CLAS 263 Words & Ideas In Their Original Language
This one-credit course, CLAS 263, open to students without experience in a language other than English, complements coursework in the interdisciplinary CLAS 262 course by adding study of a small amount of significant text in Latin and Greek. The instructor will guide students in the way the target language is structured, the meaning of vocabulary beyond simple dictionary equivalents, and the literary attributes of the passage(s). With some knowledge of the original text, students will study several translations and interpretations of the selected passages in order to understand how widely those readings can vary depending on historical context, literary and cultural assumptions, political purposes, translation choices and skill of the translator/interpreter. This course will cultivate students' reading knowledge in the target language and stress the importance of knowledge of original languages in studying texts not originally in English. Examples include language in Vergil's Aeneid on empire; gendered and sexual language in Roman or Greek poetry; New Testament passages; and foundational philosophical texts such as Plato's "Allegory of the Cave".