Welcome to the Home Page of
Professor Drew's Seminar on the Classical World(s)
What Every Student Should Know About
The Formative Years of Western Civilization
Before Donning a Cap and Gown
This Wiki-based, Inquiry-driven, Open-ended Seminar Course…
- IS NOT a traditional online course, though significant learning will take place in online interaction with peers over course content.
- IS A NEW KIND OF INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE browsing the history, literature, and religion of Classical Antiquity from 500 BC to 500 AD to engage students with the essential touchstones of Western civilization in seeking their response to the question, “What does it mean to be free?”
- IS A “DON'T MISS THE FOREST FOR THE TREES” approach to the diversity of the classical world(s) that surveys key contributions from ancient Mediterranean societies during the formative years of Western civilization; ideas which have influenced evolving cultural forms for the past 2500 years.
- IS A PLACE WHERE STUDENTS WILL MEET face-to-face with their professor and peers weekly, but will also “meet” on wikis and in course chat rooms with intimate groups of up to 12 local students, and 9 other international cohorts working simultaneously in distant enclaves throughout the English-speaking world.
- IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO CO-CREATE with their professor and peers a new kind of learning experience that views the syllabus as just the starting point on an open-ended collaborative journey. Students will master cutting-edge Web 2.0 social media tools that “turn every document into a conversation,” while improving their own writing competence and web literacy skills.
