BASC61211 - Alumni Sequence: The Romans II

Course Description

Corrupt politicians, scandalous celebrities, aggressive foreign policy, upheavals in cultural ideas about sexuality and marriage, income inequality, immigration problems, concerns about the constitution and the justice system—sound familiar? Roman texts are a crucial part of Western civilization, but they are particularly important for Americans to read. From the influence on the founding fathers to the comparisons between the Roman Empire and modern America, the Roman Alumni Sequence will explore these issues by pairing the literature, philosophy, and history of ancient Rome with other classic texts.

Course Outline

Epictetus, Discourses and Selected Writings, Penguin, ISBN 978-0140449464  Note: this edition was updated Sep.10

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Modern Library, ISBN 978-0812968255

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195283808

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Dell, ISBN 978-0440180296

Edward Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 1, Penguin Classics, ISBN 978-0140433937

Notes

Taking a Graham School Remote Course: You will receive an invitation to join Canvas about a week before the course begins. Please accept the invitation and create a log-in for Canvas using your email as the user name and create a password. Then go to the Dashboard and click on your course. Next click on Zoom Professional Education and you will see the link to "Join" your classroom. Canvas houses the course information including the course syllabus, announcements, and discussions. You will not be able to participate in your online class unless you accept the Canvas invitation and set up your account.

For help visit, https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/academic-programs/online/learning-resources/liberal-arts to find step by step instructions and to sign up for a Student Training Session.