Classics (CLAS)
Description: Examination of Prehistoric Greek material and documentary evidence, including archaeological remains of the cosmopolitan palatial societies of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, the nature and consequences of the Late Bronze Age collapse, Linear B script, and the transformation of Greece heading into the Archaic and Classical periods.
Description: Medical language and terminology derived from Greek and Latin, with some attention to other scientific and technical terminology.
Description: On the representation of ancient Greek and Roman literature, mythology, and history in contemporary American popular culture, including film, television, and graphic novels.
Description: Introduction to ancient Rome. Mass spectacles such as drama, gladiatorial combat, and public executions.
Description: The history of Pompeii and Herculaneum; their political, social, and religious institutions; and their urban and domestic environments/
Description: Literary sources of Greek and Roman myths and their influence.
Description: Comparative look at gender roles and household structure in Homeric Greece, Classical Athens and Sparta, and Rome. Topics include the warrior ideal, the respectable matron, working women, prostitution and sexual customs, slavery, and slave revolts.
Prerequisites: Good standing in the University Honors Program or by invitation.
Description: Topic varies.
Description: From the Stone Age until the Roman conquest (2nd century BC). The rise and fall of the city-state, types of government, relations with foreign peoples, class and gender issues, military matters and religion.
Description: From the Stone Age until the start of the Byzantine Empire (6th century AD). The expansion of Rome, military changes, social organization, gender studies, relations with foreign peoples, pagan religion, and Christianity. Pre-1800 content.
Description: Examine the military-based culture of Ancient Sparta, its rise and fall, mythology, and later influence throughout antiquity and modernity.
Description: Examination of Ancient Greek athletics, including the thousand-year history of the Olympic Games, the role of the gymnasium in ancient society, and the important influence ancient athletics continue to have on today's culture.
Description: Ancient war as practiced from Classical Greece to Imperial Rome. Weapons, tactics, strategies, leadership and rationale.
Description: Introduction to complex societies around the world and the role of archaeological heritage in contemporary debates.
Requires contributing to an ongoing web-based project.
Description: Practical and theoretical introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques of digital humanities. Electronic research, text encoding, text processing, and collaborative research.
Description: English translations of the great works of Greek literature which familiarize the student with the uniquely rich and influential world of Classical Greece.
Description: English translations of the great works of Latin literature, which familiarize the student with the uniquely rich and influential world of Classical Rome.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.
Description: Survey of epics and their meaning, ranging from ancient epics to the Medieval and Renaissance epic literature including selected epics with their criticisms and influences.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.
Description: Selections from the literary texts and records of North Africa, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Asia Minor.
Description: Topics vary.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Using forensic Attic oratory to reconstruct public and private law and legal procedures in democratic Athens in the 5th to 4th centuries BCE. Topics include: assault, homicide, false claims of citizenship, prostitution, legitimacy of marriages and children, and inheritance disputes.
Description: Introduction to the religious practices of ancient Greece from the prehistoric through the classical periods. Myth and ritual and the evidence from art history and archaeology.
Description: Life, literature, thought, and institutions of the Christian movement from Jesus to Constantine. A critical, historical approach to the sources in English translation and how they reflect the interaction of Christian, Jew, and pagan in late antiquity. Includes the historical Jesus vis-a-vis the Christ of Faith, the impact of Paul's thought, the formation of Christian dogma, methods of interpreting canonical and extra-canonical Christian literature, the problem of heresy and orthodoxy.
Description: Introduction to ancient Roman religion within its historical, cultural, and social context. Investigation of the distinctive features of Roman religion and the diversity of ancient Mediterranean religions through study of a broad range of literary and material evidence. Study of Roman deities, priests and priestesses, festivals, rituals, ancient magic, Judaism, Christianity, and mystery religions.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission
Description: Determine the potential context for a Trojan War. Examine the origins and history of the peoples residing around the Aegean Sea in the Bronze Age, c. 3200-1000 BCE (the indigenous Leleges and Minoans, the Mycenaeans Greeks, and the Hittite people in Anatolia), emphasizing the cultural overlaps and the points of contact and conflict at the cities of Troy and Miletos.
Description: The social, political and intellectual dimensions of the conflict between the old and new religions of the empire.
Description: Exploration of the key dimensions of Byzantium's social, economic and cultural developments, the role of Byzantium in world history, and the nature of the Byzantine legacy in contemporary Eastern Europe, Russia and the Balkans.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Investigation of the Roman imperial government from Augustus to Justinian, focused on the economy, state religion and the emergence of Christianity, the army, family and social classes, the division between the Greek East and Latin West, the Germanic invasions, and the establishment of the Byzantine Empire. Failure of the ancient world to solve its problems, leading to the end of classical civilization.
Description: Relation between archaeology and textural sources in classical antiquity as used to understand aspects of daily life (e.g., economy and trade, gender, ethnic identity, religion, political organization, etc.).
Description: Introduction to female figures from Classical Mythology with application of feminist theories to interpret the myths. Analysis of the portrayal of goddesses and heroines from Classical mythology in ancient and modern sources across genres, time periods, and media.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.
Description: The cultural, social, and religious institutions of Ancient Israel from their antecedents in the Late Bronze Age until the Great Jewish Revolt and the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism. Literary works and material remains of the Israelites, and evidence from surrounding cultures.
Description: Greek and Roman literary works emphasizing their influence on English and American literature.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Description: English translation of the Greek and Roman novel.
UNL faculty-led programs only
Description: Faculty-led learning abroad course. Topics and locations of travel will vary.
Description: Topics vary.
Prerequisites: Permission.
Description: Independent readings or research under direction by a faculty member.
Letter Grade only
Description: Research on one topic under the direction of a faculty member with emphasis on methodology, familiarity with primary and secondary source materials, and composition of scholarly literature.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Recommend some background knowledge of ancient art, history, or languages, a general background course such as AHIS 101, ANTH 252, CLAS 209/CLAS 210, or any of the courses listed in the Archaeology or Digital Humanities minors. Computer/design skills welcome but not necessary.
Description: A new approach to looking at the history and development of ancient cities, combining history and archaeology with digital methods, in particular 3D modeling.
Description: Examination of the religious institutions, philosophies, and lifeways of the Hellenistic Age from Alexander to Constantine. Includes civic religion of Greece and Rome, popular religion, mystery cults, Judaism, Christianity, popular and school philosophies (Platonism, Aristotelianism, Epicureanism, Cynicism, Stoicism), Gnosticism. History, interrelationships, emerging world view of these movements.
Description: Examination of the nature, history, literature, ritual, and impact of the classical Gnostic religions, 100 BCE to 400 CE. Extensive reading of original Gnostic treatises in English translation, with particular attention to their appropriation and transformation of earlier Jewish, Christian, and pagan religious and philosophical traditions. The principal Gnostic schools to be treated are Simonians, Sethians, Valentinians, Hermetics, and Manichaeans.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Pre-1800 content. European content.
Description: Transformation of unlimited popular sovereignty and ruthless imperialism in 5th century BCE Athens to the sovereignty of law over the course of the Peloponnesian War.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Critical period in Roman history when the republic was transformed into the rule by one man: Political and social functioning of the republic, causes for change, and factors influencing its final shape. Careers of the Gracchi, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Anthony, and Augustus.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.
Description: Augustus' constitutional transformation of Rome, and enforcement of a national identity and values through religion, social legislation, provincial governance policies, and patronage of public works, display, and literature.
Description: Survey of the material remains of Europe and of the various approaches to the study of the European past.
Description: Ancient Greek and Roman evidence pertaining to the fields of women's studies, gender studies, and the study of sexuality.
Description: Study of geographic concepts and critical analysis of applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in humanities and social sciences and application of geospatial tools for humanities and social science research; learn how to collect, manage, analyze, and visualize spatial data for real-world projects
Prerequisites: Senior standing.
Description: Greek and Roman tragedy and comedy in translation.
Prerequisites: Permission.
Description: Independent research leading to a thesis
Prerequisites: Permission.
Description: Independent research leading to a thesis.