Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Democracy Inaction
Instructor(s): Michael Arnush, Classics
Description: 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, and the Roman government of the res publica. Students will conduct close
readings of treatises such as Plato's Apology and Aristotle's Athenian Constitution,
the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, Livy and Polybius, tragedies and comedies
like Aeschylus' Oresteia and Aristophanes' Wasps, and ancient Greek and Roman law
codes; and will examine the archaeological remains of ancient, civic Athens and republican
Rome. The seminar will also examine a very modern and public exercise of democracy—the
local November elections for City Council in Saratoga Springs—as a living laboratory
for the contemporary American conception of democracy. Students will analyze Saratoga
Springs' city charter, examine local monuments that celebrate democratic practices,
critique Jon Stewart's irreverent America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy
Inaction, investigate local campaigns and candidates, and participate in the elections.
For a final project, students will craft proposals for contemporary, functioning democratic
systems based upon their study of ancient and modern democracies.
Course Offered
