History 115

History of the Greek World (c. 1500-200 BCE)

Gary Reger -- History Department

Class Meets 10.00-10.50 am MWF in Seabury S-205

Books Available for Purchase in the Mather Bookstore

    D. Brendan Nagle and Stanley M. Burstein (eds.), Readings in Greek History. Sources and Interpretations. New York-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Listed in syllabus as "Nagle-Burstein".

    Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, Ancient Greece. A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Listed in syllabus as "Pomeroy".

    Additional readings posted on the course Blackboard (marked below as BB).

Assignments

    Reading. You must do all the reading assigned before the class and come ready to discuss. Our classes will assume you have done the reading and will be conducted not as lectures but as discussions. If you have not read the reading you will not be able to follow the class.

    Participation. Participation is absolutely crucial to the success of this class. Everyone is expected to have read all readings for class meetings beforehand and to come prepared to discuss them. Frequent and substantive participation is expected of every student.

    Who Are These People? Texts don't write themselves -- they are written by people just like you and me. So who are Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, D. Brendan Nagle, Sarah B. Pomeroy, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts? Find out where they teach and make a list of the books they have written and at least one scholarly article. Can you make any guesses from this information about their interests as historians? Write this all up and turn in on January 26 (M) by 4 pm.

    Questions. For every class, you will come with a question related to the reading. Students will be asked to read their question and explain briefly why they asked it and what they think the answer might be. These questions will serve as basis for discussion.

    Blackboard Discussion. You must post your questions on Blackboard in the "Discussion" section under the thread for that week (as applicable). Everyone need to respond with a comment or further question to at least one such posting.

    Presentations. Everyone will do a 5-7 minute oral presentation the week of February 23-27 related to the research paper

    Paper. Across the semester you will research, revise, and write a 10-12 page paper on a topic assigned to you. Full information about this assignment appears in the "Assignments" section of the Blackboard site for the course, and we will devote the periods of January 28 and April 15 to discussion of the papers. Note also the Blackboard forum for discussing the papers.

    Mid-Term Exams. There will be two (2) in-class mid-term exams on March 13 and April 6.

    The final exam for the course will be the final research paper, due May 8 by noon (the regular time for an in-class final).

Assessment and Grading

Daily question must be brought to class and posted as appropriate on Blackboard. Responses to questions on Blackboard are to be posted on Blackboard. Written work must be turned in as a Word attachment to an email to my Trinity address. Oral presentations must be done in the slot to which you are assigned; no make-up times are possible.

Weights for each assignment will be indicated by a total possible number of points that can be awarded for that assignment. At the end of the semester, I will add up points and determine letter grades. The point breakdown for each assignment will be posted in the "Assignments" section of Blackboard.

Schedule of Class Meetings and Assignments

January 21 (W) -- First Class & Introduction

January 23 (F) -- The Setting: A Mediterranean View

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. xxviii-xxix, 1-4

January 26 (M) -- World of Bronze Age Greece

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp.11-50; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 2-5

January 28 (W) -- Discussion about research paper

January 30 (F) -- Looking for the Dark Age

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 51-84; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 10-20

February 2 (M) -- Coming into the Archaic World

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 84-99, 111-116; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 10-14

    First Assignment for Research Paper Due Today by 4 pm

February 4 (W) -- Colonization

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 99-104, 106-109; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 21-27

February 6 (F) -- Aristocracy

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 102-106, 116-123, 133-138, 141-150; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 44-55

February 9 (M) -- Tyranny

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 123-126; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 55-63

February 11 (W) -- "From Palace to Polis": The Economic Transition from Bronze Age to Dark Age.

    Reading: BB.

February 13 (F) -- February 20 (F): I am out of town for these four class meetings. Note please carefully the assignments for these missed meetings:

    Feb 13 (F) -- Using library resources for research in history: Meeting with Katy Hart, Reference Librarian

    Feb 16 (M) -- Feb 20 (F) -- Use this week to prepare for the presentations due next week and for writing your paper connected with your presentation.

February 20 (F) -- Second Assignment for Research Paper Due Today by 4 pm

February 23 (M) -- Presentation 1 (regular class time) & Presentation 2 (7-8 pm, Seabury S-205)

February 25 (W)  -- Presentation 3 (regular class time) & Presentation 2 (7-8 pm, Seabury S-205)

February 27 (F) -- No class: Trinity Days

March 2 (M) -- Emergence of the Polis: Sparta in the Sixth Century BCE

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 150-179; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 33-40

March 4 (W) -- Emergence of the Polis: Athens in the Sixth Century BCE

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 180-200; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 63-66

March 6 (F): No class -- I am out of town for this class meeting.

March 9 (M) -- The Empire of the Persians

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 201-203; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 69-73

March 11 (W) -- The Persian Wars

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp.204-224; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 73-97

March 13 (F) -- First Mid-Term Exam

March 16-20: Spring Break, No Class

March 23 (M) -- Athens -- Empire Abroad

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 225-237; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 147-168

March 25 (W) -- Athens -- Democracy at Home

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 237-242; BB (Ps.-Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians)

March 27 (F) -- Peloponnesian War

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 272-284, 288-290, 316-360; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 168-179, 138-141

March 30 (M)  -- Did the Economy of Athens Collapse after the Peloponnesian War? Reading: BB with Nagle-Burstein, pp. 179-182, and Pomeroy, pp. 266-270

April 1 (W) -- The Social World of the Polis -- The Status and Roles of Women

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 253-266; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 101-117, 123-131

April 3 (F) -- The Social World of the Polis -- Slaves and Slavery

    Reading: Nagle-Burstein, pp. 117-122; BB ("Life of Aesop")

April 6 (M) -- Second Mid-term Exam

April 8 (W) -- An Aegean World Economy?

    Reading: BB with Pomeroy, pp. 382-387

April 10 (F) -- Half-Century of Chaos

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 361-382; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 210-229

April 13 (M) -- Rise of Makedon

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 404-428; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 238-246

April 15 (W) -- Style and Writing History

April 17 (F) -- Alexander and the Persian Empire

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp.429-461; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 246-266

April 20 (M) -- A New World of Kings

    Reading: Pomeroy, pp. 462-476, 482-503; Nagle-Burstein, pp. 268-272, 291-293; BB (inscriptions)

April 22 (W) -- I am out of town for this class meeting

April 24 (F) -- I am out of town for this class meeting

April 27 (M) --  A Policy of State Economic Development in Ptolemaic Egypt?

    Reading: BB with Nagle-Burstein, pp. 272-278

April 29 (W) -- Last Day of Class

May 7 (Th) -- Final Paper Due