Course Description
The cultural legacy of Classical Antiquity in the Americas and its impact, historic and contemporary, on African Americans, the Latina/Latino community, women, ethnic minorities, and other minority groups. Examination of how this legacy continues to shape contemporary perceptions and communication, personal and in public media, of cultural diversity issues facing racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and social class groups in the Americas.
Athena Title
Intro to Classical Americas
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will examine the cultural legacy of ancient Greece and Rome on multicultural America, in particular its effect on African Americans, Latina/Latino communities, and other ethnic, religious, social class, and gender minority groups. Unit topics explore the role played by the reception of Classical texts and art in the founding of the Americas and the establishment of laws that included the institutionalization of race-based slavery and ethnic and gender discrimination. The effects of this adoption of ancient social models extend beyond Abolition and Women's suffrage that persist today. Graduates of this course will develop an awareness of how historical events and long-standing customs relating to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and class have influenced contemporary political, social, and economic issues of society and how they shape media portrayals, personal perceptions, and interactions with others. This course will also prepare students for more advanced CLAS seminars on Classical antiquity and its legacy at the 4000 level that focus on race, ethnicity, sex, and gender.
Topical Outline
1. The Reception of a "Classical" Identity: Athenian Democracy and Republican and Imperial Rome 2. Old World, New Lands: Encountering the "other" in the Americas 3. Colonialism: Exporting Classical Europe to the Americas 4. Founding the Republic: Classical roots of American Democracy 5. Classicism and the African American Experience 6. Antebellum South: Framing Slavery in Neoclassicism 7. Abolition of Slavery Arguments: Classical debates 8. Women's Suffrage: Inverting Classical models of the ideal woman 9. Jim Crow: Contemporary Legacy of America's history of Classical foundations 10. Immigrants' encounters with America's Classical legacy 11. Portrayals of minorities in media and pop culture representations of Classical antiquity 12. "Whose America?" Contemporary issues facing minority communities in America
General Education Core
CORE V: Social SciencesInstitutional Competencies
Critical ThinkingThe ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
Syllabus