Ancient Greek City

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The city-state (polis) was both an institution at the heart of ancient Greek culture and the point of origin for the western concept of politics. This course offers an introduction to the Greek polis in all of its political, social, historical, and physical manifestations from the eighth century BCE through the fifth century CE. Major topics we will consider include: the origins of the polis, warfare, democracy, colonization, city planning, gender, identity, cross-cultural contact, decline, and transformation at the end of antiquity. We will spend class time discussing assigned readings from recent scholarship; assignments will include a short independent research paper.