What does it mean to be democratic? We speak of living in a democratic society, we refer to the “Republican” and “Democratic” parties, and yet do we understand what those terms signify, and what being “democratic” really conveys? We will look for answers first far in the past, with the ancient Greeks and their experiment with demokratia. Students will conduct close readings of texts - in complete form, and in excerpts - such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, Athenian drinking songs, Aeschylus' tragedy Eumenides and Aristophanes’ Wasps, and ancient Greek lawcodes; and will examine the archaeological remains of ancient, civic Athens. The class will also examine a very modern and public exercise of democracy – the local November referendum on the type of civic government in Saratoga Springs – as a living laboratory for the contemporary American conception of democracy. Students will analyze Saratoga Springs’ city government, critique Jon Stewart’s irreverent America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, and speak with local politicians. For a final project, students will examine their hometown forms of government and conduct an analysis of that local democratic system based upon the study of ancient and modern democracies.

Our seminar will incorporate a number of special events during the semester, some in-class and others outside of class. They include

This course will introduce students to disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on ancient and modern democracies, with the following goals. In addition, this is a course about knowing, particularly about ways to identify problems, formulate productive questions, and go about answering those questions. Students in this course will demonstrate the ability to: