The Ancient World: Greece, Fall 2004

Abstract:: History of Ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the death of Alexander. Major social, economic, political, and religious trends. Homer, heroism, and the Greek identity; the hoplite revolution and the rise of the city-state; Herodotus, Persia, and the (re)birth of history; Empire, Thucydidean rationalism, and the Peloponnesian War; Platonic constructs; Aristotle, Macedonia, and Hellenism. Emphasis on use of primary sources in translation.

Causes and Prevention of War, Spring 2001

Abstract:: Examines the causes of war, with a focus on practical measures to prevent and control war. Topics covered include: causes and consequences of national misperception; military strategy and policy as cause of war; US foreign policy as a cause of war and peace; and the likelihood and possible nature of another world war. Historical cases are examined, including World War I, World War II, Korea, and Indochina. Course topic: the causes and prevention of interstate war. Course goal: discovering and assessing means to prevent or control war. Hence we focus on manipulable or controllable war-causes. Covered topics include the dilemmas, misperceptions, crimes and blunders that caused wars of the past; the origins of these and other war-causes; the possible causes of wars of the future; and possible means to prevent such wars, including short-term policy steps and more utopian schemes. Covered historical cases include World War I, World War II, Korea, Indochina, and the Peloponnesian, Crimean and Seven Years wars.

Abstract:: " The causes and prevention of interstate war are the central topics of this course. The course goal is to discover and assess the means to prevent or control war. Hence we focus on manipulable or controllable war-causes. The topics covered include the dilemmas, misperceptions, crimes and blunders that caused wars of the past; the origins of these and other war-causes; the possible causes of wars of the future; and possible means to prevent such wars, including short-term policy steps and more utopian schemes. The historical cases covered include the Peloponnesian and Seven Years wars, World War I, World War II, Korea, the Arab-Israel conflict, and the U.S.-Iraq and U.S. al-Queda wars. This is an undergraduate course, but it is open to graduate students."

Abstract:: This is an introductory course in Greek history tracing the development of Greek civilization as manifested in political, intellectual, and creative achievements from the Bronze Age to the end of the classical period. Students read original sources in translation as well as the works of modern scholars.