Previous participation and previous knowledge not required. Are you curious about how Maya hieroglyphs are read and what they say? Maya glyphs are one of the most visually interesting writing systems in the world, and are still being deciphered today. In this reading group, we will learn about the process of decipherment, how to read […]

Previous participation and previous knowledge not required. Reading will focus around the Historians Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, and Tacitus, with appearances from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca. Sessions will be structured roughly chronologically (5th century. Roman Republic, The Pricipate), examining change and continuity in political theory and analysis, considering the parallels with our own times. Participants […]

Previous participation and previous knowledge not required. The reading group will explore how royal women participated in politics and court intrigue, focusing particularly on the city of Mari in ancient Syria (the wives and daughters of King Zimri-Lim) and the Achaemenid Persian empire. Readings would center on personal letters written to/by royal women as well […]

Previous participation and previous knowledge not required. For those new to this subject, the field of “Archaeo-Musicology” is engaged in the study of ancient music informed by archaeological finds. In the ancient Near-Eastern (Mesopotamia) the musical information is primarily deduced or retrieved from instruments, instrumental inlays, wall reliefs, and iconography. On occasion one will find […]