STOP, DROP, and ENROLL in INTRODUCTORY ANCIENT GREEK, FA 2024!

FULFILL YOUR LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT! Learn to read Homer, Sappho, Plato, Scripture, etc. in the original language! Impress your friends & family (great ice-breaker & party trick)! Challenge your brain to think … goodli … -er…! (SEE THE ATTACHED FLYER)

GREK 101 is an introduction to the elements of Ancient Greek, focusing on the vocabulary, morphology (i.e., principles of word formation), and syntax (i.e., how words fit together to be meaningful) of the language. The course aims to enable you to read prose and poetry with the aid of a dictionary and grammar handbook as soon as possible, and to prepare you for continuing study of Ancient Greek in GREK 102, Elementary Greek II. The further goal is to encourage you to pursue the study of Greek further, reading the works of ancient authors in intermediate GREK 201 and advanced 300-level or 400-level classes. For further information, contact the instructor. Prof. Michael Lane, Ancient Studies, mflane@umbc.edu.

Ancient-Greek contributions to the development and advancement of democracy, drama, philosophy, historiography, biology, medicine, astronomy, architecture — among other elements of culture — are common knowledge. Less well known is the ancient Greek role in the evolution of the novel and other forms of imaginative prose fiction in half-millennium from the first century bce to the fourth century ce. 

Early novels are mainly romances in which love conquers all — but only after the lovers endure excruciating dislocations and twists of fate — captivity, slavery, torture, live burial, attempted suicide, crucifixion. Pirates and brigands operate virtually unchecked; government is non-existent, ineffective, or part of the problem. These narratives span a wide geographic range, from Nubia (ancient Aethiopia) and Egypt to the Levant (Phoenicia and Syria), Anatolia, and the Near East, and across to Greece, Italy, and Sicily. Employing tropes of tragedy, new comedy, pastoral, tales of physical transformation (metamorphosis), and historical fiction (including science fiction), these works are often imbued with a unique religiosity focused on the Egyptian goddess Isis.

We will read six works in English translation: four romances, a novella of a man’s unfortunate transformation into an ass (he had wanted to become a bird) and his crazy misadventures, and a fantasy travelogue of excursions to such places as the moon and the Islands of the Blessed in the Underworld. 

This course has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of the subject.

The UMBC Ancient Studies Department will conduct its annual study tour in Turkey, March 14-23, 2025. The cost of $3,500 covers all air and land travel, twin-share accommodation for eight nights at four-star hotels, eight buffet breakfasts, two dinners, two lunches, and entrance to all archaeological sites and museums on the itinerary. A single room is available at an additional cost of $482. ANCS majors and minors, UMBC students, faculty, staff, alumni, and their friends and family are invited to join us. 

You can download a registration form from the department website (https://ancientstudies.umbc.edu). Please return this fillable form to Lydia DeRidder (lderidde@umbc.edu) by Oct.4, 2024. An initial deposit of $150 is due Oct. 4, 2024. Ancient Studies majors and minors can also download applications for travel subsidies from the department website. Please return completed subsidy forms to Dr. David Rosenbloom (dsrose@umbc.edu) by Sept. 27, 2024.

The tour begins with a two-night stay in Istanbul, followed one-night in Çanakkale (Troy), three nights in Kuşadasi, and two nights in Ankara, before returning to Istanbul for the flight home. In Istanbul, we will visit the Hippodrome of Constantine, Aghia Sophia, the Archaeological Museum, Topkapı Palace, and the Blue Mosque. Next, we travel to the archaeological site and museum of Troy en route to Kuşadası, the base of operations for trips to Ephesos, Priene, Miletos, and Didyma. We spend the last two days and nights in Ankara, visiting the magnificent Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and three Hittite sites, the fortified capital Hattusa, the necropolis at Alaca Höyük, and the mysterious sanctuary and rock reliefs at Yazılıkaya.

We have filled all of our officer positions, a big congratulations to our new officers! Here are the results:

President – Julia Labuda

Vice President – Ethan Stubbs

Treasurer – Rebecca Lee

Secretary – Katie Bjerkaas

If you have any questions feel free to email our secretary at jlabuda1@umbc.edu

Dear members of the UMBC Ancient Studies Community,

It is my pleasure to invite you to an end-of-year party at my house, 1 Alquin Court, Catonsville, MD 21228, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 starting at 4:00 PM.  I will provide nibbles, Italian sausage, salad, and some drinks. You are welcome to bring whatever salads, desserts, and drinks you would like.

Parents, spouses, partners, and children are all welcome to join us.

If you are coming, please email to me (dsrose@umbc.edu) as soon as possible and indicate the number of people in your party.  If you have already contacted me to tell me that you were coming, there is not need to contact me again, unless you cannot make it on May 15.

If you are planning to bring food (please do not feel obligated to do so), also indicate what you will be bringing. It would be most helpful if you could email this information to me by Tuesday, May 14.

On behalf of the entire department, I look forward to seeing you all!

All the very best,

David Rosenbloom, Professor and Chair, ANCS Department

Dear members of the UMBC Ancient Studies Community,

It is my pleasure to invite you to an end-of-year party at my house, 1 Alquin Court, Catonsville, MD 21228, on Saturday, May 11, 2024 starting at 4:00 PM. Please note that this date is a bit earlier than we normally hold the party. I will provide nibbles, Italian sausage, salad, and some drinks. You are welcome to bring whatever salads, desserts, and drinks you would like.

Parents, spouses, partners, and children are all welcome to join us.

If you are coming, please email to me (dsrose@umbc.edu) as soon as possible and indicate the number of people in your party. If you are planning to bring food (please do not feel obligated to do so), also indicate what you will be bringing. It would be most helpful if you could email this information to me by Friday, May 10.

On behalf of the entire department, I look forward to seeing you all!

All the very best,

David Rosenbloom, Professor and Chair, ANCS Department