Mar 11, 2026  
GRCC Curriculum Database (2025-2026 Academic Year) 
    
GRCC Curriculum Database (2025-2026 Academic Year)
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HU 214 - Ancient Greek and Roman Culture through Archaeology


Description
This course will feature a survey of ancient Greek and Roman archaeology from roughly 3000 BCE to 200 CE.  Special attention will be given to material remains with a particular eye toward architecture (domestic, political, and religious) and how these remains are used as lenses for better understanding: 1) how archaeology can illuminate how the Greeks and Romans lived and what they believed  2) the influence of ancient cultures on each other, throughout history and up to the present and 3) the various modern techniques of uncovering, preserving, and interpreting the past.  We will also spend class time zeroing in on specific sites/monuments (e.g., Parthenon, Colosseum) as well as walking through the history of modern archaeology and attending to a number of remarkable discoveries and unsolved mysteries.
Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours: 3
Prerequisites/Other Requirements: None
English Prerequisite(s): None
Math Prerequisite(s): None
Course Corequisite(s): None
Academic Program Prerequisite: None
Consent to Enroll in Course: No Department Consent Required
Dual Enrollment Allowed?: Yes
Number of Times Course can be taken for credit: 1
Programs Where This Course is a Requirement:
None
General Education Requirement:
Humanities
General Education Learner Outcomes (GELO):
4. Cultural Competence: Understand diverse interpersonal and cultural perspectives through analysis of scholarly or creative works, 5. Information Literacy: Discover, ethically apply, or disseminate scholarly information
Course Learning Outcomes:
1. To better understand the scope of the humanity of the Ancient Greeks and Romans through the lens of material remains

2. To better understand the vast and ongoing influence of Ancient Greek and Roman culture on subsequent cultures up to the present day (GELO4)

3. To be able to distinguish and describe specific components of ancient art and architecture and use them to define which place a era they belong to

4. To able to make critical arguments and persuasive conclusions regarding current and ancient mysteries and controversies based on scholarly comparison and contrast of various elements of ancient material remains (GELO5)

5. To grasp the basic chronology of the ancient world and understand how and why the changes in their material cultures illuminate our understanding of particular historical events

 
Course Outline:

  1. Overview of Ancient Greek and Roman History
  2. Bronze Age Greece
    1. Minoans and Minotaurs
    2. Mycenaean Greece—Tombs and Palaces
    3. What ended the Bronze Age?
  3. The Geometric Period
    1. Architectural Orders
    2. Pottery
  4. Archaic Greece
    1. Olympia
    2. Stylistic Advances
    3. Early Athens
  5. Classical Greece: Athens
    1. Athenian Cultural Domination
    2. The Acropolis
    3. Film: “Secrets of the Parthenon”
    4. Agora and Environs
  6. Late Classical Period
    1. Healing Sanctuaries—Asklepios and Epidaurus
    2. Hellenistic Advancements
    3. Finds at Vergina
    4. Alexandria
    5. “The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great”
  7. Here Come the Romans
    1. Romans in Greece
    2. Pompeii
    3. “Are You Not Entertained?: The Colosseum”

 

 

 

      


Instructional Strategies:
Lecture: 60%

Student Presentations: 20%

In-class Discussion: 20%
Mandatory Course Components:
1. Weekly online quizzes on assigned readings

2. Persuasive/Argumentative in-class essays for Midterm and Final

3. 15-minute oral presentation on topic of student’s choice

4. Formal 3,000-4,000 word formal paper on topic from approved list

5. Attend to VR/Oculus site walk-throughs outside of class and submit report

6. Respond to online forums with regard to in-class films
Equivalent Courses:
None


Name of Industry Recognize Credentials: None

Course-Specific Placement Test: none
Course Aligned with ARW/IRW Pairing: NA
Mandatory Department Assessment Measures:
Midterm, Final Exam, Blackboard Quizzes, Graded Forum Reponses, Formal Paper, VR experience reports
Course Type:
General Education- Offering designed to meet the specific criteria for a GRCC Distribution Requirement. The course should be designated by the requirement it fulfills.
Course Format:
Lecture - 1:1
Total Lecture Hours Per Week: 3
People Soft Course ID Number: 105272
Course CIP Code: 24.0103
Maximum Course Enrollment: 30
School: School of Liberal Arts
Department: Language & Thought
Discipline: HU
First Term Valid: Fall 2024 (8/1/2024)
1st Catalog Year: 2024-2025
Name of Course Author:
Jeffrey Winkle
Faculty Credential Requirements:
Master’s Degree (GRCC general requirement)
Faculty Credential Requirement Details:
Prefered: a Masters degree in some aspect of the Humanities with a particular focus in History and Art being ideal.
Course Review & Revision Year: 2028-2029



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