History Course Offerings:
For detailed course
descriptions, click on the course title.
Instructor: Prof. Tracey-Anne Cooper,
Ph.D.
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of the
period will be necessary for students to fully enjoy and benefit
from experientially studying Roman history in Rome.
What to
Expect: Though visits to historical
sites and museums form the lynchpin of these classes, both courses
seek also to look beyond Rome – the city, the state, the empire and
the fall of empire - to a broader set of historical and cultural
influences.
How will these courses count
towards my degree?
- History Majors
HIS 2002: European Elective or General History
Elective
HIS 2005: Non- Western Elective or General History Elective
- History Minors
HIS 2002 & HIS 2005: General History Elective
- Non- History Students: Students with an
interest in Ancient and Medieval history are also encouraged to
apply. To determine how these courses will be applied to your
specific academic requirements, we recommend speaking with your
academic advisor.
Additional Course Offerings
In addition to enrolling in the two history
courses, students can also supplement their schedule by registering
for general core and Italian language courses under the approval of
their academic advisor. For a list of additional courses being
offered on the Discover Italy program, click here.
Detailed Course
Descriptions:
-
HIS 2002: Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations
HIS 2002 will focus first on the influences that inform
early Roman history, including the Greeks and the Etruscans, before
examining the political and economic strengths of the Roman
Republic, and then its transition into an Empire which spread to
encompass areas that today we would call Europe, Turkey, the Middle
East and North Africa. One of the strengths of the polyglot Roman
Empire was that it was culturally fluid. While the different
provinces had adopted some Roman standards in governance, law,
education, art and architecture, for the most part these could be
amalgamated with local customs, religions and styles. Just as much
as the Romans brought their culture to the Empire, they brought
parts of the Empire’s culture back to Rome, most significantly in
terms of the history of the world. This included Christianity.
During the imperial period, Roman territory encompassed the moors
of Northern Britain to the deserts of the Sahara, and the
cosmopolitan city of Rome was both conduit and nucleus. This course
will enhance the student’s experience of studying in Rome and their
understanding of the city as a crucial global nexus both in the
past and the present.
-
HIS 2005: After Rome: Latin Christendom, Byzantium and Islam to
800
HIS 2005 class examines what happened after the “fall” of
the Roman Empire in the West, which eventually entailed the
development of three separate but related cultures that inherited
the Roman past: Latin Christendom, Byzantium and Islam. Germanic
barbarian invasions ended Roman imperial rule in the west, but
those new migrants and the existing majority Roman population
eventually blended the German, Roman and Christian influences into
something new. Transformation came more slowly to the Eastern
Empire, and certainly the people of the empire we call Byzantium,
centered on the Christian capital of Constantinople (Istanbul),
always called themselves Romans. The Eastern Empire was still huge,
and briefly under Justinian a bid was made to convene the whole
empire, but it was weakened by threats from Germanic tribes to the
west and in Africa, Slavs from the north, and most significantly
the Persians to the east. Even under this pressure the eastern
Empire spread its influence far into Russia. It was in the midst of
this pressure, however, that the eastern Empire faced a
unexpected foe, Arabic coverts to Islam, who in a very short period
of time in the seventh century took North Africa and the Middle
East from the eastern Empire, while simultaneous defeating the
powerful Persian empire. This course examines geo-political and
religious shift on a massive scale, and yet many cultural
influences endured. This can perhaps be seen most clearly in
transmission of Greek intellectual traditions, which came back to
western Europe over half a millennia after the fall of the
western Empire, by means of Arabic translations. This class will
enhance to student’s experience of studying in Rome and their
understanding of the global developments in religion and culture
that still have profound influences today.