The material on this page is from the 2000-01 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.

Latin [For more information about major requirements, see Classical and Romance Languages and Literature] Students who desire to begin or continue the study of Latin may have various reasons, practical or aesthetic. Latin is invaluable for understanding the English language and its literature and aids directly in the study of French, Spanish, other modern languages, comparative literature, and linguistics. It has basic application to science, medicine, and law as well as to archeology, art, and other humanistic studies. However, beyond all the utilitarian and theoretical justifications, the student of Latin can simply enjoy the challenges of learning and the rewards of reading a great literature. Courses 101–102. Elementary Latin. A humanistic introduction to classical Latin vocabulary, forms, and syntax, with special emphasis on reading the actual words of ancient authors. Relations to English grammar and etymology are stressed. Concentration on Latin-English translation, with some English-Latin composition. Latin 101 is not open to students with two or more years of Latin in secondary school. M. Imber, L. Maurizio. 201. Prose of the Empire. The persecution of Christians, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Nero's fiddle are the topics of the diverse literature of the Roman Empire. Students read letters, philosophical treatises, histories and novels from the likes of Tacitus, Seneca, Pliny and Suetonius. Prerequisite(s): Latin 101 and 102. Staff. New description for 2001-2002. 202. Poetry of the Empire. From Ovid's fables of women turning into trees to Lucan's descriptions of battles and Seneca's drama of Thyestes who feasts on his sons, the tumultuous events of the Empire find strange expression in the poets who could not write openly about the cruelties of their emperors. Students read the works of Ovid, Seneca, Lucan, Statius, and Martial. Staff. New description for 2001-2002. 203. Republican Prose. The Roman Republic was imagined to be the result of fratricide and rape. Caesar crossed the Rubicon and Cicero's hands and ears were cut off and then hung in the Forum. The course explores the social, political, and religious foundations as well as the violence of the Roman Republic through the eyes of authors such as Livy, Cato, Cicero, Sallust, and Caesar. Prerequisite(s): Latin 101 and 102. Staff. New course for 2001-2002. 204. Republican Poetry. Why do slaves always have the leading roles in Roman comedy? Was Aeneas pious or power-hungry? Did Lesbia really have three hundred lovers? The Roman Republic was explained, celebrated, criticized and ignored in the works of its poets. The course answers why and how through a study of Plautus, Catullus, Virgil, and Horace. Prerequisite(s): Latin 101 and 102. Staff. New course for 2001-2002. 205. Ovid's Metamorphoses Transformed. Very soon after its publication, Ovid's Metamorphoses became the standard source for the stories of Greco-Roman mythology. This course traces (in English) the various retellings of some of those myths through medieval, Renaissance, and modern times, in Europe and the Americas, primarily in literary reworkings, but with some attention to art and music as well. Reading the Ovidian original in Latin is available to students with one or more years of Latin. This course is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies 205. Open to first-year students. T. Hayward. 301. Prose of the Empire: Advanced. This course covers the same material as Latin 201, but is designed for students who have completed two or more years of college-level Latin. Staff. New description for 2001-2002. 302. Poetry of the Empire: Advanced. This course covers the same material as Latin 202, but is designed for students who have completed two or more years of college-level Latin. Staff. New description for 2001-2002. 303. Republican Prose: Advanced. This course covers the same material as Latin 203, but is designed for students who have completed two or more years of college-level Latin. Staff. New course for 2001-2002. 304. Republican Poetry: Advanced. This course covers the same material as Latin 204, but is designed for students who have completed two or more years of college-level Latin. Staff. New course for 2001-2002. 360. Independent Study. Independent study of individually selected topics. Periodic conferences and papers are required. Permission of the department is required. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Staff. 365. Special Topics. Designed for the small seminar group of students who may have particular interests in areas of study that go beyond the regular course offerings. Periodic conferences and papers are required. Written permission of the instructor is required. 365A. Silver Threads Among the Gold. Latin literature from about 70 B.C.E. to 150 C.E. has traditionally been divided into so-called "Golden" and "Silver" ages. To what extent is this characterization valid? By reading, discussing, and writing about selected passages and works from the two eras in several genres, students come to their own conclusions (comparing them to those of other critics along the way). Prerequisite(s): Latin 201 and 202, or the equivalent, or four or more years of Latin in secondary school. Written permission of the instructor is required. T. Hayward. 401. Advanced Topics in Latin Prose. This course explores intensively a single author or work in the Latin classical canon. Students read complete or extensive selections from an author's work in a variety of genres. A course focusing on Tacitus, for example, considers his work as a writer of biography, history, and philosophical dialogues. In considering an author's achievements in each genre, students read translations of other Roman (and if appropriate, Greek) writers in these genres, as well as modern scholarship on the genre and author. Students prepare presentations on secondary scholarship and discuss their seminar papers in class. Prerequisite(s): Latin 202. Recommended background: Classics 100 and Classical and Medieval Studies 206. M. Imber. 402. Advanced Topics in Latin Poetry. This course explores intensively a single author in the Latin classical canon. Students read complete or extensive selections from an author's work in a variety of genres. A course focusing on Vergil, for example, considers his work as a writer of epic, bucolic, and didactic. In considering an author's achievements in each genre, students read translations of other Roman (and if appropriate, Greek) writers in these genres, as well as modern scholarship on the genre and author. Students prepare presentations on secondary scholarship and discuss their seminar papers in class. Prerequisite(s): Latin 202. Recommended background: Classics 100 and Classical and Medieval Studies 206. M. Imber. Short Term Units s20. Intensive Latin. This unit offers students an intensive, Short Term version of Latin 101-102, including principles of Latin grammar, morphology, syntax and diction. The class meets five days a week, for four hours each day. Students complete all of the textbook, Intensive Latin by Moreland and Fleischer, during the first four weeks of the Short Term, and spend the final week translating passages of Latin prose and poetry. The unit is intended both for students who have developed an interest in classics over the course of the fall and winter terms, but did not have the opportunity to take Latin 101-102, and for students who wish to study Latin to support their work in other majors (e.g., history, art history, English, etc.). By the end of the unit, students are prepared to enter Latin 201 in the fall. M. Imber. s21. Readings in Latin Epic. This unit introduces students to two major Latin epics: Vergil, Aeneid, and Lucan, Pharsalia. These poems span a critical century during which Rome moved from republic to empire. Taken together, they provide insights into sharply changing views of the Roman state and of the poetŐs function within it. Students read both poems, together with relevant modern scholarship. The unit is taught in English, but a section of reading (and performance) in Latin is available for students with one or more years of Latin. This unit is the same as Classics s21. Enrollment limited to 15. D. O'Higgins. s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the department only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Staff.