Seminar in Classical Studies

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

CIC College Writing

• Analyze written texts to understand how they relate to particular audiences, purposes, and contexts as a way to inform one’s own writing.
• Create and revise written texts for particular audiences, purposes, and contexts.
• Through oral or written reflection demonstrate awareness of one’s writing choices as well as how one’s own writing contributes to ongoing conversations in the relevant discipline.

Course specific Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

• Speak and write in an informed manner on one of the most significant events in Roman history: the civil war between Caesar and Pompey;
• Work confidently with primary sources and analyze them in their respective historical contexts to distinguish biases both in the ancient material and the students’ own assumptions;
• Develop arguments and opinions based on the careful and informed analysis of sources; and
• Describe the development of historical writing in the Roman world and explain each genre’s approaches to writing (or establishing) history.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Attendance and Participation	10%
Group Notetaking	20%
Weekly Reflections	15%
Final Paper/Episode Comparison	20%
Midterm	15%
Final Exam	20%

Grading Scale:

Percentage	Letter Grade
93-100%	A
90-92%	A-
87-89%	B+
83-86%	B
80-82%	B-
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C-
67-69%	D+
63-66%	D
60-62%	D-
0-59%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance and participation are a part of the students’ final grade and are required to both understand the material and succeed in the course.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

• Kurt A. Raaflaub. 2017. The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0307455444.
• Susan H. Braund. 2008. Lucan. Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199540686.