Sept. 22nd: Introduction to the course – themes, assignments, course structure, wiki
Sept 24th: What is “Classical Archaeology”? (Readings: Whitley, Chapter 1)
Sept 26th: The Mediterranean world: geography, ecology, and culture between Africa, Europe,
and the Near East (Readings: Morris & Powell Chapters 1-2)
Week 2: "Minoans and Mycenaeans"
Sept. 29th: “The Minoans and the idea of the Bronze Age” (Readings: Biers, Chapter 2;
Preziosi introduction)
Oct. 1st: “Mycenaeans and the palace economies” (Readings: Biers, Chapter 3)
Oct. 3rd: “The sea peoples and the end of the bronze age” (Readings: Selection from Brewer
& Teeter and also brief overview in Pedley, posted on website)
Week 3: "The Bronze-Iron Age Transition"
Oct. 6th: “Sources for the Bronze Age” (Readings: Homer, Linear B, posted on website)
(DISCUSSION)
Oct. 8th: “Iron Age Greece: Continuities and Discontinuities - the Age of Opportunity”
(Readings: Whitley, chapters 4 & 5)
Oct. 10: “Was there a Greek ‘Dark Age’?” (DISCUSSION; Readings: Take a look at this
website from Vassar College on the Dark Ages and the important site of Toumba at Lefkandi; readings from Papadopoulos and Morris
Week 4: "Communities Reorganized in an Age of Opportunity"
Oct. 13th: “Greek renaissance after the Dark Ages” (Readings: Selections from Snodgrass,
Morris: click here)
Oct. 15th: “Greek colonies and trading networks across the Mediterranean: Culture Contact and
Syncretisms” (Readings: Selections from “Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age”)
Oct. 17th: “Colonization?” (DISCUSSION; Readings: Peter Van Dommelen, “Colonialism
and Migration in the Ancient Mediterranean”; SKIM Tsetskhladze; OPTIONAL Osborne)
Week 5: "The Greek Polis"
Oct. 20th: “The growth of cities and market places: the Athenian Agora” (Readings: Whitley,
Chapter 8)
Oct. 22nd: “Art, narrative, and monumentality”(DISCUSSION; Readings: Whitley, Chapter 9)
Oct. 24th: “The Greek cities of Asia Minor” (Readings: Greaves, Prologue and Chapter 1,
posted on wiki)
Week 6: "Cities, Alliances, and Empires"
Oct. 27th: “Classical Athens and the fruits of empire; Classical art” (Readings: Selections from
Pollitt and Biers, posted on wiki)
Oct. 29th: “An archaeology of democracy” (DISCUSSION; Readings: Selections from
Winckelmann; Whitley, Chapter 13, article by M. Cool Root, posted on wiki)
Oct. 31st: “Sicily and the west” (Readings: Selections from Holloway, posted on wiki)
Week 7: "Macedonia and Alexander"
Nov. 3rd: “The warrior retinue and the Macedonian state” (Readings: selections from
Ashmolean Museum Catalogue, posted on wiki)
Nov. 5th: “The Persian empire conquered and the spread of Greek culture” (Readings:
website, Bianchi - optional: Stephens & Greene, et al.; Empereur - posted on wiki)
Nov. 7th: “Olynthus” (DISCUSSION; Readings: Selections from Nicholas Cahill and
optional: Nevett)
Week 8: "The Riches of the Hellenistic World"
Nov. 10th: “The Hellenistic kingdoms of Asia Minor and the East” (Readings: Morris &
Powell, Chapters 23 and 24)
Nov. 12th: “The Greeks in Afghanistan and India” (Readings: selections from the catalogue
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul)
Nov. 14th: “Hellenistic Art and Architecture” (DISCUSSION Readings: Selections from
Pollitt)