Schedule

*Days highlighted in red are discussion days*

Week 1:"Orientations"

  • 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)

Week 9: "Roman Greece"

  • Nov. 17th: “Rome’s advantage and ascendancy” (Readings: Morris & Powell, Chapter 25)
  • Nov. 19th: “The Greek east after the Roman conquest” (Readings: Selections from Alcock)
  • Nov. 21th: Final projects (DISCUSSION – be prepared to discuss your final project outline in class)

~THANKSGIVING BREAK~

Week 10: "Summing Up"

  • Dec. 1st: “Reception of the archaeology of Greece” (Readings: Hamilakis and Marchand)
  • Dec. 3rd: “New approaches in the archaeology of Greece”
  • Dec. 5th: DISCUSSION (No readings -- wrap-up, come up with 3 things you’ve learned)