Ancient Studies Courses 2023/2024
Note: This is a list of course offerings for 2023/24 and is subject to budgetary approval and changes. Please check back on a regular basis for updates. For the most up-to-date information about courses, including classroom locations, check LORIS Browse Classes.
To make course registration easier, we have provided you with the course registration numbers (CRNs). You won’t have to search for each course one-by-one, which will save you a fair bit of time.
- Enter the CRN number of each course you wish to enrol in, in the boxes along the bottom of the course registration screen in LORIS.
First-Year Courses
- CRN: 4015
- Time: T 5:30-7:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. D. Lipovitch
This introductory world history course surveys a selection of ancient civilizations of Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas prior to European cultural and economic ascendancy. Among these civilizations are Han dynasty China, Classical Greece, the Roman Empire, and the early Indus valley cultures. This course looks at political and historical events and how they shaped culture, slavery, warfare, trade and commerce. Among topics that may be covered are Mexica (Aztec) human sacrifice, Chinese Terracotta warriors, the lost libraries of Timbuktu, Egyptian Pharaoh's death tombs, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and Ancient Greek cross-dressing.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4016
- Time: W 3:00-3:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4017
- Time: W 4:00-4:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4018
- Time: R 4:00-4:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 4019
- Time: R 5:00-5:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 5
- CRN: 4020
- Time: R 6:00-6:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 6
- CRN: 4021
- Time: R 7:00-7:50 p.m.
Second-Year Courses
- CRN: 1584
- Time: TR 2:30-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Kristin Lord
A survey of Greek history from the rise of the city-state to the empire of Alexander with emphasis upon the evolution of Athenian democracy and upon movements toward unification of the Greek cities. (Cross-listed with AR225)
- CRN: 1384
- Time: MW 10:00-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Scott Gallimore
A survey of the development of Rome from its founding to the later Roman Empire. The emphasis is upon the unification of Italy, the growth of political institutions and the expansion of the Empire. (Cross-listed with AR226)
- CRN: 3594
- Time: MW 8:30-9:20 am
- Instructor: Dr. K. Feuerherm
There's more to Egypt than mummies and pyramids. Egypt can also be seen as a cradle of civilization. This course will provide an introduction to the rich and fascinating civilization of Ancient Egypt. Topics to be addressed may include Egyptian religious beliefs, developments in medicine and mathematics, social relations, burial practices, and warfare.
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- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3607
- Time: F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3608
- Time: F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 3609
- Time: F 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3610
- Time: MW 11:30-12:50 pm
- Instructor: Dr. J. Fletcher
This course explores the enormous variety of religious beliefs and practices that existed in the Ancient World. Magic was seen as a credible way to achieve medical, personal and political goals, and this course will also explore the uses of magic and mythology in such places as Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ancient India.
- CRN: 4314
- Time: TR 1:00-2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
This course explores how the ancient Greeks and Romans treated crimes such as homicide, assault, theft, adultery and perjury. Students explore the historical development of legal systems and penal procedures, the phenomenon of popular (informal) justice, ancient ideas about the causes and nature of criminality and the representation of crime in drama and literature.
- CRN: 4316
- Time: TR 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. K. Feuerherm
Over the course of only a few millennia, the cultures of the Near East witnessed significant developments which successively transformed prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies into small states and ultimately into the vast Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires among others. This course will seek to uncover the underlying factors and catalysts which prompted these developments and trace the evolution of culture in the region with a focus on significant innovations such as agriculture and the first invention of writing one hand and social and religious perspectives on the other.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4317
- Time: F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4318
- Time: F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
Third-Year Courses
- CRN: 4329
- Time: TR 5:30-6:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. J. Fletcher
Examines the sexual identities of men and women in Ancient Greek and Roman societies, and attitudes towards perceived anomalies including the figures of the hermaphrodite and eunuch. Primary sources include artistic representations, poetry and drama.
- CRN: 3627
- Time: TR 10:00-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
A survey of historical beliefs in the afterlife, covering the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman world, and Medieval societies. Topics may include the geography of the underworld, Mystery cults, Heaven and Hell, literary and artistic representations of the kingdom of the dead, ghosts, revenants, and reincarnation.
Fourth-Year Courses
- CRN: 1723
- Time: M 1:00-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. K. Feuerherm
This seminar will examine the foundations of selected ancient societies across the globe. On a case-by-case basis, we will discuss such things as foundational beliefs, social structure and institutions, and value systems.
- CRN: 1429
- Time: M 1:00-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. K. Feuerherm
- Prerequisite: HI448 (offered fall 2023)
This seminar will examine the foundations of selected ancient societies across the globe. On a case-by-case basis, we will discuss such things as foundational beliefs, social structure and institutions, and value systems.
- CRN (fall): 1255
- CRN (winter): 1753
Directed study and research on a topic appropriate to the student’s specialization and chosen in consultation with the faculty supervisor. Students in the single honours History BA program who receive departmental permission to take this course must also take two 400-level seminars (either two readings seminars or one readings seminar and one research seminar). Students in the combined honours History BA program must also take a 400-level readings seminar.