Goals and Objectives

Classical Civilization Majors

  1. Majors know the literature associated with the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
    1. They demonstrate the ability to identify and discuss the basic authors, genres, and works of Greece and Rome.
    2. Majors demonstrate that they have mastered the basic skills of literary criticism. In sample works or passages they demonstrate the ability to identify literary techniques, themes, and tropes; to assess the contribution of parts to a literary whole; and to articulate a structure of the literary work.
    3. They demonstrate a basic understanding of the cultural context of the literature.
  2. Majors have a broad knowledge of the history of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
    1. They demonstrate awareness of the principal people and events of Greek and Roman history.
    2. They demonstrate basic geographical knowledge about the Mediterranean basin (especially cities, territorial boundaries, and natural resources).
  3. Majors are acquainted with the art and archeology of at least one of the major periods or regions of classical Mediterranean civilization (e.g. Helladic, archaic Greek, Hellenistic, Roman imperial).
    1. They demonstrate understanding of artistic progression within one period or region and the major artistic achievements of the period or region.
    2. They can identify and describe 1) the technique of the principal art forms produced in one period or region and 2) the principal artistic styles associated with that period or region.
  4. Majors have a fundamental understanding of the major currents of the intellectual and spiritual history of the ancient Greek and Roman civilization.
    1. They demonstrate basic knowledge of Greek and Roman philosophy.
    2. They demonstrate basic knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology.
  5. Majors have a beginning experience of classical research.
    1. Majors demonstrate the ability to use basic Classics bibliographical tools, standard reference works, and major secondary sources.
    2. Majors demonstrate the ability to use research skills in a sustained critical argument.
    3. Majors write effective English prose.
  6. Majors have a healthy affective stance toward the discipline of Classics.
    1. Majors have identified and can articulate, in discussion or writing, a relation between this discipline, their intellectual developments, and their life goals.

Greek Majors

  1. Majors know Greek and Latin how to read and translate its literature.
    1. Majors demonstrate knowledge of Greek and Latin grammar and syntax; their knowledge would place them at the completion of second-semester intermediate language study.
    2. Majors demonstrate knowledge of the basic vocabulary of Greek and Latin as well as the specific vocabulary frequently used by at least four major authors.
    3. Majors demonstrate ability to read literature for comprehension, not just to translate individual words. They can enter discussion and answer questions about the meaning of a work they have read.
    4. Majors are able to translate into idiomatic English a standard author (like Homer, Vergil, Horace, Cicero Euripides, Plato, or Herodotus) with the help of a dictionary.
  2. Majors know Greek and Roman literature and its historical and cultural context.
    1. Majors demonstrate knowledge of the basic facts of this literature's history. That is, they are able to write one or two paragraphs on any of the most important 8-10 literary figures placing the writer in historical context. They also demonstrate understanding of the major literary genres by a short description of the genre's typical characteristics.
    2. They demonstrate a basic understanding of this culture and this literature's place in it. In particular, they can point to fundamental characteristics and tensions of Greek and Roman culture in the literature they criticize.
    3. Because it is crucial to understanding literature, majors demonstrate that they have the ability to use the basic skills of literary criticism. That is, in sample works or passages they demonstrate ability to identify literary techniques, themes, and tropes; to assess the contributions of parts to a literary whole; and to articulate a structure of the literary work.
  3. Majors have a beginning experience of classical research.
    1. Majors demonstrate the ability to use basic Classics bibliographical tools, standard reference works, and major secondary sources.
    2. Majors demonstrate the ability to use research skills in a sustained critical argument.
    3. Majors write effective English prose.
  4. Majors have a healthy affective stance toward the discipline of Classics.
    1. Majors have identified and can articulate, in discussion or writing, a relation between this discipline, their intellectual developments, and their life goals.