Posts by: CAS Core Curriculum

Editor’s Introduction to The Journal, Issue 31

Issue Theme: “Age of Anxiety” It has been a liminal year. Covid, war in Ukraine, and political upheaval have shaken and will continue to shake preconceived notions about the world as we know it, from the viability of liberalism to the merits of state power in protecting public health. All these sources of apparent division […]

Rome

This compilation of educational materials range from TED Talks to articles to interactive virtual recreations of Rome circa 320 CE. All of Professor Voekel’s generously provided audio-visual resources are listed below for any Aeneid readers, or anyone simply curious about Ancient Rome, to peruse.

Is COVID-19 a threat to our democracy?

W. Robert Connor, a professor of classics emeritus at Princeton University and director emeritus of the National Humanities Center, found insight into our society’s future from a narrative of the pandemic in Athens. In his reading of Thucydides’sHistory of the Peloponnesian War,he found himself considering the full impact of COVID-19 beyond its tolls on our […]

Core Alumna Hollis-Brusky on Justice Barrett

The astute scholarly work of our alumna Amanda Hollis-Brusky was quoted in this new New Yorker piece about Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the Christian legal movement. An excerpt from the article that pertains to Hollis-Brusky is quoted below and linked is the New Yorker article and Hollis-Brusky’s most recent book, “Ideas With […]

“Reading Old Books” and Plautus’ Menaechmi

Two books we wanted to bring to your attention! First: Peter Mack’s “Reading Old Books,” which explores the creative power of literary tradition spanning from the middle ages up until the twenty-first century.Mack argues that the best way to understand tradition is to study the moments when a writer purposefully puts their work in conversation […]

Who really was Homer?

Check out this video de-bunking the myths around Homer! Who was our beloved “The Odyssey” actually written by? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et5pkMNFrxU

TikToks from CC222

Last spring, students in CC222 made TikTokson writers they read throughout the semester including Freud, Foucault, Butler, and others. A playlist of these videos can be found at the link below. Whoever said learning couldn’t be fun?   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwmHaVvbCV6pLVSuJRFWOxuwTCS-PBpiM

Jewish Studies spotlights Matthew Creighton

From the Instagram feed of our friends at BU’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, we see a great feature about one of our new first-year humanities instructors, Dr. Matthew Creighton. From the post: Introducing Matthew Creighton, the next feature of our#FacultyFridayseries.A Boston University graduate, Professor Creighton specializes in German literature, modern Jewish intellectual history, […]

Ancient Gilgamesh tablet showcasing earliest form of literature returned to Iraq

Officials believe the artifact looted during the 1991 Gulf War was illegally imported into the U.S. in 2003, then sold and put on display in a Washington museum.     https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ancient-gilgamesh-tablet-showcasing-earliest-form-literature-returned-rcna8001

Hidden sketch revealed beneath Rembrandt’s The Night Watch

Who knew chalk could talk? Amsterdam restorers certainly did, as they discovered Rembrandt’s original chalk outline of The Night Watch. “You may ask why is this so important? Well, it gives us the feeling we can peek over Rembrandts shoulder while he was working on The Night Watch.” Read it here:Hidden sketch revealed beneath Rembrandt’s […]