This is multi-session seminar and must be taken as a series.
The growth and development of many well-known ancient Greek sites can be more fully understood and appreciated in the context of their geological settings and plate-tectonic dynamics (especially earthquakes, faulting, tsunami, and volcanism). Sites such as Delphi, Mycenae, Ithaka (Cephalonia), Akrotiri (Thera), Helike, Thermopolyae, and Ancient Corinth are some of the examples where there is the opportunity to explore the fusion between human history and geological history. In the spirit of University of Arizona’s emphasis on interdisciplinary inquiry, this Humanities Seminar is an uncommon meshing of the humanities and the geosciences.
The general outline of the content of this four-week course follows:
Week 1: Plate-tectonic and human-cultural dynamic shifts over time
Week 2: Site-cultural growth and demise: Minoan, Mycenaean, and Dark Ages
Week 3: Site-cultural growth and demise: Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic
Week 4: Integration of the archaeological-geological record at the Sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion: Final Neolithic through Hellenistic Period.
We will be able to visualize plate-tectonic and geological processes by using video clips and animations. Real-time earthquake events that happen to take place in Greece during this course will be exploited as illustrations of natural hazards that have throughout history impacted those living in the Greek world.
Cost: $100
