Course Details
Course Code: HUMN510 Course ID: 3525 Credit Hours: 3 Level: Graduate
This course acquaints students with the Hebrew Scriptures and the world of the ancient Greeks. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other peoples to whom the Hebrews and Greeks are indebted are also considered. Among the topics to which the course attends are the human experience of the divine, man's struggle with human and natural forces, warfare and the meaning of justice, the development of logos as human reason or cognition, and the emergence of science, technology, and artistic experience. Readings for this course include The Epic of Gilgamesh; The Bible; Homer's Odyssey; Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War; Aeschylus' The Oresteia; and Plato's The Republic.
Course Schedule
| Registration Dates | Course Dates | Session | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/30/20 - 04/30/21 | 05/03/21 - 06/27/21 | Spring 2021 Session I | 8 Week session |
| 01/25/21 - 07/02/21 | 07/05/21 - 08/29/21 | Summer 2021 Session B | 8 Week session |
| 03/29/21 - 09/03/21 | 09/06/21 - 10/31/21 | Summer 2021 Session D | 8 Week session |
Current Syllabi
APUS policy implies that graduate courses stress development of the student's ability to research, reason, and write in a scholarly way, aiming at the higher order cognitive skills of “analysis,” “synthesis,” “evaluation,” and defense of logic and conclusions. Course learning objectives should be established accordingly, and instructional techniques should be used to achieve them.
For additional background, go to: University Learning Outcomes Assessment
Learning Objectives:
- Apply appropriate graduate-level analytical skills to analyze texts for meaning.
- Investigate how people thought about various issues in the ancient world (including life and death, justice, ethics, and the divine).
- Apply topics discussed to contemporary life.
- Develop the ability to think and write about these issues in a clear and logically consistent manner in original essays.
- Synthesize the concepts in this course with independent research to produce graduate level essays.
Students are expected to complete all reading and written assignments within the specified time. Unless specified otherwise, the due date is always Sunday midnight for each week. Exceptions will be made at the discretion of the professor in certain circumstances. If you are unable to complete an assignment on time, it is your responsibility to notify the professor as soon as possible and explain why the work will not be completed in a timely manner. Documentation may be required.
Discussion Board questions must be posted each week, and the expectation is that you will post an original answer by Thursday, 11:55 p.m. EST, and responses to at least two other students by Sunday 11:55 p.m. EST each week; the more you interact, the better the class will be for everyone. Note that discussions are graded on the calendar week -- in other words, you should not be working ahead.
Please see individual forum descriptions for requirements each week.
Students will complete three analytical papers (using literary theory) and one research paper. Please see individual assignment descriptions for details.
| Name | Grade % |
|---|---|
| Forums | 40.00 % |
| Week 1 Forum: Introductions | 4.44 % |
| Week 1 Forum: Epic of Gilgamesh | 4.44 % |
| Week 2 Forum: Genesis, Exodus & Leviticus | 4.44 % |
| Week 3 Forum: The Odyssey & The Peloponnesian War | 4.44 % |
| Week 4 Forum: Aristotle & Euripides | 4.44 % |
| Week 5 Forum: Plato, Chapters V & VI | 4.44 % |
| Week 6 Forum: Plato (continued) | 4.44 % |
| Week 7 Forum: The Aeneid | 4.44 % |
| Week 8 Forum: Ovid | 4.44 % |
| Essays | 30.00 % |
| Week 2 Essay: Aspects of the Bible | 10.00 % |
| Week 4 Essay: Aspects of the Odyssey | 10.00 % |
| Week 6 Essay: Aristotle and Plato | 10.00 % |
| Research Essay | 30.00 % |
| Week 8 Research Essay | 30.00 % |
All students majoring in the humanities should have a mastery of online library research methods; these include researching appropriate primary resources through the library, possible relevant professional discussion forums, and relevant literature for this course so that they can do required assignments involving research. Faculty must actively encourage students to:
- Demonstrate the proper techniques for conducting advanced online historical research, with initial focus through The Online Library.
- Locate and evaluate library primary and secondary source materials.
- Identify errors and apply corrective measures in online historical research methodologies.
- Explore existing literature and digital archives in support of research interests.
As indicated by successful completion of research and writing requirements, students should also demonstrate proficiency in Web navigation, including exploration of the evolving environment of the “Invisible College, primary resources, historical research sites, and such advanced web applications as:
- Web 2.0: H-Net offers the most established forum for scholarly communications, but may be augmented by other discussion groups, blogs, wikis, or Second Life-type of experience.
Graduate students should explore the research holdings of The Online Library and their ability to support research needs. Each student will be required to write on particular research issues, with specific attention afforded to:
- Online Scholarly Journals: Students will identify and monitor the key refereed journals in their research area as part of their ongoing scholarly portfolio; and
- Electronic Books/Subject Clusters: Students will identify key texts or clusters or resources (e.g., Praeger Security International) in their research area and explore the electronic researching ability for such genre as a complement to print-based immersion.
- University libraries, including the APUS Online Library, national libraries, and college professors have created major sites with information resources, links to other trusted sites, and electronic networking potential. Students will determine appropriate archival repositories and government agencies for their research interests. Students are expected to learn about archival research and the use of government documents, but also advanced web tools like Encoded Archival Description, finding aids and associated online searching tools for government and academic sites. In addition, students are expected to conduct their own independent research.
LIBRARY SOURCES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
- Master’s Studies
- Graduate Studies Webinars
- Graduate Catalog
- End of Program Assessment Manual for Master’s Programs
- Writing@APUS: Graduate Writing
- Research@APUS & Research Methods
- SAGE Research Methods
REQUIRED TEXTS
All required texts are available online, as listed below. You may also find links to the required texts in the Resources folder. If you prefer printed versions, there are many available translations.
Aristotle. Poetics, translated by S. H. Butcher, The Internet
Classics Archive, 1895, classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html.
Euripides. Medea, translated by E. P. Coleridge, The Internet
Classics Archive, 1910, classics.mit.edu/Euripides/medea.html.
Guerin, W. L., et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Oxford
University Press, 2005, uogbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/wilfred_l-_guerin_earle_labor_lee_morgan_jeannbokos-z1.pdf.
Homer. The Odyssey, translated by S. Butler, The Internet Classics
Archive, 1900, classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html.
Ovid. Metamorphoses, translated by S. Garth, et al, The
Internet Classics Archive, 1770, classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.html.
Plato. The Republic, translated by B. Jowett, The Internet Classics
Archive, 1908, classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by M. Jastrow, Project Gutenberg, 1973
www.gutenberg.org/files/11000/11000-8.txt.
The Holy Bible, BibleGateway 2020, www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible.
Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War, translated by R. Crawley, The Internet
Classics Archive, 2006, classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.html.
Virgil. The Aeneid, translated by J. Dryden, The Internet Classics Archive, 1909,
classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.html.
Other readings as assigned.
RECOMMENDED REFERENCES (For All Humanities Majors)
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 8th ed. The Modern
Language Association of America, 2016. Accessible through The Online Library.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Department of Humanities requires conformity with the traditional MLA Handbook.
WEB-BASED READINGS: Plan to make extensive use of these in your research. The expectation will be that you will include images from ancient artifacts to illustrate concepts in your papers.
Art History Resources on the Web: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
Perseus Project: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
- Microsoft Office 2003 or newer versions (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint)
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (for PDF files)
- To view streaming media and audio, individuals should have the following installed on their machines (all are free downloads):
- Audio – http://www.real.com
- Windows Media Player – http://www.microsoft.com
- Quick Time – http://www.apple.com/quicktime
- Adobe Acrobat Reader – https://get.adobe.com/reader/
| Book Title: | There are no required books for this course. |
| Author: | No Author Specified |