Ancient Rome
 

 

Announcements

Bookmark this page as your main entry point to the course website. That way, you’ll be sure to see any changes and other information I’ve posted here.

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Current Announcements (2)

Grades are posted

29 May 2024

Course grades have been posted to CUNYfirst. Have a great summer!

Link to My Grades page

Grading page updated

28 May 2024

The grading page has been updated with all papers I have received and a provisional grade for the course. If there is an assignment or revision you’re sure you submitted but that isn’t reflected on the grading page, please contact me immediately.

Official grades will be posted to CUNYfirst on Wednesday.

I was very impressed by a lot of the written work for this semester—there were some seriously thoughtful papers and papers this time around, and for many of you the effort at insight and scholarship really came through. Thanks for your hard work in your assignments as well as in our class discussions. I hope you have a safe and happy summer break and that you enjoy success in your future endeavors.

Link to My Grades page

Archive

Final Exam grades and markups posted

20 May 2024

The grades and markups for the Final Exam are posted on the My Grades page on the course website.

If you have any questions about the grades, comments, or deductions, please don’t hesitate to seek me out by email.

Missing essays. If any of your written assignments are not yet submitted, please do so as soon as you can (no later than May 27). In terms of your course grade you’re better off with any grade, even with a lateness penalty, than a zero for the assignment. Remember also that the lateness penalty is capped at a maximum of 30 points, so turning your paper in, even very late, is better than not doing so.

Link to My Grades page

Position Paper grades and markups posted

19 May 2024

The grades and markups for the Position Paper are posted on the My Grades page on the course website.

If you have any questions about the grades, comments, or deductions, please don’t hesitate to seek me out by email.

Reversible deductions. Some of you may find that you received “reversible deductions” for issues relating to formatting and citations. The good news is, those are points that you can get back. Check the cover page of your markup to see if there are any check marks and points taken off next to the reversible deductions. If there are, I made notes on the cover sheet or in the essay about the issue, and included a handout with the requirements.

Please resubmit your essay to BlackBoard with those problems fixed, and I’ll be in a position to reverse those deductions. Only reversible deductions can be reversed, so don’t resubmit for anything other than reversible deductions.

Missing essays. If you have not gotten your paper in, please do so as soon as you can. In terms of your course grade you’re better off with any grade, even with a lateness penalty, than a zero for the assignment. Remember also that the lateness penalty is capped at a maximum of 30 points, so turning your paper in, even very late, is better than not doing so.

Remember, the deadline for all late papers and submissions for reversible deductions is May 27. I will not accept any papers or revisions after that date.

Link to My Grades page

Good luck on the exam!

16 May 2024

I’ll be in my office hours from 5 p.m. in CA-292 if you have any last-minute questions or ideas you want to discuss. Good luck, and I’ll see you tonight at 6:15 p.m.!

Link to Exams page

Student Evaluation of Teaching and Learning (SETL)

13 May 2024

I’ve been asked to remind everyone about the student evaluations, as they’re looking for a higher proportion of respondents.

CUNY considers students’ assessments of their instructors to be an important tool, and that's a good thing. The survey plays a key role in allowing the College to respond to student needs and desires. Student evaluations of teaching and learning (SETL) results can be used:

  • by faculty as feedback on their instruction and pedagogy;
  • by faculty, departments, schools, and the college as one source of evidence of teaching effectiveness for annual reviews as well as for tenure and promotion considerations;
  • by students as part of selecting courses and instructors;
  • by the college as evidence of the student experience in Lehman College courses and for a variety of accreditation and other accountability processes.

You can find the SETL page for all your courses in your Lehman emails or by logging into Lehman 360.

Link to Lehman 360

Welcome to Week 15!

11 May 2024

This week is the final exam for the course. The final exam will be held in-person on Thursday, May 16 from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m. in our normal meeting room.

Please arrive on time. You will only have the two-hour exam period to take the exam.

Review materials are posted on the Exams page. Good luck! Email me with any questions. I’ll have my regular office hours on Tuesday.

If you miss the final exam: Make-ups will be arranged only in cases of documented personal or medical emergency. Otherwise, per CUNY policy a student who does not complete the course by taking the final exam will automatically receive a grade of WU (unofficial withdrawal), which counts as an F toward your GPA, unless an incomplete has been mutually agreed by student and instructor prior to the ultimate submission deadline for the course (Sunday, May 26).

Link to Exams page

Welcome to Week 14!

5 May 2024

Modern bronze statue of Constantine the Great looking down upon his broken sword, which forms the shape of a cross.

This week, after we finish talking about the Third Century Crisis, we're going to be talking about the recovery from the Third Century Crisis, which takes the form of a number of new normals including the division of the empire, a new conception of the emperorship known as the Dominate, and the interweaving of Christianity with the Roman political state. How much of the credit for the empire's recovery do you think should go to Diocletian and Constantine? What other factors made it possible for the empire to endure another century and a half in the west and a full millennium in the east after the near-fatal triple calamity of the Third Century? How inevitable was the empire's mutual intrusion with the church?

Finally comes the last stage of the Roman empire in the west, while the eastern empire goes on without it. Given that the empire stabilizes itself in the fourth century, what do you think are the most telling factors in why the western half falls apart so rapidly in the fifth century? Could the Romans have done anything about it?

Now's a good time to think about the Roman idea. What perseveres about the idea of "Romanness" between Romulus and Romulus Augustus? There's something still palpably Roman that runs through this entire 1300-year story. What does Romanness, Romanitas, consist of? What remains consistent and how does it evolve over the long centuries of Roman transformation?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Thursday!

Link to Schedule page

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