Course Syllabus

View syllabus for Spring 2015:
CLAS 0210 Syllabus Spring 2015.docx

View additional Handouts and Resources by clicking on the link

CLAS 0210/ARCH0200
Sport in the Ancient Greek World:

Class: MWF 2-2:50 pm, Rhode Island Hall

Instructor: Professor John Cherry

Teaching Assistant: Luther Karper

Phone: 863-6412; e-mails: john_cherry@brown.edu, luther_karper@brown.edu

Office Hours. Cherry: Tuesday 2-4 pm (or by appointment); Karper: T and Th 9-10 am

Office. Cherry: Room 105 Rhode Island Hall; Karper: 004 Wilbour Hall

Course Description:
Athletics and sports were as popular and significant in the ancient Greek world as they are today, and so offer a good introduction to many aspects of Greek culture over the centuries. Illustrated lectures, reinforced and amplified by readings from ancient and modern writers, as well as by discussion in class, will introduce you to such topics as:  the development of Greek athletics, sites where games were held, the nature of individual events, and social implications such as athletic professionalism, women and athletics, the role of sport in Greek education, etc. Wider cultural aspects to be explored include the religious, political, and economic contexts of athletics; how their ideology found expression in literature and the visual arts; issues of class, gender, nationalism, and ethnicity; and, of course, whether the modern Olympic Games are anything like the ancient ones. You will encounter the primary data drawn from archaeology, art, and literature, and read modern studies of this ancient evidence.

Prerequisites:  
None (but any previous courses in Classics, Archaeology and the Ancient World, or Ancient Studies will help... )

Grades will be based on:
• take-home Midterm Exam (20%)
• Final Exam (20%)
• three short quizzes (5% each)
• three short writing assignments (5% each)
• one 8-10 page term paper (20%)
• attendance, active participation, office hours (10%)

Expectations:
•    The essay-based, take-home, Midterm Exam will be handed out in class, and will be due at the following class. The Final Exam (2 hours) will consist of a combination of visual and verbal identifications, plus an essay.
•    Your short paper will be based on a topic agreed upon with me in advance (you are advised come to office hours to discuss it) and should provide a detailed discussion of some aspect of sport in the ancient world. Since this paper is not due until near the end of the Reading Period, there is no acceptable excuse for late papers.  
•    Readings from the required textbooks have been sequenced to correspond, approximately, to the topics I shall be presenting in class at, or soon after, the time you’ll be reading them. I expect you to do these readings regularly by the stated deadlines (see syllabus), and to come to class prepared to discuss them in an informed manner; your active participation in discussion will count towards your final grade.