Program Description | Requirements | Courses | Faculty
Contact the Director | Rutgers-Camden Homepage

Program Description

• Analysis:  By researching the history and cultures of antiquity, students will learn to draw conclusions from disparate sources of information.  They will learn about the problems of translation and interpretation when it comes to the written records of antique cultures and languages.  They will also learn how to weigh written records against other kinds of artifacts such as archaeological remains.

• Comparison:  By delving into multiple cultures, students will learn about the complexities and challenges that come with cultural difference.

• Debate:  One of the most valuable aspects of studying the ancient world is the insight it can give a modern student about the history of ideas.  With more knowledge about the distant past, students will understand where certain concepts originated and ultimately become more confident and effectve in debating issues that effect their own lives.
  

Requirements

In accordance with the University’s guidelines about minor fields of study, this minor will involve eighteen credits of coursework.  Below is the standard distribution of credits:

• Students are required to take World Masterpieces I.
• No more than six credits may count toward the minor from courses at the 100 level.
  
• While it is advisable for a student to take Latin 101 and Latin 102 as his or her 100-level credits, Latin is not required to satisfy the minor requirements, since Rutgers Camden does not always offer it.
  
• At least nine credits must correspond to courses at the 300 level or higher.
  

Courses

Arts and Sciences

English

50:350:313      Classical Backgrounds of English Literature.  Studies the influence on English and American           literature of classical Greek and Roman epic, tragedy, comedy, and other literary forms.

50:350:334      The Bible as Literature.  A study of the Bible, its literary variety, and historical and religious development.

50:350:374      Legends Past and Present.  Studies narratives of heroes, quests, supernatural occurrences, and other extraordinary activities of humans past and present.

50:350:380      Mythology.  Studies narratives of interaction between human and divine, as retold in literature and cultures including ancient Greek and Judeo-Christian.

50:615:386      Special Studies in Linguistics: Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Fine Arts

50:082:303      Art of the Ancient Near East.  Studies the art and architecture of Anatolia (modern Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iraq today), and Persia (Iran) from the rise of Neolithic cultures to the end of the Persian Empire.  Not offered since Spring 2003, but Chair has indicated that he has resources necessary to offer it and the following courses in his department in the future.

50:082:310      Art of Egypt.  Studies the art of ancient civilizations of the Nile River Valley from the Old Kingdom through the Ptolemaic periods.

50:082:311      Roman Art. Studies the art of the Roman Republic and Empire from the Etruscan background through the reign of Constantine; emphasis on the city of Rome.

50:082:342      Greek Art.  Studies the art of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period.  Focus is on the art of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. – the golden age of Greece.

Foreign Languages

50:490:101      Greek 101.

50:490:102      Greek 102.

50:580:101      Latin 101.

50:580:102      Latin 102.

History

50:510:101      Western Civilization I.  Gives a broad view of the society we live in and the ideals we live by, starting with the ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome and continuing through the “divine right” monarchies and the revolutions of the 17^th century.

50:516:301      Ancient Near East.  Studies the civilizations that developed in Egypt and Mesopotamia from the beginnings of history (ca. 3000 B.C.) to their disappearance under the Greeks and Romans.

50:516:302      Ancient Israel.  Covers the founding of the Davidic kingdom (ca. 1000B.C.) and the building of the First Temple by Solomon to the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans (70A.D.).

50:510:303      Athens: the Golden Age.  Studies the most famous Greek city-state, its political development as well as its artistic accomplishments, during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.

50:510:304      Rome, the First Caesars.  Studies the transformation of the Roman republic under its most famous leaders (Caesar, Cicero, Pompey, Marc Antony, and others) into the empire under Augustus and the Julio-Claudian line (Caligula and Nero among others).

50:510:305      Fall of Rome.  Studies the disappearance of the Roman empire during the third, fourth, and fifth centuries A.D. as barbarian invaders conquered the West.

Philosophy and Religion

50:730:211      History of Philosophy I.  Studies the beginnings and early developments of Western philosophy.  Readings selected from among the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Occam.  Topics may include the nature of argument, political loyalty and political dissent, justice, normative ethics, causality, and the existence of God.

50:730:305 Ancient Philosophy. A study of major philosophers in the ancient world.

50:840:110      Introduction to the Bible.  Historical and literary exploration of portions of the Tanach (Old Testament) and New Testament that have had the most lasting influence on Western culture.  Focus on the meaning of key terms like covenant and evil, biblical authorship, and different ways the text may be interpreted today.

50:840:212      Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  Studies the historical development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the earliest roots in the myths and rituals of the ancient world to their modern forms.  The interaction between each tradition and the cultural context in which it emerges and develops.  The popular expression of each religion’s beliefs in its holidays, rituals, and legends.

50:840:330      Women and Religion.  An examination of the image of women and the feminine in the myths, symbols, and theology of major religious traditions.  Consideration is given to the status and role of women in relation to the issues of religious practice, participation in rituals, and ordination.  While this course deals only minimally with Greek and Roman material, it does include an extensive study of the Bible and pre-biblical material.

50:350:331      Evil.  A comparative analysis of the concept of evil in various traditions and its relation to notions of freedom, will, tragedy, power, gender, and the divine.  Texts studied include the Bible, Sophocles’s Antigone, St. Augustine’s Confessions and Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem.

Political Science

50:790:371      Classical Political Theory.  Studies the leading figures of Western political theory from Plato to Machiavelli.

Faculty

• Kenneth Banner, Philosophy and Religion (Jews, Christians, and Muslims)
• J.T. Barbarese, English (World Masterpieces)
• Betsy Bowden, English (Legends Past and Present, Mythology, World Masterpieces)
• Clifford William Brown, Philosophy and Religion (History of Philosophy I)
• Stephanie Budin, Foreign Languages (Latin and Greek))
• Stuart Charmé, Philosophy and Religion (Women and Religion)
• Shanyn Fiske, English (Classical Backgrounds to Literature, World Masterpieces)
• Christopher Fitter, English (World Masterpieces, Bible as Literature)
• Ana Gomez Laguna, Foreign Languages (World Masterpieces)
• Rafey Habib, English (World Masterpieces)
• Timothy Martin, English (World Masterpieces)
• Susan Jones, Fine Arts (all Ancient Art courses)
• James Rushing, Foreign Languages (World Masterpieces)
• Alan Tarr, Political Science (Classical Political Theory)
• Gabor Toth, Mathematics (Egyptian Hieroglyphics)
• Gerald Verbrugghe, History (Western Civilization I, Ancient Civilization courses in history)
• John Wall, Philosophy and Religion (Introduction to the Bible, Evil)
  

Contact the Program Director