Course Descriptions

CIS 496 - Thesis II

Required weekly common meetings for CIS majors completing a thesis.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

XPL 199 - High Impact Experiential Learning

XPL 199 enables students to engage in personal, professional, cultural and academically relevant experiences for academic credit.  Students engage in remote, immersive, reflective learning experiences with guidance and support from High Impact Practices (HIP) centers and non-academic departments such as the Archives, Center for Career Development, Center for Civic Engagement, Education Abroad, the Dean Rusk International Studies Program, Davidson Outdoors, the Hurt Hub, and the Sustainability Office.  Students in each section of XPL 199 participate in similar types of HIP experiences, individualized and tailored to their needs and interests. Students gather once every other week with the instructors, to reflect on their experiences with other members of the Davidson community, share critical learning moments, and seek peer guidance.

Students should contact the instructor, as there is an application process for this course.

CHE 106 - The Chemistry of Life

Satisfies the Natural Science Ways of Knowing requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
One laboratory meeting per week.

CHE 108 - Food Chemistry

Chemistry 108 is a non-major’s chemistry course that focuses on what components make up our food, the properties of those components, and what changes occur during processing, handling, and storage.  This course is designed to allow the students to read about, observe, manipulate, and explore model food systems.

Satisfies the Natural Science requirement.

CHE 115 - Principles of Chemistry

Topics include stoichiometry, chemical thermodynamics, atomic and molecular structure, chemical equilibria, chemical dynamics, and descriptive chemistry of the main group elements.  The laboratory illustrates the lecture topics and emphasizes quantitative measurements.  This course is intended for students who plan to take additional courses in chemistry.

Satisfies the Natural Science requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
One laboratory meeting per week. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 220 - Introduction to Analytical Chemistry (=ENV 315)

CHE 230 - Introduction to Biological Chemistry

Satisfies the Natural Science requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in Group A of the Biology major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Chemistry major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Neuroscience major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Genomics major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Bioinformatics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 115 and 250. One laboratory meeting per week. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 240 - Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry

Satisfies Natural Science requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 115. One laboratory meeting per week. (Spring)

CHE 250 - Introduction to Organic Chemistry

Satisfies Natural Science requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 115. One laboratory meeting per week. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 260 - Thermodynamics and Kinetics

Satisfies the Natural Science requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 115; Math 111 or 112. One laboratory meeting per week. (Fall)

CHE 320 - Experimental Analytical Chemistry

In-depth course in analytical methods including optical spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, separations, and advanced topics in chemical equilibrium. Emphasis will be placed on the principles behind, and components of, chromatographic and mass spectrometry instrumentation.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 215/220. One laboratory meeting per week. (Spring, offered every two years)

CHE 321 - Special Topics in Analytical Chemistry: Mass Spectrometry

FALL 2019

Mass Spectronomy
Instructors
Blauch

This course examines the principles of mass spectrometry, including the design and operation of ion sources and mass analyzers, interpretation of mass spectra and fragmentation processes.  Mass spectrometry is applied to problems in chemistry, biochemistry, food science, and environmental science.

CHE 325 - The Chemistry of Hookah Smoke

What is smoke, how is smoke formed, what instrumental methods are associated with the characterization of the physical and chemical properties of hookah smoke, and how do they work? In the second half of the course, students will investigate the physical and/or chemical properties of smoke formed as a function of a variable of interest such as type of filtration media or shisha or height of water pipe.

Prerequisites & Notes
Notes and Prerequisites - Chemistry 220. (Fall)

CHE 330 - Experimental Biological Chemistry

Chemistry and mechanisms of gene expression, signal transduction, and advanced metabolism.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 230.  Biology 111 recommended. One laboratory meeting per week. (Fall)

CHE 331 - Topics in Biological Chemistry: Protein Chemistry

Advanced topics in protein chemistry including: protein synthesis, isolation, purification, manipulation, and characterization. A strong emphasis will be placed on the biochemical and biophysical methods that lead to protein characterization. This course also will include the study of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions as well as structure-function relationships. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 230. No laboratory. (Fall)

CHE 335 - Research Methods in Biological Chemistry

This course is designed to expose students to critical components of the biological chemistry research experience including reading and interpretation of the primary literature, writing literature reviews and proposals, completing an independent project around a guided question, and presenting the results of their work in oral and written forms. 

Methods covered in this course will be related to the instructor’s areas of interest and expertise. 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 230. 

CHE 340 - Experimental Inorganic Chemistry

A survey of experimental methods for the synthesis, isolation and purification, identification, and characterization of inorganic compounds.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 240. One laboratory meeting per week. 

CHE 341 - Polymer Chemistry

Whether it’s synthetic plastics and rubbers that surround us, or natural occurring biopolymers such as proteins and DNA that are fundamental to biological structure, polymers are ubiquitous in almost every part of our lives. This course will focus on the design, synthesis and characterization techniques of polymers while emphasizing their applications. Special topics such as biological applications of polymers and the recyclability of plastics will be highlighted.  

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 250

CHE 345 - Research Methods in Inorganic Chemistry

This course is designed to expose students to critical components of the inorganic chemistry research experience including reading and interpretation of the primary literature, writing literature reviews and proposals, completing an independent project around a guided question, and presenting the results of their work in oral and written forms. 

Methods covered in this course will be related to the instructor’s area of interest and expertise. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 240

CHE 350 - Experimental Organic Chemistry

CHE 351 - Pharmacology

Satisfies a major requirement in Chemistry.
Satisfies requirement in the Biochemistry interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 250 and 230; Chemistry 330, or Biology 208 and 303, strongly recommended. (Spring)

CHE 351 - Topics in Organic Chemistry:Pharmacology

Satisfies a major requirement in Chemistry.

Prerequisites & Notes
CHE 250 required and CHE 230 preferred.
No laboratory.

CHE 355 - Group Investigation in Organic Chemistry: Carbohydrates in Materials and Medicine

Methods covered in this course will be related to the instructor’s area of interest and expertise. 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 250. 

CHE 360 - Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy

CHE 361 - Topics in Physical Chemistry

Physical chemistry topics covered in this course will be related to the instructor’s area of interest and expertise. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 260. No laboratory. 

CHE 365 - Research Methods in Physical Chemistry

This course is designed to expose students to critical components of the physical chemistry research experience including reading and interpretation of the primary literature, writing literature reviews and proposals, completing an independent project around a guided question, and presenting the results of their work in oral and written forms. 

Methods covered in this course will be related to the instructor’s area of interest and expertise. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 260. 

CHE 371 - Energy

Course focuses on energy fundamentals such as the various guises of energy, combustion, inescapable inefficiencies, electric generation, and the planet’s energy balance. Unsustainable energy technologies (coal, oil, gas, nuclear, and hydropower), sustainable energy technologies (solar, photovoltaics, wind, wave and tidal, biomass, geothermal, and fusion), and other fuel technologies such as hydrogen/fuel cells, carbon sequestration, and syngas production will be discussed and, in some cases, demonstrated.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Natural Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Counts as an Applied Environmental Science course in the Natural Science track of the Environmental Studies interdisciplinary major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 260. No laboratory.

CHE 372 - Environmental Chemistry

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Natural Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Counts as an Applied Environmental Science course in the Natural Science track of the Environmental Studies interdisciplinary major.

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 220. No laboratory. 

CHE 374 - Medicinal Chemistry

CHE 395 - Literature Investigation

This course is designed for any qualified student who desires to pursue a literature research project in an area of special interest in chemistry under the direction and supervision of a faculty member. The latter reviews and approves the topic of research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 396 - Laboratory Research I

 Hauser, Key, Snyder N.

Experimental chemistry projects conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals. This course is intended for non-senior students.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 397 - Laboratory Research II

Experimental chemistry projects conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following acceptance of the student’s written research proposal. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals. This course is intended for non-senior students.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 396. Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

CHE 410 - Advanced Topics in Chemistry

Selected topics in organic chemistry.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 202 and 351, or permission of the instructor. (Fall)

CHE 420 - Seminar in Analytical Chemistry

 Hauser

Advanced topics in analytical chemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise.

In this course (Spring 2022), we will explore Wicked Questions in Environmental Chemistry with a focus on the Analytical Techniques that are developed and employed to study them. Upon completion of this course, students will have demonstrated competence in: (a) identifying the complexity of wicked questions in environmental chemistry, (b) understanding the operating principles of a variety of cutting edge analytical techniques including long range spectroscopic methods, electrochemical sensors, nanomaterial and surface methods, chromatography and mass spectrometry, (c) finding, reading, discussing and presenting primary literature for cutting edge analytical techniques, and (d) communicating science to a variety of audiences in both written and oral form. 

Satisfies a major requirement in Chemistry.
Satisifes Environmental Studies major requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
CHE 220, 320, 321, 325 or by permission of the instructor. No laboratory.

CHE 430 - Special Topic (=BIO395)

Coming Soon

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 330, or by permission of the instructor; Biology 111. No laboratory. (Spring)

CHE 440 - Seminar in Inorganic Chemistry: Bioinorganic Chemistry

Many biochemical reactions depend on the presence of metal ions: adjusting the acid-base behavior of water, changing redox potentials and providing adequate pathways for electron and ion transfer, and transporting and activating small molecules like oxygen. Modern medicine has explored inorganic chemistry for cancer treatments (cisplatin), MRI contrast agents (gadolinium), and anti-inflammatories. Inorganic chemists have been inspired by biochemistry to develop new and more elegant chemical compounds that replicate enzymatic processes ex vivo such as photosynthetic electron transfers and carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions.

Chemistry 440 will touch on these and many other aspects of bioinorganic chemistry. In the beginning of the semester, we will discuss general reaction processes in inorganic chemistry. These processes will then be placed in a biological context through literature discussions and case studies. Students will discuss relevant and recent literature as well as ultimately develop a sample research proposal as a final project in the course

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 240. No laboratory.

CHE 450 - Seminar in Organic Chemistry

Advanced topics in organic chemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 350. No laboratory. (Spring)

CHE 460 - Seminar in Physical Chemistry

Advanced topics in physical chemistry related to instructor’s areas of interest and expertise.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 352/360. No laboratory. (Fall, offered every two years)

CHE 496 - Senior Research I

CHE 497 - Senior Research II

CHE 498 - Thesis Research

Experimental chemistry project conducted with the direction and supervision of a faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic of the research and evaluates the student’s work. Admission by consent of the faculty member following accepatance of the student’s written research proposal. This course is intended for senior students that are completing a thesis for evaluation by the department and pursuing an honors degree. Consult the department’s guidelines for the preparation of independent research proposals.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chemistry 496 or a summer of research with the instructor after the student’s junior year. (Fall and Spring)

CHI 101 - Elementary Chinese I

CHI 102 - Elementary Chinese II

CHI 120 - Introduction to Chinese Culture (in translation)

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 121 - Introduction to Traditional Chinese Culture (in translation)

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 122 - Introduction to Chinese Visual Culture (in translation)

This course introduces students to different aspects of Chinese visual culture including traditional ink paintings, popular publications, propaganda posters, performance art, as well as cinema. We will explore broader themes, such as the representation of the natural world and its relationship to people; women, gender, and ethnicity in visual arts; and the formation of Chinese identity at home an abroad in the diaspora community. This course is taught in English.

Satisfies a requirement in the Art History major and minor.
Satisfies the Literature, Culture, and Cinema requirement of the Chinese Studies minor.
Satisifes a requirement in the East Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

CHI 201 - Intermediate Chinese I

CHI 202 - Intermediate Chinese II

CHI 206 - Introduction to Traditional Chinese Literature

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Students entering before 2012: satisfies Literature requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 207 - Engendering Chinese Cinema

Satisfies a Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 220 - Modern Chinese Fiction and Film (1919 - 1949)

Explores Chinese fiction and film from 1919 to 1949. Addresses historical, political and literary or cinematic background; considers origins of modern Chinese consciousness, influence of foreign literature, images of oppressed peoples, social roles of the modern Chinese writers, family, women and gender, politics, nation and revolution. 

Satisfies a minor requirement in Chinese Studies.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in East Asian Studies.
Students entering 2012 and after: satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, cultural diversity, and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 224 - Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. (Not offered every year.)

CHI 225 - Crime & Detective Literature (in translation)

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 226 - In the Name of Religion: Love and Gender in Chinese Fiction and Film

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Students entering before 2012: satisfies Literature requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 228 - Modern Chinese Literature in Translation

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English.

CHI 253 - Business Chinese Language

Business Chinese is designed to develop students’ communicative competency in reading, writing, and speaking business Chinese at the intermediate and advanced level.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chinese 202 or equivalent is required.

CHI 265 - Contemporary Chinese Society and Culture

This course explores issues in Chinese society and culture, and includes on-site visits to important places in China. In addition to the course requirements, students will be required to maintain a field journal. This course will also be informed by the travel experiences included in the program.

CHI 295 - Independent Study

Course information coming soon.

CHI 301 - Advanced Chinese I

CHI 302 - Advanced Chinese II

CHI 303 - Advanced Conversational Chinese

CHI 350 - Advanced Reading and Writing

CHI 353 - Advanced Composition and Conversation

This course is designed to develop students’ communicative competency in speaking and writing at the advanced level. Students are expected to have completed three years of modern Chinese at the college level.

CHI 354 - Advanced Conversation and Composition II

Chinese 354 is designed to develop students’ communicative competency in speaking and writing at the advanced level. The course introduces students to more literary texts by famous writers including Lu Xun, Xu Dishan, Zhu Ziqing, etc. and (classical) idiomatic expressions as well as two-part allegorical expressions. Chinese 354 serves as a transitional course from modern Chinese to classical Chinese.

Prerequisites & Notes
Chinese 353 or equivalent. Students are expected to have completed three years of modern Chinese at the college level before taking this class.

CHI 360 - Issues in Chinese Society

The topic for this course rotates; it is offered by the faculty from the School of Social Development and Public Policy (taught in English). In 2016, the anticipated class will be The Chinese Marketplace, a course on the impact of globalization on China taught by an anthropologist.

Prerequisites & Notes
UG Credit

CHI 395 - Advanced Independent Study

CHI 401 - Advanced Chinese I

Reading and discussion of modern Chinese written and verbal texts with an emphasis on developing oral and aural fluency, expanding vocabulary, deepening grammatical knowledge, and learning Chinese writing conventions.

Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Chinese Language and Liturature major and minor requirement.
Satisfies foreign language requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CHI 302

CHI 402 - Advanced Chinese III

Reading and discussion of modern Chinese written and verbal texts with an emphasis on developing oral and aural fluency, expanding vocabulary, deepening grammatical knowledge, and learning Chinese writing conventions.

Satisfies a major requirement in Chinese Language and Literature

Satisfies a major requirement in East Asian Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Chinese Studies

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in East Asian Studies

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: CHI 401

CHI 405 - Chinese Cinema and Modern Literature (in translation)

Reading and discussion of selected works in Chinese literature and cinema. Discussion of individual research projects.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the East Asian Studies major.
Satisfies a requirement in the Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Taught in English. May repeat for credit if the subject is different.

CHI 406 - Seminar: Topics in Traditional Chinese Literature

CHI 450 - Topics in Advanced Modern Chinese

Selected topics on Chinese current affairs, economy, culture, literature, etc. It is designed for students who have successfully completed Advanced Modern Chinese courses or its equivalent. The goal is to bring students to native or near-native competence in all aspects of modern Chinese. Prepares students for advanced research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Taught in Chinese. Actual contents, requirements and teaching style may vary from instructor to instructor. Can repeat for credit. Check with the instructor who teaches the class for updates. 

Satisfies Chinese Language and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Foreign Language requirement

CHI 451 - Topics in Advanced Modern Chinese

Selected topics on Chinese current affairs, economy, culture, literature, etc.   It is designed for students who have successfully completed Advanced Modern Chinese courses or its equivalent. The goal is to bring students to native or near-native competence in all aspects of modern Chinese. Prepares students for advanced research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Taught in Chinese. Actual contents, requirements and teaching style may vary from instructor to instructor.  Can repeat for credit.  Check with the instructor who teaches the class for updates. 

Pre-requisite: CHI 401

Satisfies Chinese Language and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Foreign Language requirement

CHI 498 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

CHI 499 - Honors Thesis

Independent honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member.

CLA 111 - The Ancient World

An introduction to the world of heroes like Odysseus and Romulus, gods like Athena and Bacchus, rulers like Cleopatra and Augustus, historians like Herodotus and Livy, martyrs like the seven Jewish brothers and Perpetua. The Greco-Roman world saw the beginning of history and philosophy, tragedy and comedy, epic and epigram. It laid the foundations of democracy. If the Greeks lived around the Mediterranean Sea like frogs around a pond, as Plato said, the Romans conquered the pond and then some. Yet for all these achievements, millions of people in this world lived and died in slavery, and the average life expectancy was 35 years, due to an appallingly high infant mortality rate.

This course will introduce students to this diverse and influential world, paying particular attention to how we know what we know, resources (print, electronic, material) for studying the classical world, and connections between the classical world and our own. 

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Counts towards the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as a pre-modern course in the History major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Offered annually, Fall only.)

CLA 226 - Greek and Roman Epic (in Translation)

The epic poems produced by the Greeks and Romans have had an enduring legacy virtually unmatched in literary history. In this course, we will read English translations of some of best of these epics, including: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, telling the stories of Achilles at Troy and Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan war; Apollonius’ Argonautica, which charts the tumultuous journey of Jason and the Argonauts to claim the legendary Golden Fleece from the far-off realm of Colchis, on the coast of the Black Sea; Virgil’s Aeneid, which tells the story of Trojan refugees who made their way to Italy and became the ancestors of the Romans; Lucan’s Civil War, a historical epic about the Roman 1^st century BCE civil war between Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar; and the Late Antique epyllia Claudian’s De Raptu Proserpinae and Prudentius’ Psychomachia, short epics treating, respectively, the underworld god Pluto’s kidnapping of Proserpina, and the allegorical “Battle of the Soul” between Vices and Virtues for control of the Christian soul.  

Students will learn about the epic poetic tradition, epic poetry’s generic idiosyncrasies, the imitative engagement these poems had with one another in antiquity (and their influence into the present), and the various socio-historical contexts that form a crucial backdrop for the creation of these striking and powerful poems.

Satisfies a major requirement in Classical Languages & Literature
Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Classical Studies
Satisfies a major and minor requirement in English
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
None. Students at all levels welcome.

CLA 233 - Justice in a Pure Democracy: Searching for Equal Rights in Ancient Athens

Using speeches from the Athenian lawcourts as case studies, this course will explore how justice was administered in the Classical Athenian democracy. How close did the Athenians come to achieving the isonomia-equality before the law-they boasted of? What legal difference did divisions between women and men, slave and free, foreigner and Athenian, immigrant and citizen, youth and adult make? To find out, we will read speeches by Aischines, Andokides, Antiphon, Demosthenes, Hypereides, Isaios, and Lysias, a sample of Greek orators employing all their rhetorical skills.

Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern requirement in the History major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Fall)

CLA 235 - Families of the Ancient Mediterranean

In this course, we will explore the definitions, forms, and roles of families in societies of the ancient Mediterranean, focusing on ancient Greece and Rome but also considering Carthage, Egypt, and Israel. What constituted a “family” in these societies? How were ancient families integrated into social, economic, and political life? What similarities do families of the ancient Mediterranean share with one another and with modern families, and how do ancient conceptions of family differ from our own? Topics will include marriage and divorce, childbirth, adoption, parenthood, childhood, slavery, houses and households, household religion, ancestors, and inheritance patterns.  Throughout the course, we will be attentive to the diversity of families both across and within ancient societies, taking into account factors like ethnicity and social status.

The readings will be drawn largely from primary texts, including Homer, Lysias, Euripides, Plautus, Cicero, and the Roman legal code. We will also examine material evidence, ranging from the archaeology of ancient houses to inscribed tombstones to the imagery of sculptures, paintings, and coins. In addition, we will consider social-scientific approaches to ancient families, drawing on scholarship in the fields of sociology and demography.

Satisfies Classical Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Classical Languages and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies History major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Spring 2022)

CLA 238 - War & Gender in Ancient World

This course explores the ways that warfare in ancient Greece and Rome both depended on and produced particular ideas about gender. We will consider not only the actual experiences of warfare by ancient men and women, but also the role of gender in ancient discourse about war and the influence of militarism more generally on ancient conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Topics include the representation of women as war’s cause, purpose, or medium; combat trauma and masculinity; women warriors; gendered divisions of wartime labor; sexual violence in war; gender and resistance to war; militarism and the socialization of young men; feminized depictions of “the enemy”; gender and war commemorations; and militarized representations of love and sex. For each topic, we will also explore the intersections of gender with other dimensions of social difference, such as social status and ethnicity.

We will examine literary and material evidence from Greco-Roman antiquity, including readings in Homer, Euripides, Vergil, Livy, and Ovid, and imagery on vase paintings, sculptural reliefs, coins, and ancient inscriptions. We will also read contemporary scholarship on gender and warfare and discuss recent film and literary adaptations of ancient sources on these topics, such as Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq (2015) and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (2018).

Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.
Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts toward the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor. Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern requirement in the History major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

CLA 244 - Field School in Mediterranean Archaeology

Counts as an elective toward the Classical Studies major and the Classical Languages and Literature major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required. (Summer only.)

CLA 250 - Classical Mythology

Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Satisfies the historical approaches requirement in the English major.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

CLA 252 - Classics in the Cinema

This course will analyze films set in the ancient Roman world, approximately one each week, starting from Giovanni Pastrone’s silent classic Cabiria (1914) and proceeding chronologically to Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora (2009), including along the way big movies such as Quo Vadis, Spartacus, Cleopatra (1963), and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, comedies both serious and silly such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Life of Brian, and History of the World, Part I, the blockbuster Gladiator and challenging films such as Fellini Satyricon and Titus that some might call bloody and disgusting. We will also include some episodes of HBO’s Rome, a small-screen series with high production values. We will pay particular attention not only to the films as films, but also to the cultural and political contexts in which they were made.

All the movies are in English or dubbed into English. Assignments will include a creative video project on a film set in the ancient world that we are not covering in the course.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.

Counts toward the major in English
Counts toward the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2021-2022)

CLA 260 - Hell

Humanity has always been obsessed with the idea of the afterlife. Nowhere is this more powerfully - and frighteningly - articulated than in artistic conceptions of “Hell,” a dark, infernal place reserved for those deemed, at best, morally insufficient, and at worst, willfully malevolent. Though Hell for modern audiences carries unavoidable Christian overtones, the basic theoretical and conceptual outlines of a gloomy netherworld have existed across cultures for millennia. This course investigates different representations of Hell in a variety of artistic “texts” from antiquity to the present. By studying closely the concept of Hell, students will explore artistic influences, compare different genres, and examine a range of cultural value systems.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as an elective in the English major.

CLA 265 - TBD

CLA 275 - Slavery in the Ancient World

“Hold me, I have run away,” reads the inscription on a Roman slave collar. Slavery was a violent and pervasive part of life in the ancient Mediterranean. In this course, we will explore the institution of slavery, focusing on ancient Athens, Sparta, and Rome, but also considering civilizations such as ancient Crete, Persia, Egypt, and Carthage. What was the status of enslaved people under the law? How did gender, age, and ethnicity affect the treatment that enslaved people received and the violence they faced? How did they form relationships and articulate their identities? What influence did they have on ancient economies? How did they resist their enslavers and sometimes achieve their freedom? And what can we learn about this population from evidence largely (but not exclusively) created by their citizen enslavers?

Whenever possible, we will approach these questions from the perspective of the people who were forced to undergo the violence of slavery and we will explore strategies for accessing their experiences, including the use of comparative evidence from the Atlantic slave trade. In addition to reading ancient literary sources such as Greek legal cases and Roman comic plays, we will place particular emphasis on ancient archaeological evidence, including funerary monuments, manumission inscriptions, graffiti, and curse tablets. Finally, we will use the historical methods developed in this class to examine and reflect on the history of Davidson College, whose first seven buildings were built with bricks made by enslaved persons.

Please note that students in this course will read and discuss scenes of physical and sexual violence, including the abuse of children. The instructor encourages students with questions about this course and its challenging subject matter to contact them directly.

Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts toward the major and minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Counts toward the major and the minor in History.
Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students of all levels welcome

CLA 277 - Rome and Carthage

Between the 8^th and 3^rd centuries BCE, Rome and Carthage developed from small settlements into the two major powers controlling much of the western Mediterranean. After centuries of peaceful relations between these two city-states, a series of three wars broke out between them from 264 to 146 BCE. Rome’s ultimate victories in these wars would firmly secure its status as hegemon of the western Mediterranean and pave the way for further imperial expansion to the east. But Carthaginian cultural practices did not cease to exist, and the area flourished for centuries as the Roman province of Africa. 

In this course, we will trace the development of these two ancient city-states and their relationship with one another from their foundations through the imperial period of the first several centuries CE. We will compare the two societies in the centuries before their conflicts. How were they similar to and different from one another in terms of origins, political system, military culture, approaches to expansion, social structure, ethnicity and identity, and religion? How did these city-states interact with one another during this period? Then we will turn to the three wars themselves, investigating their causes, progress, and eventual outcome. Finally, we will look at the immediate and long-term consequences of these wars for both Roman and Carthaginian societies, and we will think about how both cultures later reflected upon their interactions with one another in peace and in war.

The readings will be drawn largely from primary texts, including the works of Diodorus, Polybius, Plautus, Livy, and Vergil. We will also pay close attention to the rich body of material evidence from both Rome and Carthage, including sculptures, architecture, coins, and inscriptions.

Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as a pre-modern course for the History major and as a 300-level course for the History minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2021-2022)

CLA 325 - Families of the Ancient Mediterranean

In this course, we will explore the definitions, forms, and roles of families in societies of the ancient Mediterranean, focusing on ancient Greece and Rome but also considering Carthage, Egypt, and Israel. What constituted a “family” in these societies? How were ancient families integrated into social, economic, and political life? What similarities do families of the ancient Mediterranean share with one another and with modern families, and how do ancient conceptions of family differ from our own? Topics will include marriage and divorce, childbirth, adoption, parenthood, childhood, slavery, houses and households, household religion, ancestors, and inheritance patterns.  Throughout the course, we will be attentive to the diversity of families both across and within ancient societies, taking into account factors like ethnicity and social status.

The readings will be drawn largely from primary texts, including Homer, Lysias, Euripides, Plautus, Cicero, and the Roman legal code. We will also examine material evidence, ranging from the archaeology of ancient houses to inscribed tombstones to the imagery of sculptures, paintings, and coins. In addition, we will consider social-scientific approaches to ancient families, drawing on scholarship in the fields of sociology and demography.

Satisfies Classical Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Classical Languages and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies History major requirement.
Satisfies Historical Thought Ways of Knowing requirement.

CLA 332 - Greeks and Persians

This course explores the various cultural, economic, military, political, and religious interactions between the Greeks and the Achaemenid Persians, rulers of the first world empire, and investigates how Herodotus, the “Father of History,” constructed his grand narrative. The focus will be on the period from Cyrus the Great to Xerxes (559-478 BCE), but we will pay some attention to the later Greek and the modern reception of this early confrontation between east and west, including the movie 300. 

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern course requirement in the History major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. 

CLA 336 - Augustus and the Roman Republic

After several decades of civil war, Augustus set out to “restore the republic.” Yet when he died 45 years later, his political position was inherited by his stepson, Tiberius. Republican governance by Roman senate and people had morphed into a form of hereditary monarchy that would last for centuries. Nor was change limited to the political sphere. This period witnessed profound transformations to Roman society, religion, literature, art, and even the physical fabric of the city of Rome. 

This course explores all of these aspects of the dynamic period corresponding to Augustus’ lifespan (63 BC - AD 14). We will examine the breakdown of the Roman republican system, which resulted in the outbreak of a series of civil wars. Then we will investigate the various ways that Augustus sought to repair and renew a society that had been fractured by the wars from which he emerged victorious. We will also consider the responses to these reforms by inhabitants of Rome and the provinces. While the figure of Augustus looms large during this period, he was by no means the only agent of change, and the transformations he spearheaded were not always uncontested.

The readings will be drawn largely from primary texts, including Augustus’ own account of his deeds (the Res Gestae); selections from the works of Vergil, Horace, Ovid, and other contemporary authors; and Suetonius’ Life of Augustus. We will also pay close attention to the rich body of material evidence from the period, including sculptures, paintings, architecture, coins, and inscriptions.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts as a 300-level course and fulfills the pre-modern course requirement in the History major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

CLA 399 - Independent Study in Classical Studies

Research and writing under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) and evaluates the student’s work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

CLA 456 - Minting Money: Coins, Politics, and the Economy in the Ancient World

Produced by the billions in antiquity, millions of ancient Greek and Roman coins still exist today. Coins are tangible pieces of ancient history, forming the largest category of surviving material evidence from the ancient world. In this course, we will examine the development of coined money in the ancient Mediterranean from its origins in the 7^th century BCE through the 4^th century CE. How and why were these objects made and circulated? What roles did coins play in ancient economic and political systems and in the everyday lives of inhabitants of the Mediterranean world? How can we use this rich body of evidence to investigate topics ranging from trade patterns to the architecture of monuments, from political propaganda to ritual practices, from mint output to specific historical events? What special data do coins offer the field archaeologist, and what special challenges do they pose for the cultural property lawyer?

In addition to surveying the types and uses of various coinages from the Greco-Roman world, students will be introduced to methodological approaches used by scholars studying ancient coins. These include die studies, analysis of coin hoards, archaeological inferences from coin finds, metallurgical analysis of coins, and statistical techniques. Students will gain hands-on experience applying these methods to the college’s collection of ancient coins during a “lab session” each week. They will also catalog the coins and contribute written and visual material for a virtual exhibition of the college’s coins.

Satisfies Classical Languages and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies Classical Studies major and minor requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Not offered in 2021-2022) 

CLA 480 - Senior Research Seminar

Capstone course for classics majors. Students define, research, and write a major research paper on a topic of their choice.

Satisfies a requirement for the major in Classical Languages and Literature and the major in Classical Studies.

Prerequisites & Notes
Required of senior majors in Classical Languages and Literature and in Classical Studies. (Fall)

CLA 499 - Senior Thesis

COM 101 - Principles of Oral Communication

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

COM 201 - Introduction to Communication Studies

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.

Satisfies a Communication Studies Interdisciplinary minor requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes

This course may be offered as an indpendent study should a need exist for international students.

COM 202 - Rhetorical Criticism

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirements.
Satisfies a Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.

COM 204 - Debate, Deliberation and Critical Thinking

This course will teach students how to navigate contentious issues during a time of upheaval and uncertainty and help them develop the skills and understanding to know when debate or deliberation is the best way to grapple with a complex-emotionally-charged subject. We will explore why anger and passion can sometimes be used as effective tools - when challenged properly - to effectively communicate across difference, as well as how to determine when disengagement is more effective than engagement, and vice versa. This course is designed for students ready to grapple with how to maintain critical thinking skills through discomfort.

Satisfies a Communication Studies major and minor requirement.

COM 207 - Trump, Obama, Race and 21st Century U.S. Media

Satisfies Digital & Screen Media major requirement.
Satisfies Communication Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

COM 216 - Rhetorics of Masculinity

This class explore masculinities from a communication perspective that centers it as socially constructed, performative, contextual, cultural, and negotiated. We will examine how the discourse of masculinities changed over time, the time periods that heralded those discursive changes, how certain masculinities emerge as hegemonic, and how different identity markers affect the construction of masculinities.

Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

COM 218 - Gendered Communication in Society (= SOC 218)

Examination of the social construction of gender in both personal relationships and professional contexts. Areas to be explored may include culture, verbal and nonverbal communication, family dynamics and close relationships, education, organizational communication, and roles in media.

Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology and in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Satisfies a requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement