Courses
Start building your summer today by selecting from hundreds of Columbia courses from various topics of interest. Courses for Summer 2024 are now available, with new offerings being added throughout the winter into early spring. Key to Course Listings | Course Requirements
The Classics Department at Columbia University is one of the most dynamic centers for the study of Classical Antiquity in the United States. It offers a wide range of courses in ancient civilization, ancient literature, and Greek/Latin language courses.
Course Options
This course looks at the narrative and the historical context for an extraordinary event: the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander III of Macedonia, conventionally known as “Alexander the Great”. We will explore the different worlds Alexander grew out of, confronted, and affected: the old Greek world, the Persian empire, the ancient near-east (Egypt, Levant, Babylonia, Iran), and the worlds beyond, namely pre-Islamic (and pre-Silk Road) Central Asia, the Afghan borderlands, and the Indus valley. The first part of the course will establish context, before laying out a narrative framework; the second part of the course will explore a series of themes, especially the tension between military conquest, political negotiation, and social interactions. Overall, the course will serve as an exercise in historical methodology (with particular attention to ancient sources and to interpretation), an introduction to the geography and the history of the ancient world (classical and near-eastern), and the exploration of a complex testcase located at the contact point between several worlds, and at a watershed of world history.
Instructor
Lien Van Geel
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
25 of 25
This course looks at the narrative and the historical context for an extraordinary event: the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander III of Macedonia, conventionally known as “Alexander the Great”. We will explore the different worlds Alexander grew out of, confronted, and affected: the old Greek world, the Persian empire, the ancient near-east (Egypt, Levant, Babylonia, Iran), and the worlds beyond, namely pre-Islamic (and pre-Silk Road) Central Asia, the Afghan borderlands, and the Indus valley. The first part of the course will establish context, before laying out a narrative framework; the second part of the course will explore a series of themes, especially the tension between military conquest, political negotiation, and social interactions. Overall, the course will serve as an exercise in historical methodology (with particular attention to ancient sources and to interpretation), an introduction to the geography and the history of the ancient world (classical and near-eastern), and the exploration of a complex testcase located at the contact point between several worlds, and at a watershed of world history.
Instructor
Emma Ianni
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
23 of 25
Instructor
Marissa Swan
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
11 of 25
Instructor
Valeria Spacciante
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
6 of 25
Instructor
Geoffrey Harmsworth
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
Tu 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Th 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
0 of 20
Equivalent to Latin 1101 and 1102. Covers all of Latin grammar and syntax in one term to prepare the student to enter Latin 1201 or 1202. This is an intensive course with substantial preparation time outside of class.
Instructor
Kristina Milnor
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
Tu 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
15 of 20
Instructor
Joseph Howley
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
Tu 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
11 of 20