This course will provide an introduction to the history of Greek art, architecture and archaeology from the formation of the Greek city states in the ninth century BCE, through the expansion of Greek culture across the Mediterranean and Asia in the Hellenistic period, to the coming of Rome in the first century BCE. While this survey concentrates on the main developments of Greek art, an important sub-theme of this course this is the changes Classical visual culture underwent as it served non-Greek peoples, including the role it played for Alexander and his successors in forging multiethnic, globally minded empires in Western, Central and South Asia. No background in the time period or discipline is expected and therefore this class will also serve as an introduction to interdisciplinary study of art history and the classical world. A number of art historical methodologies will be introduced in order to not only give students a useful background in art history but to give them the tools to think as art historians and incorporate related visual and textual evidence meaningfully into their writing.

Introduction to art and material culture of Roman world: origin, change, continuity. Progress/decay in later empire, its legacy to modern world.

This course explores ancient Rome?s transformation from a democratic republic to an autocratic empire and the considerable implications this crucial shift has had for world history. It examines the fall of the Roman republic and the rise of Rome?s first emperor Augustus along with the vast cultural transformations in this age of revolution. Major issues include: Augustan art, architecture, and literature; political ideologies, propaganda, and resistance; gender, sexuality, and the family; Rome and Egypt, colonialism and cultural identity.

A broad survey of ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian history and culture from the prehistoric to the rise of Persia around 550 B.C.

A broad survey of ancient Greek culture and history from the third millennium B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.

A broad survey of the culture and history of Rome from its origins to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the third and fourth centuries A.D.

Development of large-scale public entertainments in ancient Mediterranean world, from athletic contests of Olympia and dramatic festivals of Athens to chariot races and gladiatorial games of Roman Empire. Wider significance of these spectacles in their impact on political, social, and economic life of the societies that supported them.

Israel and Judah were not states of great importance in the ancient Near East. Their population and territory were small, and they could not resist conquest by larger, more powerful states like Assyria and Rome. Yet their ancient history matters greatly today, out of proportion to its insignificance during the periods in which it transpired. The historical experiences of the people of Israel and Judah were accorded religious meaning and literary articulation in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), which became a foundational text for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Essential features of Western as well as Islamic civilization are predicated on some element of Israel?s ancient past, as mediated through the Bible; therefore it behooves us to understand that past. But the Bible is a religious work, not a transcript of events, and the history of ancient Israel is not derived merely from reading the biblical accounts of it. Archaeological excavations have revealed the physical remains of the cultures of Israel and neighboring lands, as well as bringing to light inscriptions, documents, and literary works produced by those cultures. These sources, which complement and sometimes contradict the accounts conveyed in the Bible, provide the basis for reconstructing a comprehensive history of ancient Israel. This course covers the history of Israel and Judah from the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 BCE), by the end of which Israel had emerged as a distinct ethnic entity, to the period of Roman rule (63 BCE-330 CE), which saw the final extinction of ancient Israel, represented by the kingdom of Judea, as a political entity. Knowledge of this history is based on archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources, including the Hebrew Bible. N.B.: Students should be aware that the study of history, like all the human and natural sciences, is predicated on inquiry, not a priori judgments. Accordingly, the Bible is not privileged as an intrinsically true or authoritative record. No text is presumed inerrant, and all sources are subject to scrutiny, in the context of scholarly discourse. Biblical texts are treated just like all other texts, as the products of human beings embedded in a historical context, and as the subject of analysis and interpretation. Persons of all faiths and of no faith are equally welcome to participate in such scholarly discourse. However, students who feel that their own religious beliefs require an understanding of the Bible that is antithetical to the foregoing statements are cautioned that they may find themselves uncomfortable with this course.

Historical method/sources for ancient Near Eastern history. Historical traditions. Historiographic texts of Mesopotamia and neighboring regions of the ancient Near East, secondary emphasis on their relationship to works of classical historians such as Herodotus. Use of these sources in modern historiography of ancient Near East. prereq: Prev coursework in ancient Near Eastern history recommended

Survey of major scholarship in field of Roman history since Mommsen. Political, cultural, social, military, and economic history. Focuses on methodological problems posed by evidence. Ways in which these issues shape research. prereq: Grad student or instr consent

This seminar course discusses current approaches to historical ecology, the study of human-environmental relationships over time. The course draws on and combines perspectives from the four subdisciplines of anthropology (archaeological anthropology, bioarchaeological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology), and similar disciplines, to understand the varying ways that scholars have analyzed and defined ecologies and environmental problems. It places particular emphasis on theories that define human relationships to the environment as recursive and interdependent. These theories stand in contrast to common Western theological suppositions that see the environment as a framework to which human societies adapt or a set of resources for human communities to exploit. Rather, historical ecologists argue that the environment is a true ecology with humans in it. They contend that human communities are fundamentally and inextricably intertwined with the life cycles and needs of other species, and consequently they study how human-environmental interactions emerge through distinct historical processes and cultural circumstances.

How did complex urban societies first develop? This course addresses this question in ten regions of the world including Maya Mesoamerica, Inca South America, Sumerian Near East, Shang Civilization in East Asia, and early Greece and Rome.

How archaeologists analyze/interpret artifacts to develop knowledge about formation of European society, from earliest evidence of human occupation to Roman period.

In this course, we will explore the theories and methods of historical archaeology ? such as material culture studies, landscape perspectives, archival, and oral historical interpretation - as a means of intervening in contemporary discussions of diversity in the United States. Historical archaeology can be a very effective means to challenge some of the standard American narratives about our diverse past. Our aim is to move beyond either a simplistic ethnic pluralism or the superficial ?melting pot? progressive history and instead grapple with the materiality of settler colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism. In learning about this field, we will consider what has distinguished historical archaeology from American archaeology more broadly, and how those differences are parlayed into specific research strengths. This includes several themes: colonialism; the modern world and globalizing economies; intersectional identities (race and ethnicity, class, sex and gender, religion, age, ability/disability) and social movements; public memory and commemoration; landscapes and social space; citizenship and subjectivity. Although historical archaeology until recently has been restrictively defined as addressing the European-colonized New World, the discipline in the past twenty years has significantly broadened its scope and impact on the practice of archaeology as a whole. Throughout the course we will discuss these developments, and what directions archaeology may take in the future as a result. Course work includes both reading/discussion and learning methods through practical exercises, and handling of archaeological material.

Archaeology of the British Isles, Scandinavia, and northern continental Europe, from the Romans through the Viking Period. Themes to be examined include social and political organization, cross-cultural interaction, art and symbolism, and religion and ritual.

This seminar course discusses current approaches to historical ecology, the study of human-environmental relationships over time. The course draws on and combines perspectives from the four subdisciplines of anthropology (archaeological anthropology, bioarchaeological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology), and similar disciplines, to understand the varying ways that scholars have analyzed and defined ecologies and environmental problems. It places particular emphasis on theories that define human relationships to the environment as recursive and interdependent. These theories stand in contrast to common Western theological suppositions that see the environment as a framework to which human societies adapt or a set of resources for human communities to exploit. Rather, historical ecologists argue that the environment is a true ecology with humans in it. They contend that human communities are fundamentally and inextricably intertwined with the life cycles and needs of other species, and consequently they study how human-environmental interactions emerge through distinct historical processes and cultural circumstances.

How archaeologists/historians analyze/interpret artifacts to develop knowledge about formation of European society, from earliest evidence of human occupation to Roman Period. Interpreting archaeological evidence from specific sites to understand broad trends in human past.