Students will study a number of dramas within their cultural context, view a number of live and recorded theatrical performances, and produce their own scenes. Literature and Fine Arts. Enrollment is limited to freshmen and transfers. After an examination of the effects of evolution on human nature, this course will explore the effects of the disruption in human life caused by the invention of agriculture. Effects on the roles of women and men, on scientific understanding, and on religious outlooks in the Neolithic and ancient worlds will be discussed.
Enrollment is limited to freshmen and transfers.
This course will examine the culture, society and politics of classical Greece and Rome through the themes of disease, healing and death. Readings will analyze disease and healing not only as matters of physical wellbeing but also as issues of spirituality and morality. The course will compare and contrast the construction of political power and cultural identity in the medical knowledge, funeral rituals, public deaths, and architectural monuments of these complex societies. One way to understand a culture is to examine what they laugh at. This class will study and stage Comedy from several societies in the Ancient World, reading plays by Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, Terence, as well as Sanskrit drama.