Class Website: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~bkharvey/roman/

Texts:

* Roman Life: 100 BC to AD 200, J. Clarke

* Roman Lives: Ancient Life from Inscriptions, B. Harvey

* Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a day, P. Matyszak

* The Golden Ass by Apuleius (E.J. Kenney, translator, but any unabridged version will be fine)

All books are available in the university bookstores.

Additional required readings will be posted on the website and/or distributed in class.

Office Hours:

308B Satterfield Hall (3rd Floor Satterfield) Office Phone: 672-1804

E-Mail: bkharvey@kent.edu

Office Hours: T 8:00-12:00 am; W 3:00-4:00 pm; TR 3:30-4:00 pm

Additional hours, if needed, can be arranged by appointment.

I also have a mailbox in the Modern and Classical Languages Departmental office in 109 Satterfield. You may leave a message in the departmental office, phone 672-2150.

Course Prerequisites: this course has no prerequisites and does not assume any previous knowledge of the ancient Roman world.

Information on Student Registration and Withdrawal: The official registration deadline for this course is September 12^th. University policy requires all students to be officially registered in each class they are attending. Students who are not officially registered for a course by published deadlines should not be attending classes and will not receive credit or a grade for the course. Each student must confirm enrollment by checking his/her class schedule (using Student Tools in FlashLine) prior to the deadline indicated. Registration errors must be corrected prior to the deadline. The last day to withdraw without a grade of W is also September 12^th.

Course Objectives: This course is an introduction to the ancient Roman world. Throughout the semester, students will learn about life in an ancient culture from a variety of perspectives: aristocrats, women, slaves, freedmen, foreigners, laborers from the lower classes, and amphitheatrical entertainers. We will be using a variety of primary sources from the ancient world: literary texts, inscriptions, archaeology, and architecture.

LER and Diversity Requirement Fulfillment: This course may be used to satisfy a Liberal Education Requirement (LER). LERs as a whole are intended to broaden intellectual perspectives, foster ethical and humanitarian values, and prepare students for responsible citizenship and productive careers. This course may also be used to satisfy the University Diversity requirement. Diversity courses provide opportunities for students to learn about such matters as the history, culture, values and notable achievements of people other than those of their own national origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, physical and mental ability, and social class. Diversity courses also provide opportunities to examine problems and issues that may arise from differences, and opportunities to learn how to deal constructively with them.

Grading System:

In-Class Quizzes............................. 20%

Written Assignments...................... 20%

3 Unit Examinations....................... 30% (10% each)

Final Games Project........................ 30%

Unit Examination Due Dates:

Exam 1: Distributed: Thursday, September 23^rd; Due: Thursday, September 30^th

Exam 2: Distributed: Thursday, October 21^st; Due: Thursday, October 28^th

Exam 3: Distributed: Tuesday, November 30^th; Due: Tuesday, December 7^th

Final Exam Meeting Time: Monday, December 13^th, 12:45-3:00 pm

Unit Examinations: Unit examinations will be take-home exercises that test the student’s understanding of the material from the most recently completed section of the course. These examinations will include some primary source analysis and a short written exercise. Also included in the grade will be completion of goals associated with the final project for the course. You will have a week to complete these unit examinations. You may use your books and notes to complete these examinations. The final exam meeting will be devoted to submission of the final projects and presentations. There will not be a traditional final examination.

Class Attendance: Attendance is not a graded portion of this class, but it is expected that students attend every class. We will be covering material in class that will be necessary to successfully complete the assignments and unit examinations. Attendance is required in order to qualify to take the daily quizzes. Attendance will also play a role in the online elements of the role-playing as you work on your final project. In the case that serious illness, family emergency or official university activities prevents a student from attending class, students must contact the instructor before the time of class in order to qualify for an excused absence and a makeup quiz. In most cases, an absence will require documentation in order to qualify as an excused absence. If a student is unable to regularly attend class, it is recommended that they not take this class. Attendance will be determined for each class by a student’s participation in all in-class exercises for that class (quizzes, reflection essays, and Clicker polls and tasks). In order be marked present for the class, you must remain for the entire class. Leaving class early is unacceptable. All required written assignments must be submitted on the day in which they are due. Late assignments and exams will receive a 10% per day deduction.

Quizzes: There will be daily quizzes given in class. These quizzes will be based on the reading for each class as well as material covered in previous classes. Quizzes will generally be given at the beginning of class. Quizzes will be done with a combination of Clicker questions and written essays/responses. On most days, a short written reflection essay at the end of the class will also be incorporated into the daily quiz grade. These reflection essays will be paragraph discussions of the material just covered in class and how it relates to the course as a whole. Leaving class early without a valid excuse and permission from the instructor will invalidate any quizzes done that day.

Clickers: This course will make extensive use of the Clickers. If you have not already purchased a Clicker for other classes, you must purchase a Clicker at the bookstore or online. We will use these Clickers for the bulk of the daily quiz as well as various tasks associated with the daily lecture.

Written Assignments: There will be a number of required written assignments in addition to the unit examinations. These will range from short reflection papers to short inscriptions or illustrations/drawings/plans. In some cases, you will be required to submit these assignments electronically.

Apuleius Readings: Over the course of the semester, we will be reading an ancient novel entitled The Golden Ass by Apuleius (about one chapter a week). Apuleius was a Roman from North Africa who lived in the 2^nd century AD. The Golden Ass is one of the few novels to be preserved complete from the ancient world. It is not only a wonderful illustration of life in the ancient Roman Empire, but also a fun story. Students are welcome to read ahead, but be sure not to fall behind. Generally the quizzes on Thursdays will include material from the Apuleius reading due that week.

Grading Scale:

Website: There is a website for this course. In addition to some basic information for the semester, the website has information relevant to the role-playing elements of the class, most importantly have historical information detailing activity from previous semesters.

Role-Playing Element: In order to gain a more active knowledge of the ancient world, this course includes a role-playing element. This part of the course will include some of the assignments but will be the focus of the final project and the work you do throughout the semester toward that project. Students will perform the role-playing tasks within the context of families (i.e. groups) of two to four people. Grading of all work done in groups will be done according to the number of people in the group. For example, groups of four will be expected to do more than groups of two or three. During the early part of the semester, students will form into groups and choose a family name. These families are based on families that were used in previous semesters (you will be role-playing as the children of the characters from last semester and the grandchildren of the characters from the first time the class was taught in this way). The course website records the family histories, statues and inscriptions of previous generations. Your goal should be to perform actions that will make your role-played characters noteworthy in the history of the town of Ostia.

Final Project: The major focus of the role playing element will be the creation of an imaginary set of gladiatorial games (a munus) in the amphitheater. This will be a semester-long project and will be done within the family groups. I will give more details on this as the semester progresses. There are three major aspects of this project:

· Accumulate imaginary currency through trade endeavors as well as in-class activities (attendance and scores on quizzes, assignments and unit examinations). This part of the project will begin a few weeks after the semester begins

· Purchase entertainers and assets for those games. This will include gladiators, animals for the morning hunts, and criminals to execute

· Design your games by creating events and allocating your entertainers to those events. You will summarize your games in a PowerPoint presentation which you will then describe either in a written paper or an in-class presentation delivered before the class at the final exam meeting.

All of these tasks will be done through a special website. This website will also include your recent quiz/assignment/exam scores as well as your current grade. The final exam meeting will be a time to showcase people’s games through presentations and discussion of the methods and approaches people took. We will also discuss how these games reflected the ancient Roman world. All students are required to be present for the final exam meeting. Failure to attend the final exam meeting will result in an automatic failure of the course.

Audio and Video Recorders: Please do not record lectures without my permission.

Cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms: It is extremely distracting when electronic devices go off during class, so please make sure that these items are turned OFF.

Talking during class: Students are encouraged to participate and ask and answer questions during class. However, it is very distracting to the instructor, and especially to students seated near a student, when that student talks or whispers while the instructor or another student is speaking to the class. If you have a comment or question, please share it with the whole class by raising your hand and requesting permission to speak. Otherwise, please remain silent during class if it is not your turn to speak. Of course, talking and whispering are never acceptable during a quiz.

University policy 3342-3-01.8 deals with the problem of academic dishonesty, cheating, and

plagiarism. None of these will be tolerated in this class. The sanctions provided in this policy

will be used to deal with any violations. If you have any questions, please read the policy at http://www.kent.edu/policyreg/chap3/3-01-8.cfm and/or ask.

University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

STATEMENT ON RESPECTFUL STUDENT CONDUCT

The Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies follows University regulations regarding student behavior in the classroom. It is expected that each student will be respectful to the instructor as well as to fellow classmates. Use of profanity, rudeness toward fellow students or the instructor, angry outbursts, refusal to participate in classroom activities, repeated tardiness, and leaving the classroom prior to class dismissal are just some examples of disruptive behavior. The instructor will ask the disruptive student to cease and desist and will inform the student of possible suspension and/or dismissal from the class. Guidelines pertaining to class disruptions are outlined in detail in the University Digest of Rules and Regulations.

Schedule of Topics and Readings (Schedule Subject to Change)

Readings given for each day are due at the beginning of class and knowledge of the assigned reading will be tested on the daily quiz.

· Matyszak, p. 63-70; http://www.ostia-antica.org/: Ostia – A Mediterranean Port; Clarke, p. 58-64 (portion of Chapter 2)

· Ancient Lives, p. 127-136 (Inscriptions of Women); Clarke, p. 65-66 (portion of Chapter 2)

· Handouts with Juvenal’s 6^th Satire and the Poems of Sulpicia; Apuleius Book 3

· Matyszak, p. 58-59; Ancient Lives, p. 83-114 (inscriptions of slaves and the imperial household); Apuleius Book 5

· Clarke, p. 104-113 (chapter 6), 114-131 (Chapter 7); Matyszak, p. 39-46; Ancient Lives, p. 169-184 (inscriptions involving occupations); Apuleius Book 9 (quiz on Nov. 16^th)

· Clarke, p. 12-45 (Chapter 1); Matyszak, p. 96-114; Ancient Lives, p. 43-52 (inscriptions dealing with religion)

· Matyszak, p. 71-79; Clarke, p. 68-75 (Chapter 3); Ancient Lives, p. 53-82 (inscriptions dealing with the military); Apuleius Book 10

· Matyszak, p. 87-95; Ancient Lives, p. 160-168 (the Theater; the Circus); Handout with the Diocles Inscription

· Matyszak, p. 80-87 (Gladiators); Ancient Lives, p. 146-160 (the Amphitheater); Apuleius Book 11

· Handout with the letter of Pliny the Younger on the Christians; Handouts with selections of the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas

Classics 21405, Fall, 2010	TR 2:15-3:30 pm
The Roman Achievement	214 Oscar Ritchie Hall
Department of Modern and Classical Languages	Prof. Brian Harvey, Instructor

Syllabus

Class Website: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~bkharvey/roman/

STATEMENT ON RESPECTFUL STUDENT CONDUCT

Schedule of Topics and Readings (Schedule Subject to Change)