CLAS-3405 Antiquity and Modernity

Antiquity and Modernity explores the ways in which the ancient world is constructed through the lenses of modern art, literature, and scholarship, focusing especially on contemporary media. Topics to be covered include the influence of classical texts on modern constructions of sexuality; the links between the avant-garde of both the ancient world and the modern; the political uses and abuses of antiquity; and the production of 'camp.' The course also serves as an introduction to reception theory, a subfield of cultural criticism. All readings are in translation. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor