Friday, January 4, 2013

Welcome Rhetoric I!


Welcome to the Rhetoric I History Blog! We will be using this blog as part of our class. It will serve several purposes. I will be using the class blog to post some of our reading assignments, as well as videos and other links. You should also begin using the blog to ask questions about assignments or resources.
Additionally, most weeks you will be required to post a brief thought or reflection about the week’s readings. Your post should be no longer than a paragraph. Consider this your opportunity to share thoughts from your reading journal with class! Excellent postings might include:
1.      Your thoughts on a virtue or vice exhibited by one of the individuals from the readings.
2.     A historical or philosophical issue raised by one of the readings
3.      An argument you have with a concept presented in one of the readings
Please feel free, in a spirit of Christian charity, to comment on one another’s postings!
Please limit your comments to classroom related topics only! 
The posts will be due 48 hours before our class meetings. Posts will NOT be due on weeks in which there are no Reading Journals due. 
 Note: the first postings will be due Week 15. I will post an entry for your particular class, and you will post your thoughts in the comment section for your particular class. 

Optional Architecture Module: (Humanities)
For students interested in expanding their knowledge of the ancient world further, I will be offering an additional optional module on Roman architecture. To receive a grade for this module the student will be required to complete the following:
1.      Watch the entire Yale Lecture series on Roman Architecture. (Videos 1-24)
2.      Submit one reflection essay for, at least, three lecture. (except for lectures 1 and 24)
3.      Submit a short research paper on one notable Roman structure. (Guidelines will be provided for those who elect to do this module.
4.      Create a model Roman Town of their own design that accurately demonstrates the distinctive nature of Roman architecture and urban planning.  
5.      The lectures can be found on YouTube, at the following link:


Online Research Resources
When doing research, I would like you to use the following excellent sites as your first stop. Besides the library, these offer the most reliable options available. Only move on to other resources, once you have checked these first!
roman-empire.net/maps/map-empire.html - A List of Maps, which show the changing scope of Rome over the course of her history.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook09.asp   - Fordham University’s Roman page, has lots of primary sources and thematically listed material.
http://www.vroma.org/ - A great resource for pictures and images of or relating to Roman history.  It also has created a virtual Roman world that allows students to more interactively learn about Rome itself, set in the year A.D. 150.
livius.org/rome.html - Contains links to short articles on a variety of topics and people of ancient Rome.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/home.html - A fairly extensive set of links to pictures and images, Latin texts and their translations, subtopics such as military history, and more.
The Perseus Project - A gold mine for searchable Latin and Greek texts and their English translations.  It also contains a full version of the Lewis and Short Latin dictionary other very helpful tools.
De Imperatoribus Romanis - an on-line encyclopedia of Roman rulers and their families from Augustus (27 BC-AD 14) to Constantine XI Palaeologus (1449-1453).

Discussion Leader Guidelines
Please have a look at this introduction to leading classroom discussion! 


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