Here’s a little bit about me:

Raised in Woodstock, GA

BS in Physics — the University of Alabama in Huntsville

MA in Latin — Florida State University

Ph.D. in Classics and MA in Greek — the University of North Carolina

I do research on ancient leadership, the emotions, and digital humanities. Here’s a free copy of my recent book. Here’s my page on Academia.edu.

Here are my ideas about how a humanities course should go. Here are my ideas about how an undergraduate education should go. Here are my views on course expectations and student appeals.

In addition to my teaching and scholarship, I enjoy running marathons, gardening, and following Major League Baseball.

Now, please watch this video for inspiration:

Are you psyched yet? If not, please watch this video:

Narrative

Life is made up of a lot of different and long stories: we form deep and lasting friendships; we form partnerships and start families; we build careers; we become citizens and leaders; we try to achieve spiritual and intellectual enlightenment; we die, in mundane but also extraordinary ways. Humans have been doing this for a long time, in similar and different ways. Reading and studying literature is one of the ways that we enrich our own stories. Ancient Greek literature — which encompasses epic poetry, history, philosophy, love poetry, tragedy, comedy, and a whole lot more — offers us seemingly endless opportunities to grow ourselves. Unfortunately, we will only be able to dine on these fruits for a semester, but we shall drink deeply while we can.

Goals

1. To develop an understanding of how (some) ancient Greeks viewed the world by reading carefully and studying literature in its historical and cultural context.
2. To challenge our own worldview by considering the worldviews expressed in ancient Greek literature.
3. To develop arguments about ancient literature and support those arguments with precise references to the text.
4. To accumulate and retain knowledge throughout the course in order to have a deeper understanding of Greek culture.

Outcomes

1. Students will be able to talk and write about the major themes and topics in the epics of Homer (Iliad, Odyssey) and tragedies of Euripides. These themes and topics include the following: the nature of the hero, gender roles, leadership, democracy, Greek attitudes toward non-Greeks, religion, justice, family, friendship, emotional trauma (the horrors of war), glory, honor, and rhetoric/persuasion.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate a strong factual understanding of the characters, events, and terminology that appear in these works, including an understanding of the major gods and some of the myths that made up Greek religion.
3. Students will understand how studying ancient cultures can inform their own view of the world and life choices.
4. Students will improve their study-habits, both in terms of their time management and their mastery of the content.

Course Policies

Classroom Conduct

Students are expected to engage their classmates in respectful discussion at all times, within class and without. We operate under the assumption that we are all honestly seeking the truth, however much we may disagree. Students are welcome to bring food to class, so long as it does not interfere with note-taking and discussion. Students may also take notes on laptops and smart phones and search the internet for information relevant to the discussion. Students may not text, surf the internet, read the newspaper, work on an assignment for another class, or engage in email correspondence.

Honor Code

Students are expected to adhere to the Honor Code as described by the Howard University Student Handbook (see pp. 13–14). Any student who engages in plagiarism or cheating on exams or quizzes will receive an F for the course and the infraction will be reported to the Dean’s Office according to the procedure outlined in the Student Handbook.

Make-up assignments

There are no opportunities for making up quizzes or turning in weekly journals late. We will have approximately twelve or thirteen quizzes in the course; I will divide your total quiz points by ten, so that in effect your two lowest (or missed) quizzes will not affect your final grade. Students who register late for class will not be allowed to make up assignments they have missed and will receive a zero for all work missed. In the case of an emergency that can be documented (e.g., an accident, a sudden illness, or the death of a close relative), students will have an opportunity to reschedule the exam.

Statement on American Disabilities Act (ADA) Procedures:

Howard University is committed to providing an educational environment that is accessible to all students. In accordance with this policy, students in need of accommodations due to a disability should contact the Office of the Dean for Special Student Services for verification and determination of reasonable accommodations as soon as possible after admission to the University, or at the beginning of each semester. The Office of the Dean for Special Student Services can be reached at (202) 238–2420.

Statement on Interpersonal Violence:

Howard University takes sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking and sexual harassment seriously. If a student reveals that he or she needs assistance with any of these issues, all Responsible Employees, which includes faculty, are required to share this information with the University Title IX Office (202) ‎806–2550 or a student can be referred for confidential services to the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program (IVPP) (202) ‎238–2382 or University Counseling Services (202) ‎806–6870. For more information about these services, please go to www.CampusSafetyFirst.Howard.Edu.

Texts and Assignments

Students will need to acquire the following translations of Euripides, either in online or paper form. Note that you must acquire this specific edition and translation and you must have access to this edition in class. You will not be able to earn full class participation points by reading or referencing a different translation.

U of Chicago Press translations (Mark Griffith, Glenn Most, David Grene, Richmond Lattimore): Euripides III (Trojan Women), Euripides IV (Helen, Orestes), and Euripides V 
(Iphigenia in Aulis, Rhesus).

The readings of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are available here. I hope you will enjoy looking at the ancient Greek; but if you find it distracting, you might click the OPTIONS tag and “un-check” the Greek box.

Here is a break-down of your grades, followed by an explanation of the nature of each assessment:

Weekly Journals: 20%; Quiz Average: 20%; Two Exams: 30% (15% each); Attendance/Participation: 20%; Online Discussion: 10%.

Weekly Journey on Medium.com: Students will create an account on Medium.com (the same site used for this syllabus). Each week they will create a detailed report on each hour in their 10-hour Journey through the week, including time spent in class, time spent reading, and time spent completing other assignments. Be specific about your study habits each week: where did you study? for how long? what takeaways do you have from the readings (see specific questions under daily assignments)? what’s working and what’s not in terms of your study habits? You may wish to use a time tracker to help you document when you work and for how long. I use Toggl.

You are encouraged to supplement your writing with pictures, as well as any video, weblinks, or audio clips. You are not required to publish your weekly updates, but encouraged to do so, in order to generate conversation with family and friends and the larger internet community. You must submit a link to your weekly updates to me via Blackboard in order to receive a grade. Reports not turned in on time will receive a grade of 0.

Weekly Quizzes: Students will take fact-based quizzes every week, particularly on the reading assignments and material discussed in class. The two lowest quizzes will be dropped.

Essay Exams: Students will take one midterm exam during the semester and a cumulative final exam during the final exam period.

Attendance and Participation: Students are expected to attend all classes, to arrive on time, and to remain engaged in class-discussion and note-taking for the duration. To receive full points for participation students must demonstrate that they have completed the assignments for the day.

Online Discussion: Beginning on January 31 and continuing for the rest of the course, Howard students will collaborate online with students from a half-dozen other universities to answer discussion questions about the tragedies of Euripides. These discussions should be engaging, in the sense that students should do their best to answer each question and to (1) support, (2) complement, and (3) pose questions to the answers provided by others.

Grades

A (final average of 90% or higher) — Jedi Master, you are ready to teach others about Greek literature!

A typical A-student attends every or almost every class. This student typically has a quiz average of 80% or higher. This student is either taking notes or making eye contact with the instructor or anyone else who is speaking. This student asks questions. This student comes to office hours to ask questions about the course material or ways to improve performance. This student always engages in the course material for at least ten hours and always submits weekly journal reports. This student typically earns an A on essay exams and prepares for the exams several days in advance. This student studies with passion and sees the value of the subject for personal, intellectual, career, social, and civic growth. Such a student is open to diagnosing what works and to changing study habits as necessary.

B — (80%+) Jedi

C — (70%+) Padawan

D — (60%+) Searcher

F — (59% or below) Consider taking the course again after much reflection

Course Schedule

Note: the following is a rough schedule of topics and assignments we will cover. I may alter it slightly at times to address topics the class seems particularly engaged in or current events that seem relevant to our interests. Note, too: the assignments that go from Thursday to Tuesday tend to be considerably longer than the ones that go from Tuesday to Thursday. Since you are expected to devote ten hours per week to the course, a good rule of thumb is to attend all classes (3 hours) and study one hour per day outside of class.

Be sure to check the syllabus online for regular updates of assignments.

Week One (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

January 12: Course Introduction. Life’s Five Great Stories and the importance of the humanities.

1. Read “How to Balance Life’s Five Great Stories, or Why You Shouldn’t Work for the NSA.”

January 14: Developing your own great stories. Introduction to the myth of the Trojan War.

1. Create an account for yourself on Medium.com. This will be the site you use to compose your weekly journal updates.
2. For your first story, imagine that the year is around 2070 and you are 71 years old and near the end of your life but still mentally sound. Compose a memoir that details how you lived out your five great stories (friendship/social life/romance, partnerships (business or family), leadership roles, career, spiritual/intellectual enlightenment). Explain how all of these stories could be in conflict with one another at times, but also how you tried to balance and integrate them.
3. Conclude your story with a 12-word epitaph for your tombstone!
4. Share the link to your draft on our course page on Blackboard under Tools: Journals: Life’s Five Great Stories. This is where you will share all of your future journal entries.

Week Two (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

January 19: Introduction to Homer’s Iliad. The conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles. The plight of women.

1. Read Homer’s Iliad. Books 1, 6, 9.
2. Keep track of your reading in your Weekly Journal. Consider the following questions: Why do Achilles and Agamemnon quarrel? What challenges of leadership does Agamemnon face? How much does Homer reveal to us about the experience of war through the eyes of his female characters (e.g., Chryseis, Briseis, Andromache, Helen, Hekabe)?
3. Prepare for fact-based quiz over Iliad readings.

January 21: The conclusion of Homer’s Iliad and the plight of women.

1. Read Iliad Books 22, 24.
2. Answer the following questions in your journal: How does the conclusion of the Iliad resemble the beginning? What are the similarities and differences of the three lamentations for Hector performed by Hekabe, Andromeda, and Helen?
3. Turn in your weekly journal update before class, on Blackboard under Tools: Weekly Journal Update One. N.B., all future weekly journal updates will be due on Thursday.

Week Three (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

January 26: Selections from Homer’s Odyssey.

1. Read Books 1, 4, 9 of the Odyssey.
2. How does the end of the Iliad compare to the beginning of the Odyssey, especially in terms of theme, tone, and attitude toward the gods?
3. From what you see in Book Four how happy are Menelaus and Helen together after their return from Troy?
4. Identify the skills and traits Odysseus shows in escaping from the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus in Book Nine.
5. Prepare for Quiz 2.

January 28: The conclusion of Homer’s Odyssey.

1. Read Books 23, 24 of the Odyssey.
2. How does Homer depict the reunion of Penelope and Odysseus? What is the nature of their bond with one another? How alike are they?
3. How might the conclusion of the Odyssey be seen as a conclusion of both the Odyssey and the Iliad?
4. Turn in your weekly journal before the beginning of class.

Week Four (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

February 2: Read Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis

1. Make a list of all the characters in the play and explain their motives, as well as you can figure them out.
2. Which characters are most conflicted and why?

February 4: Re-read Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis

1. How well do the characters in Iphigeneia at Aulis resemble the versions of them that appear in the Iliad and Odyssey?

Week Five (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

February 9: Re-read Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis

1. Do you believe the sacrifice of Iphigeneia was necessary?
2. Would an ancient Athenian audience have found her sacrifice necessary? Why or why not?

February 11: Re-Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis

1. What does a chorus add to a play? How would the play have been different without the chorus?
2. How can you tell the chorus of the Iphigeneia is female (other than the fact that you are told this)?
3. What does a female chorus contribute to the play? How might a male chorus have affected an audience’s theatrical experience?

Week Six (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

February 16: Read Euripides’ Rhesus. Read Homer’s Iliad, Book Ten.

February 18: Reread Euripides’ Rhesus.

1. How does the character of Rhesus compare with the character of Achilles in the Iliad and Iphigenia at Aulis?
2. Rhesus is not mentioned in the play until line 276 and is not named until 280. What has the playwright done thus far to prepare you for his entrance onto the stage?

Week Seven (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

February 23: Reread Euripides’ Rhesus

February 25: Reread Euripides’ Rhesus

Week Eight (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

March 1: Exam One (the other exam will be the final exam)

March 3: Euripides’ Trojan Women

Week Nine (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

March 8: Euripides’ Trojan Women

March 10: Euripides’ Trojan Women

March 15: SPRING RECESS — NO CLASSES

March 17: SPRING RECESS — NO CLASSES

Week Ten (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

March 22: Euripides’ Helen

March 24: Euripides’ Helen

1. Where do we see discussion of “the barbarian” in the Helen? What specifically do we learn is “barbaric” from the Greek perspective?
2. How does this perspective on the barbarian compare to other depictions we have read in this course?

Week Eleven (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

March 29: Euripides’ Helen

1. How similar is Helen in this play to other “Helens” we have seen in this course?
2. Where in the play do we see discussions of the theme perception vs. reality? Does the play teach us anything about how to tell the difference between perception and reality?

March 31: Euripides’ Helen

1. Is Euripides’ Helen a tragedy? Explain your answer.

Week Twelve (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

April 5: Euripides’ Orestes

April 7: Euripides’ Orestes

Week Thirteen (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

April 12: Euripides’ Orestes

April 14: Euripides’ Orestes

Week Fourteen (all assignments are to be completed before class time on the day they are assigned)

April 19: NO CLASSES (I will be out of town.)

April 21: Review for final exam.

SEE A LINK TO THE FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE HERE