CAMS 083S
(GH;IL)
First-Year Seminar in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (3) Critical approach to the study of ancient Mediterranean languages, literatures, and/or material cultures.
CAMS 083S First-Year Seminar in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (3)
(GH;FYS;IL)
(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements.
The first-year seminar in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (CAMS) is concerned with interesting and challenging features of one or more of the cultures that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea in antiquity, from around 3,500 B.C. to 500 A.D. While the topic of CAMS first-year seminars varies, in all, you will be introduced to the civilizations that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea in ancient times and why their great accomplishments, their struggles, and their failures remain important to us even today, thousands of years later. You will learn about ancient literature and physical remains that provide information about these cultures. In this class, you will learn to assess theories about ancient societies, the types of evidence that exist for antiquity, and how to gain access to academic resources in the library and in electronic form. The topics of the seminars vary. Some current seminars include a critical study of widely believed " Ancient Mysteries,' such as the continent of Atlantis and Pyramid Power; a seminar on the relationships among Christians, Jews, and Pagans in the later Roman period; and Word Power, a course that gives you linguistic tools to understand the sources and nature of much of our modern English vocabulary. You will read selections of ancient literature in English translation and examine the remains of the societies that produced them to ponder basic questions about the meaning and value of human life. Some knowledge of ancient Mediterranean cultures has always been indispensable to intelligent participation in western society. Their social, political, economic, and legal systems, their religious experience, their language and art all are of interest, and their contribution to our own present world view can hardly be overemphasized. Today, the oldest of humanistic disciplines is more vital, more wide-ranging, and more current than ever before. By reading ancient literature, studying the structure of ancient languages, and learning about the religious, political, and social ideas formulated in antiquity, you may gain important insights into our own culture and come to understand the common humanity all people share.
Note : Class size, frequency of offering, and evaluation methods will vary by location and instructor. For these details check the specific course syllabus.