Portland has its very own chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt, and they host a number of interesting lectures throughout the year such as this upcoming one in April on
In The Realm of the Ancient Egyptian God Montu: Temples and Rituals
For details on this and other events, check out their website:
Lectures on Ancient Egypt
29 MarPSU Classics Society call for members
26 FebHere’s info on an organization some Interpreting the Past students might be interested in, they’ve already had some really fun events.
The Portland State Classics Society seeks to develop an appreciation and advocate for a continued use of Classical Languages and Literature in modern education. The Classics Society, or Society for Classical Languages, Literature, and Culture is a student organization at Portland State University founded by students for students which works in close conjunction with Professionals across disciplines to advocate for the continued and imperative use of a broad classics-based liberal arts education at the university level and beyond.
more info at:
Spring 2013 Sophomore Inquiry Topics for Interpreting the Past
21 FebHere is the latest roundup:
George Armantrout
Ancient Greece
Our main theme will be to examine the ideas of Justice and Law in ancient Greece from the time of Homer down to the time of Plato (ca. 750-380 BCE). To this end we will be reading and discussing a variety of ancient texts. We will also consider the role of the divine and the role of the state in these matters. Since context is important, we will also be looking at other issues such as status and gender. A central concern will be how perceptions of these matters change through time.
Jesse Locker
The Baroque
Suspended between medieval and modern, the Baroque age (c. 1600-c. 1750) was a time of paradox. While it was characterized by war, upheaval, corruption, and persecution, it was also period of tremendous social, political, scientific, and artistic innovation and renewal, giving rise to such figures as Galileo, Descartes, Rembrandt, and Cervantes, and laying the foundation for modern ideas about science, religion, individuality, feminism, political theory, and artistic self-determination.
This course will be serve as an introduction to some of the major themes and protagonists of this vibrant era, as well as serving as an introduction to interdisciplinary historical method. The focus of the course will be upon the investigation of primary sources—original texts, images, and rare books—and the secondary scholarly literature, as well as developing research, writing, and presentation skills.
Lea Millay
Darkness and Light: Tales from Medieval France and Premodern Japan
Throughout the ages writers have sought to give form and shape to that which troubles our spirits and haunts our dreams. What is this dark thing, this shadow? Carl Jung used the word “shadow” to describe the part of a human psyche that a person does not want to think about or cannot acknowledge—a mythological name for the dark, unlit side of the ego. But Jung’s is a modern view. How were premodern writers influenced by the dark side of human nature? What did they call it and how was it seen? What methods were used to harness it’s force and tap the potential therein? These are some of the questions we will ask as we compare and contrast literary works from Medieval France (lais of Marie de France and ballades of François Villon) with those from premodern Japan (a tale by Murasaki Shikibu and haiku of Matsuo Bashō). Our purpose is not only to explore the theme of darkness and light within unique historical and cultural contexts, but also to discover what connects us as human beings across distance and time.
African Art Online Class added to spring 2014 schedule
19 FebWe’re excited to announce that an Interpreting the Past online class was just added to the spring schedule, African Art History. We’ve not been able to offer this class in several years and were excited to find a well-regarded professor, Nicolette Trahoulia (PhD Harvard), from another university was willing to teach this course for our Portland State community:
Groovy spreadsheet on overlaps between clusters and minors
21 DecUNST Cluster_minors 2012-2013
I know that many of you like to leverage your coursework for your University Studies cluster requirements into also getting a minor, so I thought I’d post this spreadsheet that I just received from Rowanna Carpenter in the UNST office that maps out all of the ways it’s possible to do this.
Happy holidays!
Anne McClanan
Winter 2013 Sophomore Inquiry Themes
4 NovWinter 2013 Interpreting the Past Sophomore Inquiry Classes
Instructor: George Armantrout, PhD
Ancient Greece
Our main theme will be to examine the ideas of Justice and Law in ancient Greece from the time of Homer down to the time of Plato (ca. 750-380 BCE). To this end we will be reading and discussing a variety of ancient texts. We will also consider the role of the divine and the role of the state in these matters. Since context is important, we will also be looking at other issues such as status and gender. A central concern will be how perceptions of these matters change through time.
Instructor: Leslie W. Batchelder, PhD
Seeing is Believing: Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century
In this class we will examine visual culture of the Nineteenth century from photography, to advertising, to the experience of the built environment and urban cityscapes. We will discuss how artifacts of 19th century visual culture in turn helped to form and solidify modern European Identities.
Instructor: Bill Fischer, PhD
Origins of Sustainable Environmentalism: In the Footsteps of Alexander von Humboldt
The explorations, scientific research, sociological studies, and ethical thought of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) established the principle of interconnectedness – of our planet, its life forms, its natural resources, and its societies. Humboldt was probably the most famous cultural figure of Nineteenth-Century Europe, and was widely known in the United States. After a century of obscurity, he is being rediscovered and recognized as both a heroic explorer and a giant in many fields of endeavor: climate research, plant and animal geography, environmental studies, anthropology, linguistics, and social justice. Humboldt’s work was a major factor in not only modern sustainable environmentalism, but also how the United States developed as an ecology and a society. Counties, towns, schools, universities, geographical features, biological species and, of course the Humboldt Current, commemorate his name.
Instructor: Laurel Pavic, PhD
Sixteenth-century Venice
This fully online SINQ will examine art, culture, and history of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Venice. The Republic of Venice, or “la Serenissima,” was celebrated throughout Europe as a model society worthy of emulation. Using a variety of primary sources and art works, we will examine and evaluate why Venice had this reputation, how the city maintained this status, and the extent to which the claim of Venice as the “perfect society” holds up under historical scrutiny.
Instructor: Sarah Sentilles, DTh
Practices of Looking
You are what you see. This course will examine practices of looking, beginning with ancient Fayum portraits through the invention of photography in the 19th century. We will explore how contemporary forms of image-making depend on, transform, and reanimate ancient ways of thinking about language, communication, and meaning-making. We will examine the history of changing conceptions of image, truth, and viewer, paying particular attention to how these ideas inform and (mis)shape contemporary understandings of what images are, how they work, and what might be required of viewers. We will investigate how human beings engage language and images to make worlds.
SINQ Research Workshops in November
2 NovFRINQ & SINQ Drop-in Research Workshops
It’s the end of the quarter and your projects are due! Get help from a librarian in a workshop tailored to students in FRINQ and SINQ.
Friday 11/9 2:00pm-3:00pm – Library room 170 (no registration necessary)
Wednesday 11/14 5:00pm-6:00pm – ONLINE (register at http://library.pdx.edu/workshops/event_detail.php?id=271&m=11&y=2012)
Thursday 11/15 2:00pm-3:00pm – Library room 160 (no registration necessary)
Tuesday 11/20 7:00pm-8:00pm – ONLINE (register at http://library.pdx.edu/workshops/event_detail.php?id=270&m=11&y=2012)
Monday 11/26 11:00am-12:00pm – Library room 170 (no registration necessary)
Please have a copy of your assignment with you at the workshop.
If these times don’t work, remember that you can get help with your research anytime, both in-person and online http://library.pdx.edu/askus.html
