Undergraduate Courses

The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at sis.jhu.edu/classes.

Please consult the online course catalog for cross-listed courses and full course information.

Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.

FYS: Reading Ancient Middle Eastern Literature
AS.001.147 (01)

The Middle East is home to some of the world’s earliest and most important literature. In this First-Year Seminar, students will read in translation a selection of texts from different traditions that flourished in the pre-Islamic Middle East. Sample readings include the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Descent of Ishtar to the Netherworld, and the battle between David and Goliath from the Hebrew Bible. As we read, we will consider why ancient Middle Eastern literature may be more relevant to our own present moment than ever before.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 1:00PM - 3:30PM
  • Instructor: Lauinger, Jacob
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 12/12
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Art of Mesoamerica
AS.010.205 (01)

This course provides a basis for the study of Mesoamerican visual cultures and urban settings. We will explore the artistic production of the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec as well as works created by the artists of Teotihuacan, Monte Albán, and West Mexico. With a focus on aesthetics and cultural function, case studies range from stone sculpture, painted ceramics, and screenfold codices, to architectural complexes from Mexico and Central America. Themes to be discussed include: representations of humans and deities, monumentality and rulership, mutilation and destruction of monuments, and ritual and political significance of materials.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
  • Instructor: Staff
  • Room: Gilman 177  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 12/25
  • PosTag(s): HART-ANC

Art and the Environment in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean
AS.010.240 (01)

What is the relationship between art and the environment? What are “geoaesthetics?” This course explores the interrelationships between ecosystem and creative responses and practices in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Specifically, the class will examine the intersections between artistic and architectural practices and the natural environment during the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, the Neo-Assyrian period in ancient Mesopotamia, and the Minoan Bronze Age in the ancient Aegean.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
  • Instructor: Taylor, Avary Rhys
  • Room: Gilman 177  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/25
  • PosTag(s): HART-ANC, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

A (Virtual) Visit to the Louvre Museum: Introduction to the Material Culture of Ancient Egypt
AS.130.153 (01)

This course will present the Egyptological collections of the musée du Louvre in Paris, room by room, as in a real visit. The experience will be enhanced by the study of objects that are not shown to the public but are kept in the reserves of the museum. From the 4th millennium BC to Roman time, the iconic “masterpieces” of this world-renowned art museum, as well as its little-known artifacts, will allow us to explore the history and material culture of ancient Egypt. We will also learn to observe, describe and analyze archaeological objects, in a global manner and without establishing a hierarchy between them, while questioning their place in the museum and its particular language. The objective will be to go beyond the objects themselves and answer, in fine, the following questions: What do these objects tell us about the men and women who produced them, exchanged them, used them, and lived among them in antiquity? What do they also reveal about those who discovered them in Egypt, several millennia later, about those who collected them and sometimes traded them, and what does this say about the relations between Egypt and the Western countries over time? The courses will be complemented by visits to the rich Egyptian collections in Baltimore.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
  • Instructor: Staff
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 14/15
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-ARTARC

The Origins of Civilization: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
AS.130.214 (01)

One of the most significant transformations in human history was the “urban revolution” in which cities, writing, and social classes formed for the first time. In this course, we compare five areas where this development occurred: China, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Egypt, and Mesoamerica (Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras/Belize). In each region, we review the physical setting, the archaeological and textual evidence, and the theories advanced to explain the rise (and eventual collapse) of these complex societies.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Schwartz, Glenn M
  • Room: Ames 218  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 20/40
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Digging for Legitimacy Archaeology, Museums, and Ideology
AS.130.247 (01)

Archaeology was born out of Western Colonial endeavors into Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Large scale excavations conducted by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States resulted in the removal and transfer of valuable (culturally and monetarily) material culture from local stewards and stakeholders to the West. To this day the discipline of archaeology is still saddled by its colonial past and the Hollywood interpretation of archaeologists as saviors of ancient treasures. Today, most interaction between people and ancient objects is facilitated via the museum. In this course we will explore 19th- 21st century archaeological and museum practices and the role they play in modern narratives of identity and representation in the America and the Middle East. Students will engage with the historical, legal, economic, and ethical implications of archaeology and analyze how political, religious, cultural, and academic institutions have leveraged archaeology and cultural artifacts to reify and legitimize their pursuits and ideologies.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
  • Instructor: Shippelhoute, Karlene Dee Ann
  • Room: Bloomberg 178  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 10/19
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-ARTARC

Up the Nile: New Approaches to the History of Egyptology and Nubiology
AS.130.248 (01)

King Tut, Napoleon, Champollion, Ozymandias, Nefertiti: the history of Egyptology is filled with big characters, huge monuments, and glimmering objects. But it is also made up of colonialist practices, looted sites, and forgotten scholarly contributions. “Up the Nile” examines the antiquarian, colonialist, racist, Western-centric, and patriarchal roots of modern Egyptology and Nubiology, and addresses how scholars and enthusiasts alike are continuing to grapple with these lasting legacies and biases. This class investigates how the Egyptians and Nubians thought of their own histories, as well as how other ancient cultures viewed the cultures of the Nile. It moves roughly chronologically, tracing understudied and marginalized voices from the Islamic, Medieval, and Ottoman periods into the 20th and 21st centuries. It examines the origins of scholarship, modern collecting, Egyptomania, and museums, delving into the problems and repercussions that still haunt us today. “Up the Nile” will engage with important and difficult aspects regarding Egyptology’s and Nubiology’s colonialist, racist, and sexist past and present. It asks: who decides who writes history, then and now?

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
  • Instructor: Moroney, Morgan E
  • Room: Smokler Center Library  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 8/18
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-HISCUL

Everything She Says is Done for Her: Exploring the Spheres of Influence of Women in Ancient Egypt
AS.130.249 (01)

How did women move within their gendered spheres of influence in ancient Egyptian society? How do scholars discuss women in the ancient world and what are the spheres influence often allotted to women? How can we investigate the lives of women through the material record? What methodologies are applied by scholars to study women in antiquity? This course seeks to explore these questions and much more. The course will utilize textual and material evidence to examine and deconstruct the economic, social, religious, and political roles of women in ancient Egypt.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
  • Instructor: Finlayson, Tori Lee
  • Room: Gilman 186  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 13/20
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-HISCUL

History of Ancient Mesopotamia
AS.130.300 (01)

A survey of the history of Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Delnero, Paul
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 7/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to the History of Rabbinic Literature
AS.130.346 (01)

Broadly surveying classic rabbinic literature, including the Talmud and its commentaries, the legal codes and the response, this seminar explores the immanent as well as the external factors that shaped the development of this literature, the seminal role of this literature in Jewish self-definition and self-perception, and the role of this literature in pre-modern and modern Jewish culture.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
  • Instructor: Katz, David
  • Room: Smokler Center Library  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 18/19
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Survey Jewish History as Relected in Responsa Literature: How Immutable Judaism Wrestles with Change
AS.130.348 (01)

How does a religious system which defines its ancient laws as God-given and unchangeable apply them to radically different and changing social, political and intellectual situations? This course explores the literature of "Questions and Answers"(She'elot u-Teshuvot), the Jewish legal responsa which have struggled to match Jewish religious law to modern life for fifteen centuries. A sweeping survey of Jewish history as revealed by one of its most impenetrable yet fascinating sources.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
  • Instructor: Katz, David
  • Room: Smokler Center Library  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 16/19
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Elementary Akkadian
AS.130.381 (01)

An introduction to the paleography, grammar and lexicon of the Akkadian language, and the reading of simpler texts in that language. Co-listed with AS.132.600

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 4:30PM - 5:45PM
  • Instructor: Chapin, Michael Arthur
  • Room: MSE Library Eisenberg  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 5/5
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Middle Egyptian
AS.130.400 (01)

Introduction to the grammar and writing system of the classical language of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055-1650 B.C.). In the second semester, literary texts and royal inscriptions will be read. Course meets with AS.133.600.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Jasnow, Richard
  • Room: MSE Library Eisenberg  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 3/5
  • PosTag(s): AFRS-DIASPO

Elementary Biblical Hebrew
AS.130.440 (01)

Introduction to the grammar, vocabulary, and writing system of biblical Hebrew.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
  • Instructor: Shin, Jini
  • Room: MSE Library Eisenberg  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Readings - Hebrew Prose
AS.130.442 (01)

Reading of biblical Hebrew prose, especially from the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 4:30PM - 7:00PM
  • Instructor: Shin, Jini
  • Room: MSE Library Eisenberg  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 7/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Let's Play! Games from Ancient Egypt and Beyond
AS.133.304 (01)

The ancient Egyptians played many games, as we do today. Board games, ball games, games of skill, etc., were not only part of daily life, but also had a role to play in religious practices and beliefs. Although the rules of the games are largely unknown to us, archaeological objects, funerary images, and texts help us to better understand their roles and meanings in ancient Egyptian culture. These various sources also show how games reflect some facets of the organization of the society, and reveal how the ancient Egyptians perceived some aspects of their world - social hierarchy, gender division, representation of death, relationship to chance/fate/divine will, etc. This course will present the evolution of games and play in Ancient Egypt from the 4th millennium B.C., with the first board game discovered in the tomb of a woman, through those deposited in the tomb of Tutankhamun, and up to the Roman period, with the games engraved on the ground by soldiers in the fortresses of the Eastern Desert. Particular attention will be paid to the travels of the games - Egyptian games played outside of Egypt and games of foreign origin played inside Egypt - because they allow for a better understanding of the intercultural connections that were established in between Egypt, Nubia, the Near East in general and the Mediterranean world. By replacing the games in their archaeological, historical and cultural contexts, the course is also intended as an original introduction to the civilization of ancient Egypt.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
  • Instructor: Staff
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/15
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-ARTARC

Introduction to the Pentateuch
AS.134.301 (01)

This course surveys the linguistic and literary structure of the Pentateuch, with a focus on P and non-P in Genesis and Exodus. A second and equally important focus will be the history of scholarship and its broader impact on the study of the history and religion of ancient Israel and Judah. We will examine critical issues in the study of the Pentateuch, focusing on scholarly reconstructions of composition and redaction and key literary themes. Throughout our examination of the biblical text, we will also address parallels to other ancient Near Eastern corpora.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Mandell, Alice H
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/5
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-HISCUL

Prophets and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible
AS.134.409 (01)

From thundering voices of social justice to apocalyptic visionaries, biblical prophets have been revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims for thousands of years. They have inspired civic leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. yet also provided fodder for modern charlatans promising a utopian future. Yet who were these individuals (orators? politicians? diviners? poets?) and what was the full range of their message as set against the Realpolitik world of ancient Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Jordan?"

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
  • Instructor: Lewis, Ted
  • Room: Gilman 130G  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 8/13
  • PosTag(s): NEAS-HISCUL

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Geospatial Analysis
AS.270.205 (01)

The course provides a broad introduction to the principles and practice of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related tools of Geospatial Analysis. Topics will include history of GIS, GIS data structures, data acquisition and merging, database management, spatial analysis, and GIS applications. In addition, students will get hands-on experience working with GIS software.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Chen, Xin
  • Room: Krieger 108  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 7/25
  • PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE

Engendering Archaeology: Gender and Sexuality Beyond the Modern Global West
AS.363.331 (01)

Modern understandings of our gendered selves are deeply rooted in narratives of human history. While research on the ancient world, like archaeology, is often upheld as a way of objectively observing the development of humanity over time, all too often, scholars and the public both impose modern concepts of gender and sexuality onto the archaeological study of the past. This class will introduce students to anthropological archaeology, as well as feminist and queer theories as tools for questioning popular narratives surrounding the development of gendered behaviors in the ancient past. Specifically, we will investigate stories about gender and sexuality in the scholarship of 1) evolutionary biology, 2) early community and societal formations, and 3) ancient identity. We will engage oft-repeated stories about the evolutionary and historical ancestries of gender and return to archaeological evidence with the intellectual tools and knowledge to complicate popular myths about the historicity of gender. We will thereby expand our understanding of human identities and behavior by incorporating alternative archaeological narratives influenced by intersectional feminist, nonbinary, and queer perspectives. Importantly, this class will also prompt students to reflect upon how stories of the ancient past inform and create their own modern experiences of gender, identity, and sexuality.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Poolman, Laurel Ames
  • Room: Gilman 77  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/12
  • PosTag(s): MSCH-HUM

Ancient Color: The Technologies and Meanings of Color in Antiquity
AS.389.315 (01)

What role did the colorful surfaces of sculptures, vessels and textiles play in the ancient world? We examine historical texts and recent scholarly and scientific publications on the technologies and meanings of color in antiquity, and use imaging and analytical techniques to study polychromed objects from the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Balachandran, Sanchita
  • Room: Gilman 150A  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): MSCH-HUM

Course # (Section) Title Day/Times Instructor Room PosTag(s) Info
AS.001.147 (01)FYS: Reading Ancient Middle Eastern LiteratureW 1:00PM - 3:30PMLauinger, JacobGilman 130G
 
AS.010.205 (01)Art of MesoamericaTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMStaffGilman 177
 		HART-ANC
AS.010.240 (01)Art and the Environment in the Ancient Eastern MediterraneanMW 4:30PM - 5:45PMTaylor, Avary RhysGilman 177
 		HART-ANC, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
AS.130.153 (01)A (Virtual) Visit to the Louvre Museum: Introduction to the Material Culture of Ancient EgyptMW 4:30PM - 5:45PMStaffGilman 130G
 		NEAS-ARTARC
AS.130.214 (01)The Origins of Civilization: A Cross-Cultural PerspectiveTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMSchwartz, Glenn MAmes 218
 
AS.130.247 (01)Digging for Legitimacy Archaeology, Museums, and IdeologyTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMShippelhoute, Karlene Dee AnnBloomberg 178
 		NEAS-ARTARC
AS.130.248 (01)Up the Nile: New Approaches to the History of Egyptology and NubiologyTTh 3:00PM - 4:15PMMoroney, Morgan ESmokler Center Library
 		NEAS-HISCUL
AS.130.249 (01)Everything She Says is Done for Her: Exploring the Spheres of Influence of Women in Ancient EgyptMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMFinlayson, Tori LeeGilman 186
 		NEAS-HISCUL
AS.130.300 (01)History of Ancient MesopotamiaTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMDelnero, PaulGilman 130G
 
AS.130.346 (01)Introduction to the History of Rabbinic LiteratureTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMKatz, DavidSmokler Center Library
 
AS.130.348 (01)Survey Jewish History as Relected in Responsa Literature: How Immutable Judaism Wrestles with ChangeTTh 10:30AM - 11:45AMKatz, DavidSmokler Center Library
 
AS.130.381 (01)Elementary AkkadianTTh 4:30PM - 5:45PMChapin, Michael ArthurMSE Library Eisenberg
 
AS.130.400 (01)Introduction to Middle EgyptianMW 1:30PM - 2:45PMJasnow, RichardMSE Library Eisenberg
 		AFRS-DIASPO
AS.130.440 (01)Elementary Biblical HebrewMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMShin, JiniMSE Library Eisenberg
 
AS.130.442 (01)Readings - Hebrew ProseM 4:30PM - 7:00PMShin, JiniMSE Library Eisenberg
 
AS.133.304 (01)Let's Play! Games from Ancient Egypt and BeyondMW 12:00PM - 1:15PMStaffGilman 130G
 		NEAS-ARTARC
AS.134.301 (01)Introduction to the PentateuchF 1:30PM - 4:00PMMandell, Alice HGilman 130G
 		NEAS-HISCUL
AS.134.409 (01)Prophets and Prophecy in the Hebrew BibleTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMLewis, TedGilman 130G
 		NEAS-HISCUL
AS.270.205 (01)Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Geospatial AnalysisM 1:30PM - 4:00PMChen, XinKrieger 108
 		ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE
AS.363.331 (01)Engendering Archaeology: Gender and Sexuality Beyond the Modern Global WestF 1:30PM - 4:00PMPoolman, Laurel AmesGilman 77
 		MSCH-HUM
AS.389.315 (01)Ancient Color: The Technologies and Meanings of Color in AntiquityM 1:30PM - 4:00PMBalachandran, SanchitaGilman 150A
 		MSCH-HUM