Greek

Ancient Greek is the language known to us from the writings of Homer, Sappho, Plato, and Sophocles, along with many other authors; in a dialect called koine it also forms the language of the New Testament. It differs widely enough from the Greek spoken today that the two are considered separate languages. Since it is no longer a living tongue, ancient Greek is taught in a different way than most of the other languages offered at Bard: Students acquire fluency in reading only, not in speaking or conversing. Their goal is to read great literary, historical and philosophical works in the original, rather than to communicate their own thoughts and ideas in a foreign language. As a secondary objective they will attain a thorough understanding of grammatical structures found in all Western languages, as well as a familiarity with the linguistic roots that make up much of modern English, in particular the vocabulary of science, medicine and literary analysis.

Beginning Ancient Greek is offered every year at Bard, either in an indivisible two-semester sequence or in a double-credit Intensive version in one semester. Because of the special needs of language learning, classes meet four days a week, rather than the two or three typical of other Bard courses. No prior knowledge of the language or alphabet is required. The course is designed to advance students through levels of grammatical complexity, such that they attain an ability to read standard Greek authors by the end of the first year. Students interested primarily in Biblical Greek, with its comparatively simple grammar, may be able to continue reading on their own from that point; those focused on the Classical period will want to go on to at least a third semester of course work in order to solidify and strengthen the skills acquired in the first year.

Second-year Greek courses focus on prose authors and poets whose works have the broadest relevance to modern culture, yet whose styles are relatively easy to master. These include the poets Homer, Hesiod, Sappho, and Euripides, and the prose writers Plato, Herodotus and Xenophon. Usually the second year is divided such that students who complete both courses are trained in reading poetry as well as prose.

In the third year of language study, students are equipped to read virtually any author in the canon of Greek literature, including Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Aristotle and Thucydides. At this level the faculty typically arrange tutorials with students, allowing them to select the authors and texts most relevant to their interests.

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Latin

Elementary Latin I (Lat 101) and II (Lat 102)
The first year of Latin is an in-depth introduction to the phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of Classical Latin. Students gain familiarity with the language’s sounds (phonology); how words may change their forms to create meaning (morphology); the ordering of words and other elements into grammatical clauses and sentences (syntax); and both a basic set of words (vocabulary) and a sense of how those words may relate to each other via derivational morphology and to cognates in other languages, including English, via ‘inheritance’ and ‘borrowing’. Over the course of the year, students are increasingly able to read selections from Classical prose authors like Caesar and Cicero, and from poets like Catullus, Virgil, and Ovid.
[Latin 101 and 102 are indivisible: credit is awarded upon successful completion of the whole year.]

Intermediate Latin I (Lat 201) and II (Lat 202)
The second year of Latin solidifies grammar, and develops fluency in reading, through close reading of selected texts. Readings are in prose and poetry. Typically Lat 201 focuses on Republican authors including Catullus, Cicero, and Caesar, while Lat 202 focuses on Augustan or Imperial authors including Virgil, Livy, and Seneca; Lat 202 may also include Medieval authors. Students gain familiarity with Latin style including poetic meters, with periods and trends in Roman literature, and with the literary and historical contexts of ancient Rome.

Advanced Latin I (Lat 301) and II (Lat 302)

Each semester of third-year Latin is an intensive study of one or more authors, genres, or periods in Latin literature. Readings are at the discretion of the instructor and may be keyed to potential Senior Project topics. Recent semesters have focused on Lucretius’ poem De rerum natura (“On the nature of things”), thus exploring myth and philosophy at Rome and the development of Roman epic; and Tacitus’ Agricola, thus considering questions of historiography and ethnography as well as prose style. Students gain familiarity with varied critical approaches to the ancient texts to develop their own sophistication as readers and critics and not just as translators.

Tutorials and the Senior Project
At the discretion of the faculty, advanced Latin students, and students whose Latin interests are not served by the regular courses, may work with the faculty to design Tutorials. In recent Tutorials students have studied Latin prose composition and read selections in Latin from authors read in English translation in concurrent courses. Students writing Senior Projects on Latin literature or Roman history regularly take Tutorials involving the close reading in Latin of the primary sources for their Project topic.

In addition to the program in Latin, the Classical Studies program at Bard offers a variety of courses which involve reading Latin literature in English translation. These courses can be found in both the division of Language and Literature and in the division of Social Studies. Authors read recently include Tacitus, Virgil, Horace, Cicero, and Ovid.

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Sanskrit