Hugh Parker
234 McIver Bldg.
334-5703
hugh_parker@uncg.edu
http://www.uncg.edu/~hcparker

OFFICE HOURS:  MWF 1-1:30, T 12:30-1:30, and by appointment.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:There are three goals for this course:  1) to acquaint you with the basic events of Roman history from the city’s founding in the 8th century BC to the end of the Roman empire in 476 AD; 2) to introduce you to some of the most important works of Roman literature; 3) to examine how the Romans lived and what their attitudes were toward life around them. By the end of this course you should be able to:
 

1. identify the historical events that led to the rise and fall of the Roman
       world

2. describe different aspects of Roman life including (but not limited to)
    family, education, religion, slavery, and entertainment

3. discuss the importance of ancient Rome in the establishment of
    western civilization

4. demonstrate an understanding of and sensitivity to the differences
     between ancient Rome and other cultures
 

Plautus:  The Menaechmus Twins & Two Other Plays
Cicero:  Selected Political Speeches
Virgil:  The Aeneid
Diane Rayor & William Batstone: Latin Lyric and Elegiac Poetry
Jo Anne Shelton:  As the Romans Did

In addition to these books, there will be an occasional handout given in class with additional short reading selections.

GRADES:  Grades will be determined as follows:
 

EXAMS:  We will have two midterm exams: Wednesday, September 26 and Wednesday, November 7.  The midterms are not cumulative.  The final exam will be on Monday, December 17 from noon to 3:00 p.m. in our regular classroom.  The short answer portion of the final will be cumulative; the essay portion will be on material covered after the last midterm.
 

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: We will have three different sorts of writing assignments.
In-class writing: To ensure that everyone is keeping up with the reading you may be asked to write a short piece at the beginning of class on the reading assignment for that day.  We won’t do this every class period, but we’ll do it once a week or so on average.  I reserve the right to increase this to every class period if the situation warrants it.  I will collect these, read them, and return them, but I won’t put a grade on them.  If you have not done an adequate job on one of these you will not receive credit for turning it in.

Essay:  There will be one essay assigned (2-3 pages).  You will hand in a draft, which I will read and return to you.  You will then have a week to revise the paper and turn it back in.

Research Paper: A five to ten page research paper will also be assigned.  I will ask you to hand in an outline of your paper and a bibliography.  I will return this to you and then you can write and submit your paper.  There will be no rewrites on the research paper.

There will also be some essays on the midterms and the final.

ATTENDANCE:  Regular attendance is expected.  Poor attendance will result in your being dropped from the course.

OTHER INFORMATION:
1.  Please make sure you have read and understood the Academic Integrity Policy (it can be found at http://www.uncg.edu/saf/studiscp/Honor.html).  I will ask you to sign the Academic Integrity Pledge on all graded work.

2.  As far as homework is concerned, my standards are the same as those of the Bryan School of Business here at UNCG (found in the 2001-02 Undergraduate Bulletin, p. 65):

      In general, students should plan to devote between 2-3 hours outside of class for each hour in class.

3. Visit the Department of Classical Studies home page at http://www.uncg.edu/cla/.  There you will find a number of links pertaining to Roman history and culture.

4.  The URL at the top of the page will have a link to the home page for this course.  After each lecture, I will put on the web important things you should know from that lecture.