or a video into your own words. Try, however, not to succumb to the temptation to write in an easy, stream—of—consciousness style. There is no inherent tension between analytical rigour and personal insight. This is an assignment designed to encourage and to reward extensive student effort and learning. The work-load is heavy but my expectation is that a good-faith approach to the course will lead to strong success. You can include print-outs from the internet in the journal or quote passages but are expected to identify that which is not your own original work. Formal footnoting is not required but plagiarized/cut-and-pasted material will likely lead to a failing grade for the course. Likewise, you should not recycle any writings from other classes.
c) Class Participation (39%)
Participation is a critical part of Liberal Studies, and the skills of intellectual discussion among the most important it endeavours to foster. Some important aspects of your seminar participation are the quality of your contributions to discussion, your helpfulness to others in maintaining a successful conversation within the seminar, and your ability to listen as well as to talk. The seminar experience is central to what Liberal Studies is trying to achieve. Any student who finds it difficult to speak up in group discussion should talk things over with me. Particularly shy students may want to consider the Journal option. The following scale gives a guide to how I will attempt to evaluate seminar participation:
A range: makes a major contribution to the understanding of the material and to the social dynamics of the discussion.
B range: maintains a good relationship with others and offers comments in a constructive way.
C range: present but offers only occasional contributions to the discussion.
A Note On Plagiarism
Everything that you hand in should be your original work unless otherwise indicated. Violations of this policy may result in failing an assignment or the course in its entirety. Please talk to me if you have any uncertainty about what is permitted here.
WELCOME TO THE COURSE
