The last great generation of the Roman Republic emerges from the historical mists. The dynamic between Caesar, Cato, Cicero, Crassus, and Pompey forms the axis around which the rest of this tale revolves.

How are the things we’re talking about being talked about somewhere else in the world? This class follows our familiar words and conversations into unfamiliar territory. It takes learners on a journey to distant lands to study the relationship between language and culture and how different ethnic groups perceive the world.

In 522 BCE, the Persian Empire sat on the edge of chaos. Between March and September of that year, 3 men sat on the Persian throne, and according to the official royal history, one of those kings was actually impersonated by a couple of magi. In this class. we'll follow the story of Kambujiya (Cambyses) II, Gaumata the Usurper, and Darayavahush (Darius) the Great.

This class will prepare learners to work with a great range of evidence and to consider questions from varied viewpoints. It will help them sharpen their critical thinking skills, conquer any fears they may have of public speaking, and teach them how to make convincing arguments. As learners explore and apply the principles of argumentation and debate, they'll learn how to read academic research papers, examine controversial topics, learn to be critical in academic inquiry, analyze and utilize primary source documents, engage in argumentative discussions, and construct argumentative academic essays. Students should be prepared to have any and all assumptions challenged!

Is there a connection between genius & madness, creativity & insanity? In this class, students will join others in lively discussions as we try to define “normal” and determine whether creativity is ingenuity, inspiration, or insanity. Students will trace the history of social and artistic transgression, read texts from Plato to Poe, and discuss when and why our culture decided to call a madman a genius and a genius mad.

The wars which elevate Rome to superpower status also sow the seed for the downfall of its political system. Money, slaves, ambition, political stalemate, and class warfare prove to be a toxic, bloody mix. Covering Ancient Rome from 133 BCE, this course explores political, social, and economic factors commonly offered to explain the fall of the Roman Republic.

This class challenges students with a radically different approach to political history that presents events from the perspective of stateless peoples and explores the idea of state-making as a form of “internal colonialism.”

Learn the methodology of deciphering ancient scripts and languages and get a chance to crack some of the world’s most famous undeciphered writing systems.

This course aims to discuss and analyze maps that show the world from a different angle- strange maps that are delightfully obscure, shockingly partisan, blatantly incorrect, and more, all the while exploring the topics of human & political world geography.