Course Description:
Without Facebook and Twitter, the ancients used their art to express their rage and impotence against the relentless forces of nature and unforgivable actions of man. This course explores how art and literature were used as safe criticism and as commentaries on their own times: Divorce through death (Philo), what makes a child legitimate (Ion), who would die for you (Alcestis), sex and dreams (Artemidorus), sex and yoga (Kama Sutra) groveling for forgiveness (consolations), what men say when women aren’t around (dinner parties in literature). There is, in addition, responses to the world around (natural history and natural disasters, advice on loving well, eating well, living long, open letters to rulers, and unsought and unwanted (and almost certainly unfollowed) advice to the coming generation.
Learning Outcomes:
First Year Seminar was designed in part to give advanced preparation in multiple types of research and communication of results. This class thus mixes written group research, short oral presentations at a high level of competency, and a major research paper, plus a in depth written essay question (mid-term)
Because class also introduces students to several important services that Carleton provides, the first semester will have several guest speakers, and one guest speaker in the second semester. As it is also anticipated that students may wish to submit their work to undergraduate conferences or publications (such as Carleton’s Corvus), time will be spent discussing the peer review process and how to prepare oral work for written publication.