Simply reading The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid in one summer is an epic undertaking, but 60 incoming freshmen have been doing just that to prepare for HUM 216-217, the double-credit, full-year Humanities Sequence.
Esther Schor, Professor of English and Behrman Professor in the Humanities Council, is leading the interdisciplinary team of 12 faculty members who are teaching the course and revisiting foundational texts. Together faculty and students will immerse themselves in Greek drama and philosophy, The Aeneid, and many other ancient and medieval texts and images, concluding the Fall term with an exploration of Dante’s Commedia. The faculty have revised the syllabus to include some new topics, including “Women’s Latin Learning” and the David cycle in the biblical books of Samuel and Kings.
In addition to training students in the practice of close reading, we’ll be assisting students in developing skills required for “close looking” at objects and images, with an eye to enhancing our visits to the Princeton Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cloisters.
Professor Schor will be tweeting the course–that’s a first for the Sequence, too. Please follow us– @PrincetonHUM #HUM216217 –and join in the conversation.
