VHS Catalog 12-13


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Course Title:
The Glory of Ancient Rome Section JK
Course Code:
jeglanro
MA NCES Code:
04303
Discipline:
Social Studies
Grade Level:
11, 12
Level:
Honors
Offering:
Repeated Semester (Fall: 25 Seats; Spring: 25 Seats; )
Duration:
15 weeks
Prerequisites:
A background in World History and strong writing skills
Additional Requirements:
Accredited by:
Certified by NCAA for initial-eligibility (VHS School Code: 221356); Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools; Northwest Accreditation Commission
Course Requires a Media Kit to be Shipped to Students:
No
Course Requires a Media Kit to be Purchased by Course Sponsor
(see additional details below):

No
Description:
Come explore the “Eternal City” –Rome—which rose from a small village in central Italy to become mistress of one of the largest and longest lasting empires in all of history. Stretching from England to Syria, the Roman Empire persisted for centuries and laid the foundation for all of the rest of Western history. We will examine in detail some of the major accomplishments of ancient Roman art and literature and investigate how this society was able to create and maintain its amazingly durable cultural institutions.

This honors-level course covers the equivalent of an undergraduate Classics survey class. In it we will read (in translation!) selections from original Latin texts, take (virtual!) tours of Rome and of some of the other major archaeological monuments of the Roman Empire, and engage in active online discussions and group work as we reflect on what we read and see.

CAVEAT: This class will address fundamental issues of the human condition, including human sexuality, so a mature attitude is a sine qua non. Moreover, given the large amount of online surfing this course entails, a fast DSL-computer connection would be very helpful.


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MediaKit Contents:

Syllabus:
Introduction
Week 1: Introduction to Course
Italy and the Mediterranean
Assessment:
Create Home Page
Discussion Forum posting

Unit I: The Rise of Roman Imperialism
Essential Questions:
How does one use a historical document?
How do politics and art interact?
What is the nature of a hero?
What is imperialism?

Week 2: Introduction to Ancient Rome
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Introduction”
“The Chronology of the Romans”
“Introduction to Virgil’s Aeneid”
Examine the differences between primary and secondary sources (Inscriptions and Livy)
Read Book I of the Aeneid
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: How to use primary sources
Discussion Forum: What kind of hero is this anyway?

Week 3: From Village to City
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Survey of Italian Prehistory”
“The Foundation of Rome”
“Etruscan Rome”
Explore Etruscan sites
Read Book II of the Aeneid
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Mysterious Etruscans
Discussion Forum: The hero at the fall of Troy

Week 4: Rome the Master of Mare nostrum
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“The Roman Republic"
“The Conquest of Italy”
“The Punic Wars”
Explore Carthage and Corinth
Read Book III of the Aeneid
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Texts and Archaeology: Carthage and Corinth
Discussion Forum: The Voyage of the Hero

Week 5: The Crisis of the Republic
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“From Marius to Sulla”
“Captured Greece Captures Rome”
Read Selections from Polybius
Read Book IV of the Aeneid
Choose Peer Review Team for First Paper (Art in an Imperial World)
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Why did the Republic fail?
Discussion Forum: Dido and Aeneas
Choose Peer Review Team

Week 6: From Republic to Empire
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Cicero and Caesar”
“Octavian to Augustus”
“The Ara Pacis and Imperial Art”
Read Selections from Works of Cicero and Caesar
Read Book VI of the Aeneid
Write Outline and Draft of First Paper, on Art in an Imperial World
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Why Students Hate The Gallic Wars
Discussion Forum: Aeneas in the Underworld
Outline and Draft of First Paper

Week 7: The pax romana
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“The Julio-Claudians”
“The Crisis of 69 A.D.”
“From Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius”
Read Selections from Tacitus
Submit Final Draft of First Paper, on Art in an Imperial World
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Is imperialism dead?
Final Draft of First Paper

Unit II: Urbanitas
Essential Question: What does it mean to be urbane?
How should one live one’s life in a global world?

Week 8:The Urban Poet
Read Encyclopedia Entry:
“Poets of the Golden Age"
Read Selections from Catullus, Horace, and Ovid
Take a virtual tour via VROMA of the Roman Forum
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: The Forum Romanum
Discussion Forum: Amo et odi: write your own love poem

Week 9: The Stoic World-View
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Stoicism and Roman Philosophy”
“Roman Religion”
Read Selections from Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius
Take a virtual tour via VROMA of the temples of Rome
Submit draft of short paper on “The Good Life”
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Sacred Rome
Draft of short paper

Week 10: Pan et Circuses
Read Encyclopedia Entry:
“Theater, Amphitheater, and Circus”
Take a virtual tour via VROMA of the Coliseum and Circus Maximus
Submit final draft of short paper on “The Good Life”
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: What would the Romans think about the Super Bowl?
Final draft of short paper

Unit III: Acculturation
Essential Questions: How do cultures interact?
How did life in the Roman world differ from modern life?
What is the legacy of the Roman world?

Week 11: Roman Boundaries
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Acculturation in the Roman World”
“The Roman Frontier”
Explore Roman sites
Form teams for power-point presentation on Roman daily life
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Roman sites
Discussion Forum: How do cultures interact?
Form power-point teams

Week 12: The World of Vesuvius
-Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Pompeii and Herculaneum”
“Romans at Work and Play”
Read selection from Pliny the Younger and Petronius
Write team outline of power-point presentation on Roman daily life
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Why I would/would not like to live in ancient Rome
Power-point outline

Week 13: The Roman Economy
Read Encyclopedia Entry:
“The Roman Economy”
Examine archaeological evidence of the Roman economy
Write team draft of power-point presentation on Roman daily life
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Garbage archaeology
Draft of Power-point

Week 14: The Late Roman World
Read Encyclopedia Entries:
"From Septimius to Constantine”
“The ‘Triumph’ of Christianity”
Explore early Christian documents and monuments
Write team final draft of power-point presentation on Roman daily life
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: Religion and the State
Final draft of Power-point

Week 15: The Legacy of Rome
-Read Encyclopedia Entries:
“Rome in the Medieval and Renaissance Worlds”
“Rome in the Modern World”
Catalogue how the Roman world effects you
Write Graduation Speech and evaluate course
Assessments:
Encyclopedia Quiz
Discussion Forum: The Roman World and Me
Graduation speech and submission of anonymous evaluation


Course Objectives:




This catalog description was last modified on 05/23/2012


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