Aristotle & AI
What do the robots in ancient Greek mythology have to tell us about today’s AI? How did slavery shape how Greeks and Romans imagined autonomous tools? Where does artificial intelligence come from, and why do we tell the stories we do about what it can do and how it will change the world?
This course offers an introduction to the intellectual history of classical antiquity and a critical examination of artificial intelligence in the current cultural and political moment. Students in the course will learn about a topic in ancient Greek and Roman thought — stories about autonomous tools — and how that topic relates to social history and culture in the ancient world. They will then use that knowledge to frame questions about artificial intelligence and robots in present society, and examine critical approaches to the large generative models that are garnering so much attention today. The goal is equip students with a) a basic familiarity with how ancient Greek and Roman thought relates to its cultural context, b) an analytical framework for approaching claims about technology in historical and present contexts, and c) an appreciation for how humanistic inquiry can answer urgent questions in their lives.
Prerequisites: none
The course is intended for students for little or no familiarity with the study of the ancient world, and as an introduction to the study of ancient Greece and Rome. Familiarity with texts encountered in the fall semesters of Literature Humanities or Contemporary Civilizations will be helpful, but is neither required or presumed on the part of the instructor.
- MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Joseph A Howley
CULPA: 7
Info
- 3 points
ELEMENTARY LATIN I
For students who have never studied Latin. An intensive study of grammar with reading of simple prose and poetry.
- TR 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Geoffrey Harmsworth
Info - 4 points
ELEMENTARY GREEK II
Prerequisites: GREK UN1101 or the equivalent, or the instructor or the director of undergraduate studies permission. Continuation of grammar study begun in GREK UN1101; selections from Attic prose.
- MWF 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
- TR 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Melody A Wauke
Info -
Instructor:
Abigail R Breuker
Info - 4 points
ELEMENT. MODERN GREEK II
Prerequisites: GRKM UN1101 or the equivalent. Continuation of GRKM UN1101. Introduction to modern Greek language and culture. Emphasis on speaking, writing, basic grammar, syntax, and cross-cultural analysis.
- MW 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
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Instructor:
Nikolas Kakkoufa
Info - 4 points
ELEMENTARY LATIN II
Prerequisites: LATN UN1101. A continuation of LATN UN1101, including a review of grammar and syntax for students whose study of Latin has been interrupted.
- TRF 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
- MW 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
John T Ma
CULPA: 4 Info -
Instructor:
Erin J Petrella
Info - 4 points
INTENSIVE ELEMENTARY GREEK
Covers all of Greek grammar and syntax in one term. Prepares the student to enter second-year Greek (GREK UN2101 or GREK UN2102).
- TRF 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Elizabeth K Irwin
CULPA: 7
Info
- 4 points
INTENSIVE ELEMENTARY LATIN
Equivalent to Latin 1101 and 1102. Covers all of Latin grammar and syntax in one term to prepare the student to enter Latin 1201 or 1202. This is an intensive course with substantial preparation time outside of class.
- TR 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Emma Ianni
CULPA: 2 Info - 4 points
INTERMEDIATE LATIN I
Prerequisites: LATN UN1101 & UN1102 or LATN UN1121 or equivalent. Selections from Catullus and Cicero.
- MW 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Jose Antonio Cancino Alfaro
Info - 4 points
INTERMEDIATE GREEK II: HOMER
Prerequisites: GREK UN1101- GREK UN1102 or GREK UN1121 or the equivalent. Detailed grammatical and literary study of several books of the Iliad and introduction to the techniques or oral poetry, to the Homeric hexameter, and to the historical background of Homer.
- TRF 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Hanna Golab
Info - 4 points
INTERMEDIATE MODERN GREEK II
Prerequisites: GRKM UN2101 or the equivalent. Continuation of GRKM UN2101. Students complete their knowledge of the fundamentals of Greek grammar and syntax while continuing to enrich their vocabulary.
- MW 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Chrysanthe Filippardos
Info - 4 points
INTERMEDIATE LATIN II
Prerequisites: LATN UN2101 or the equivalent. Selections from Ovids Metamorphoses and from Sallust, Livy, Seneca, or Pliny.
- TRF 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
- MW 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
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Instructor:
Lien Van Geel
CULPA: 1 Info -
Instructor:
Hanna Golab
Info - 4 points
DICTATORSHIPS&THEIR AFTERLIVES
What does the investigation of a dictatorship entail and what are the challenges in such an endeavor? Why (and when) do particular societies turn to an examination of their non-democratic pasts? What does it mean for those who never experienced an authoritarian regime first-hand to remember it through television footage, popular culture, and family stories? This seminar examines dictatorships and the ways in which they are remembered, discussed, examined, and give rise to conflicting narratives in post-dictatorial environments. It takes as its point of departure the Greek military regime of 1967-1974, which is considered in relation to other dictatorships in South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. We will be drawing on primary materials including Amnesty International reports, film, performance art, and architectural drawings as well as the works of Hannah Arendt and Günter Grass to engage in an interdisciplinary examination of the ways in which military dictatorships live on as ghosts, traumatic memories, urban warfare, litigation, and debates on the politics of comparison and the ethics of contemporary art.
- R 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
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Instructor:
Dimitris Antoniou
h-index: 5 Info - 3 points
CLASSICAL LATIN PROSE
Prerequisites: LATN W2202 or equivalent This course is intended to complement Latin V3012: Augustan Poetry in providing students I a transition between the elementary, grammatical study of Latin texts to a more fluent understanding of complex literary style. Latin V3013 will largely concentrate on different styles of writing, particularly narrative, invective, and argument. Text will be drawn primarily from Ciceros orations, with some readings form his rhetorical works.
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Lien Van Geel
CULPA: 1 Info - 3 points
GREEK LITERATURE SELECTIONS II
Prerequisites: GREK UN2101 - GREK UN2102 or the equivalent. Since the content of this course changes from year to year, it may be repeated for credit.
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Hanna Golab
Info - 3 points
LATIN LITERATURE SELECTIONS
Prerequisites: LATN UN2102 or the equivalent. Since the content of this course changes from year to year, it may be repeated for credit.
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Darcy Krasne
h-index: 5 Info - 3 points
How to do things with Queer Bodies
Homosexuality, as a term, might be a relatively recent invention in Western culture (1891) but bodies that acted and appeared
queer
(
ly)
existed long before that. This course will focus on acts, and not identities, in tracing the evolution of writing the queer body from antiquity until today. In doing so it will explore a number of multimodal materials – texts, vases, sculptures, paintings, photographs, movies etc. – in an effort to understand the evolution of the ways in which language (written, spoken or visual) registers these bodies in literature and culture. When we bring the dimension of the body into the way we view the past, we find that new questions and new ways of approaching old questions emerge. What did the ancient actually write about the male/female/trans* (homo)sexual body? Did they actually create gender non-binary statues? Can we find biographies of the lives of saints in drag in Byzantium? How did the Victorians change the way in which we read Antiquity? How is the queer body registered in Contemporary Literature and Culture? Can one write the history of homosexuality as a history of bodies? How are queer bodies constructed and erased by scholars? How can we disturb national archives by globalizing the queer canon of bodies through translation? These are some of the questions that we will examine during the semester.
The course surveys texts from Homer, Sappho, Aeschylus, Euripides, Plato, Theocritus, Ovid, Dio Chrysostom, Lucian, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symonds, Dinos Christianopoulos, Audre Lorde, Larry Kramer, Tony Kushner etc., the work of artists such as Yiannis Tsarouchis, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dimitris Papaioannou, Cassils, movies such as
120 battements par minute,
and popular TV shows such as
Pose.
- T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Nikolas Kakkoufa
Info - 3 points
DIRCTD READING-ANCIENT STUDIES
Prerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. Program of readings in some aspect of ancient studies, supervised by an appropriate faculty member chosen from the departments offering courses in the program in Ancient Studies. Evaluation by a series of essays, one long paper, or oral or written examination(s).
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Instructor:
Marcus Folch
CULPA: 6
Info
- 3 points
DIRECTED READINGS
Designed for undergraduates who want to do directed reading in a period or on a topic not covered in the curriculum.
-
Instructor:
Stathis Gourgouris
CULPA: 4
Wikipedia
Info
-
Instructor:
Nikolas Kakkoufa
Info -
Instructor:
Karen Van Dyck
Wikipedia Info -
Instructor:
Dimitris Antoniou
h-index: 5 Info - 1-4 points
DIRCTD RSRCH-ANCIENT STUDIES I
Program of research in ancient studies under the direction of an advisor associated with the program, resulting in a research paper. Outline and bibliography must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies before credit will be awarded for ANCS V3995.
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Instructor:
Marcus Folch
CULPA: 6
Info
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Instructor:
Francesco de Angelis
CULPA: 10
Info
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Instructor:
Seth R Schwartz
CULPA: 1 Wikipedia Info -
Instructor:
Ellen Morris
CULPA: 10
Info
-
Instructor:
Kathy H Eden
CULPA: 19
Wikipedia
Info
- 3 points
SUPERVISED RSRCH IN GREEK LIT
Prerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. A program of research in Greek literature. Research paper required.
-
Instructor:
Elizabeth K Irwin
CULPA: 7
Info
-
Instructor:
Kathy H Eden
CULPA: 19
Wikipedia
Info
- 3 points
SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR
Designed for students writing a senior thesis or doing advanced research on Greek or Greek Diaspora topics.
- 1-4 points
SUPERVISED RSRCH IN LATIN LIT
Prerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. A program of research in Latin literature. Research paper required.
-
Instructor:
Gareth Williams
CULPA: 7
Info
-
Instructor:
Carmela V Franklin
CULPA: 2
Info
-
Instructor:
Joseph A Howley
CULPA: 7
Info
- 3 points
SELECTIONS FROM GREEK LIT
Prerequisites: GREK UN2101 - GREK UN2102 or the equivalent. Since the content of this course changes each year, it may be repeated for credit.
- MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Marcus Folch
CULPA: 6
Info
- 3 points
SELECTIONS FROM LATIN LITERATURE
Prerequisites: LATN UN3012 or the equivalent. Since the content of this course changes from year to year, it may be repeated for credit.
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Gareth Williams
CULPA: 7
Info
- 3 points
HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE II
Prerequisites: at least two terms of Greek at the 3000-level or higher. Greek literature of the 4th century B.C. and of the Hellenistic and Imperial Ages.
- TR 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Elizabeth W Scharffenberger
CULPA: 20
Info
- 4 points
HISTORY OF LATIN LIT II
Prerequisites: at least two terms of Latin at the 3000-level or higher. Latin literature from Augustus to 600 C.E.
- MW 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Gareth Williams
CULPA: 7
Info
- 4 points
MEDIEVAL LATIN LITERATURE
Prerequisites: the instructors permission. This course covers various topics in Medieval Latin Literature.
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Carmela V Franklin
CULPA: 2
Info
- 3 points
SUPERVISED INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
All supervisors will be Columbia faculty who hold a PhD. Students are responsible for identifying their own supervisor and it is at the discretion of faculty whether they accept to supervise independent research. Projects must be focused on Hellenic Studies and can be approached from any disciplinary background. Students are expected to develop their own reading list in consultation with their supervisor. In addition to completing assigned readings, the student must also write a Hellenic studies paper of 20 pages. Projects other than a research paper will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Hellenic Studies is an interdisciplinary field that revolves around two main axes: space and time. Its teaching and research are focused on the study of post-classical Greece in various fields: Language, Literature, History, Politics, Anthropology, Art, Archaeology, and in various periods: Late Antique, Medieval, Byzantine, Modern Greek etc. Therefore, the range of topics that are acceptable as a Hellenic Studies seminar paper is broad. It is upon each supervisor to discuss the specific topic with the student. The work submitted for this independent study course must be different from the work a student submits in other courses, including the Hellenic Studies Senior Research Seminar.
-
Instructor:
Karen Van Dyck
Wikipedia Info -
Instructor:
Nikolas Kakkoufa
Info -
Instructor:
Dimitris Antoniou
h-index: 5 Info -
Instructor:
Stathis Gourgouris
CULPA: 4
Wikipedia
Info
- 3 points
DIRECTED READINGS
Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Topics chosen in consultation between members of the staff and students.
-
Instructor:
Elizabeth K Irwin
CULPA: 7
Info
-
Instructor:
Erin J Petrella
Info -
Instructor:
John T Ma
CULPA: 4 Info -
Instructor:
Hanna Golab
Info - 3 points
DIRECTED READINGS
Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Topics chosen in consultation between members of the staff and students.
-
Instructor:
John T Ma
CULPA: 4 Info -
Instructor:
Carmela V Franklin
CULPA: 2
Info
-
Instructor:
Nikolas Kakkoufa
Info - 1-4 points
DIRECTED READINGS
Topics chosen in consultation between members of the staff and students.
MA THESIS
This course will enable students to complete a research study of considerable length that will (i) enable them to explore a given area of research in substantive detail; (ii) put them on the path to true competence as independent researchers; and (iii) provide those who go on to apply to PhD programs with a substantial writing sample that shows off their technical abilities to the best advantage.
-
Instructor:
Gareth Williams
CULPA: 7
Info
- 4 points
GRADUATE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM
GRAD RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM
The Graduate Research Colloquium is a forum that offers two types of research seminars over the course of the semester. In the first, formerly the Graduate Colloquium, up to six outside speakers are invited by the graduate organizers to present research papers to an audience of graduates, faculty and others interested within the larger NYC Classics community, and afterwards to engage in discussion. The second is a Work-in-Progress seminar in which Columbia Classics graduate students present their research to their graduate peers in whatever format they deem most conducive to conveying their research to their audience and receiving feedback. The audience for these eight seminars is restricted to graduate students, the instructor who presides over the course, and any faculty the graduate student presenters choose should choose to invite. At least one semester of the Graduate Research Colloquium is required for MAO students and PhD students must attend the course in both the Fall and Spring semesters of their first year.
ELEMENTS OF GREEK PROSE STYLE
Prerequisites: at least four terms of Greek, or the equivalent. An intensive review of Greek syntax with translation of English sentences and paragraphs into Attic Greek.
- TR 6:10 p.m.-7:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Elizabeth W Scharffenberger
CULPA: 20
Info
- 4 points
LATIN PALEOGRAPHY
This course will survey the history of Latin manuscript books and Latin scripts from late Antiquity to the early years of printing (4th -15th century). Students will study the questions that have driven the field of paleography since its inception, and the canonical history of the main scripts used in Western Europe through the end of the Middle Ages. We will consider the manuscript book as a physical artifact, in a codicological approach; and we will look at the production of books in their social and political settings. Students will develop practical skills in reading and transcription, and will begin to recognize the features that allow localization and dating of manuscripts. We will use original materials from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library whenever possible.
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
- 3 points
The Argonautic Tradition
In this seminar, we will read a number of texts in and around the Roman side of the Argonautic tradition—the voyage of the world’s first ship
Argo
, and its tragic aftermath—from the Republic through the Late Empire; and we will end with W.E.B. Du Bois’ first novel,
The Quest of the Silver Fleece
.
- F 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
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Instructor:
Darcy Krasne
h-index: 5 Info - 3 points