An introduction to archaeology and to archaeological method and theory, exploring how archaeologists excavate, analyze, and interpret ancient remains in order to reconstruct how ancient societies functioned. Specific examples from a variety of archaeological projects in different parts of the world will be used to illustrate techniques and principles discussed.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Schwartz, Glenn M
• Room: Gilman 50
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 11/40
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

"Hebrew Bible, Old Testament…what’s the difference? Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha—what are those? Why is LORD in all caps? Why do Bible translations differ? How do scholars study religious texts? This course will introduce students to the Hebrew Bible as a subject of scholarly inquiry and discuss its contexts, formation, history, and several current approaches to these texts. The Hebrew Bible has been studied across time and space for two millennia—and yet, scholars reach new insights still today. Beyond acting as a springboard into further academic study of the Hebrew Bible, this course will teach students necessary skills in research design that would be applicable across the broader humanities disciplines. Rather than completing a research project, students will workshop a research proposal utilizing the background, resources, and scholarly approaches we cover in class. No previous familiarity with Hebrew language or the Hebrew Bible is needed. This course has no prerequisites and is open to all students and majors, but it may be especially interesting to first-year and second-year students considering/pursuing majors in Near Eastern Studies, Jewish Studies, or other humanities departments, or to any students who wish to learn about the academic study of both religion and ancient textual witnesses. No book purchases are required."

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Cooper, Stephanie Lynn
• Room: MSE Library D1
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

"Baltimore museums house over 15,000 objects from the Ancient Near East and North Africa. How did these ancient objects arrive in Charm City? What can their stories teach us about ethics and curatorial practices in the past, present, and future? Increasingly the public, academics, and foreign stakeholders have been advocating for more institutional transparency of museum collections, with a particular focus on museums and social justice. This course offers students an opportunity to engage with ongoing debates between archaeologists, museums, cultural heritage experts, and social justice advocates, while gaining archival research and critical thinking skills. The course will consist of seminar-style discussions hosted in several Baltimore museums with guided tours of select objects and collections in the Walters Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. During these museum visits we focus on two main goals: introducing the art of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Africa and learning to untangle the complex histories associated with these objects' arrival into Baltimore Museum collections."

• Days/Times: Th 5:30PM - 8:00PM
• Instructor: Shippelhoute, Karlene Dee Ann
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

How did ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean basin (Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia, Carthage) understand and represent their own and others’ identities and ethnic differences? How did notions and practices around race, citizenship, and immigration evolve from antiquity to the present? How have culture and politics informed artistic, literary, and museum representations of ethnic ‘others’ over time, along with the historical development of ethnography, biological science, and pseudo-sciences of race? What role did “Classics” (the study of Greco-Roman cultures) play in modern colonialism, racecraft, and inequality? And what role can it play in unmaking their legacies, through the ongoing Black Classicism movement, the practice of Critical Race Theory, and the development of more global and interconnective approaches to premodern cultures? RAP provides an opportunity for Hopkins undergraduates and graduate students from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds to engage in project-based research toward building an open-access, grant-winning educational resource (OER) on “Race in Antiquity.” Participants learn, share, and practice advanced research methods; examine and discuss the history and modern implications of the teaching and study of their fields; test-drive and collaboratively edit OER pilot materials; and create new content based on their own research, for eventual digital publication.

• Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Pandey, Nandini
• Room: Greenhouse 000
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/15
• PosTag(s): MSCH-HUM

From 900 to 609 BCE, the Assyrian Empire dominated the ancient Near Eastern world, stretching from western Iran to the Mediterranean and Egypt. In concert with imperial expansion came an explosion of artistic production ranging from palace wall reliefs to small-scale luxury objects. This course provides an integrated picture of the imperial arts of this first world empire, situating it within the broader social and political contexts of the first millennium BCE. In its conquest of foreign lands, this powerful state came in contact with and appropriated a diversity of cultures, such as Phoenicia, Egypt, and Greece, which we will also study.

• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Feldman, Marian
• Room: Gilman 177
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/25
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH, HART-ANC

Drawing on case studies from North America, Mesoamerica, and the Andes this course considers various approaches to entombment and funerary ritual. Our analyses bear upon beliefs about death and the afterlife, ancestor veneration, fear of the dead, and the body as a site of embodied values. Tombs provide a specific context for interpreting object offerings and their attendant meanings. Collections study in regional museums.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Deleonardis, Lisa
• Room: Hodson 216
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/29
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH, HART-ANC, MSCH-HUM

A broad survey of the significant political and cultural dynamics of Jewish history in the Medieval, Early-Modern, and Modern Eras.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Katz, David
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/19
• PosTag(s): NEAS-HISCUL, INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST

Survey of grammar and reading of simple texts. May not be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. A continuation of Elementary Biblical Hebrew I.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Mandell, Alice H
• Room: MSE Library D1
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

This research-based Lab course will involve careful reading of a variety of Roman texts of the early empire, aiming to catalogue every instance of public speech and of the orators who speak in public. This cataloguing project, perhaps eventually resulting in an online database, will include historical and comparative readings about public speech as a feature of society.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Roller, Matthew
• Room: Gilman 108
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/10
• PosTag(s): MSCH-HUM

How and why did our nomadic hunting and gathering ancestors become farmers? What led agricultural societies to build cities, develop writing, religious institutions, wage war, and trade for exotic goods? This course surveys prehistory and ancient history from the origins of human culture to the emergence civilization. Although prehistory and ancient history yield evidence of tremendous cultural diversity this course emphasizes common elements of past human experience, culture, and culture change. These include the origins of modern humans and their adjustment to a variety of post-ice age environments, shifts from hunting and gathering to agricultural lifeways, and the initial development of the world’s earliest cities and civilizations.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Harrower, Michael James
• Room: Bloomberg 168
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 24/40
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

Reading of Biblical Hebrew Prose, from texts such as the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Lewis, Ted
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Elementary Modern Hebrew is the first exposure to the language as currently used in Israel in all its functional contexts. All components of the language are discussed: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Simple idiomatic sentences and short texts in Hebrew are used. Students learn the Hebrew alphabet, words and short sentences. Cultural aspects of Israel will be intertwined throughout the course curriculum.

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Scott, Cameron David
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Hebrew for Beginners 121 is a continuation of Hebrew 120 and as such, students are required to have a foundation in Hebrew. The course will enhance and continue to expose students to Hebrew grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. All components of the Hebrew language will be emphasized in this course; we will highlight verbs, adjectives, and the ability to read longer texts. Speaking in Hebrew will also be highlighted to promote students’ engagement and communication. Cultural aspects of the language will be incorporated into lessons too

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Bessire, Mirit
• Room: Smokler Center 301
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Please change description to: Intermediate Hebrew level II is a continuation of the course Hebrew 220 and as such is a requirement for entry. In the course, grammatical aspects of the language will be introduced in the focus of past and future tenses. Combined and complex sentences with proper syntax and reading comprehension and writing skills will be required. Modern Israeli cultural aspects of the Hebrew language will be introduced as well and will be part of the holistic understanding of the modern language.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Bessire, Mirit
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 7/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

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.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Chen, Xin
• Room: Krieger 108
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/24
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MINOR

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.

• Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Lauinger, Jacob
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

This course introduces basic computational techniques in the context of empirical humanistic scholarship. Topics covered include the command-line, basic Python programming, and experimental design. While illustrative examples are drawn from humanistic domains, the primary focus is on methods: those with specific domains in mind should be aware that such applied research is welcome and exciting, but will largely be their responsibility beyond the confines of the course. Students will come away with tangible understanding of how to cast simple humanistic questions as empirical hypotheses, ground and test these hypotheses computationally, and justify the choices made while doing so. No previous programming experience is required.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Lippincott, Tom; Sirin Ryan, Hale
• Room: Gilman 55
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

This course introduces substantial machine learning methods of particular relevance to humanistic scholarship. Areas covered include standard models for classification, regression, and topic modeling, before turning to the array of open-source pretrained deep neural models, and the common mechanisms for employing them. Students are expected to have a level of programming experience equivalent to that gained from AS.360.304, Gateway Computing, AS.250.205, or Harvard’s CS50 for Python. Students will come away with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different machine learning models, the ability to discuss them in relation to human intelligence and to make informed decisions of when and how to employ them, and an array of related technical knowledge.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Backer, Samuel Ehrlich; Messner, Craig A
• Room: Gilman 195
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/10
• PosTag(s): COGS-COMPCG

This course surveys the art and architecture of Mesoamerica, from the ancestral Puebloans in what is today the Southwestern United States, through the homelands of the Mexica, Maya, and Zapotec in Central America, to the Taíno and Chiriquí in the Circum-Caribbean. After first discussing the concept of “Mesoamerica,” we will then explore the material and spatial productions of these Indigenous groups. Each week we will focus on a different urban setting, examining the works communities made and used there, which included sculpture, ceramics, murals, manuscripts, textiles, metalwork, and earthen architecture. Course themes will include—but are not limited to—the portrayal of humans, animals, and sacred figures; urban design, construction, and monumentality; as well as how materials and spaces were used for religious and political purposes.

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Staff
• Room: Gilman 177
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/19
• PosTag(s): HART-ANC, ARCH-ARCH

Childbirth is an event that is highly cultural, and is accompanied by gestures and beliefs that say a lot about the society in which they can be observed. This class will be based on Ancient Egyptian texts (translated), images and objects related to beliefs and practices surrounding pregnancy, birth-giving and the first moments of human life. We will discover the Egyptian views on procreation, the objects, the spells and the formulas used to protect pregnancy and childbirth – one of the most dangerous moments in a woman’s life –, the divine entities invoked, the reactions caused by non-ordinary births (for example, twins), and the purification rites that punctuate the post-partum period. Finally, we will see that the first biological birth is a model on which many beliefs about life after death are based. Several guest researchers will present birth and childbirth in other ancient societies in order to broaden the discussion and establish comparisons.

• Days/Times: WF 4:30PM - 5:45PM
• Instructor: Arnette, Marie-Lys
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/20
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

Everybody has heard of the hieroglyphs, but few know much about them. In this class we will begin by learning how the hieroglyphic writing system works. We will then think about the role that hieroglyphs and writing itself plays in Ancient Egypt. Knowledge of the hieroglyphs died out about 450 CE, but Renaissance and Early Modern scholars were still intensely interested in them. Why? Progress in true decipherment began about 1800 CE, the time of Napoleon. We will devote time to the fascinating story of the brilliant scholars (e.g., Champollion) who competed for the honor of decipherment and the different theories which they offered. No prior knowledge of Ancient Egypt or the Ancient Egyptian Language required.

• Days/Times: MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
• Instructor: Jasnow, Richard
• Room: Gilman 75
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 11/20
• PosTag(s): NEAS-ARTARC

This course investigates the confluence of archaeology as a discipline, collecting of cultural heritage, and their ongoing roles in the socio-politics of the Western world and Middle East. It focuses primarily on the Middle East, first tracing a narrative history of archaeology in the region during the 19th and early 20th centuries, with its explorers, diplomats, missionaries and gentlemen-scholars. It then examines the relationship of archaeology to the creation of the encyclopedic museum and collecting practices more generally, considering how these activities profoundly shaped the modern world, including the antiquities market and looting. A central theme is the production of knowledge through these activities and how this contributes to aspects of power and (self-)representation.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Feldman, Marian
• Room: Gilman 177
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 13/20
• PosTag(s): HART-ANC, ARCH-ARCH

Climate change, population growth, war - what questions do archaeologists ask about the ancient past, how do they collect relevant evidence, and how do they arrive at satisfying answers to their questions? This course will review major theoretical currents in archaeology including evolutionary, cultural-historical, processual and post-processual approaches and discuss the future of archaeology as a scientific and humanistic discipline. Basic techniques for analyzing major categories of artifacts such as lithics, ceramics, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological materials will also be introduced.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Harrower, Michael James
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/8
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

A broad survey of the significant political and cultural dynamics of Jewish history in the Medieval, Early-Modern, and Modern Eras.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Katz, David
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/19
• PosTag(s): n/a

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.

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Wilkinson, Alison Michelle
• Room: MSE Library Eisenberg
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/6
• PosTag(s): n/a

A survey of the history of Ancient Syria and Canaan, including Ancient Israel.

• Days/Times: F 2:00PM - 4:30PM
• Instructor: Mandell, Alice H
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

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.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Schwartz, Glenn M
• Room: Gilman 55
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 32/40
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

In the early Middle Ages the Talmud emerged as the defining document of official Jewish religion and culture, and remained so until the dawn of the Modern Era. Jewish scholars in many different countries, and in a wide variety of cultural contexts, developed certain ways of reading, interpreting, and applying the Talmud. In the process, they produced an immense corpus of commentary and law. This course will examine how and why the Talmud was studied in these centuries by Jews who mined it, subject by subject, for emotional, philosophical, and legal meaning.

• Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Katz, David
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 16/19
• PosTag(s): n/a

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

• Days/Times: M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Qi, Grace
• Room: MSE Library D1
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/6
• PosTag(s): n/a

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

• Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
• Instructor: Ottobre, Morganne C
• Room: MSE Library Eisenberg
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

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

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Ottobre, Morganne C
• Room: MSE Library Eisenberg
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Elementary Modern Hebrew is the first exposure to the language as currently used in Israel in all its functional contexts. All components of the language are discussed: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Simple idiomatic sentences and short texts in Hebrew are used. Students learn the Hebrew alphabet, words and short sentences. Cultural aspects of Israel will be intertwined throughout the course curriculum.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Bessire, Mirit
• Room: Smokler Center 301
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 14/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

This class will introduce students to “The Deuteronomistic History,” which comprises the biblical books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings. The narrative arc of this “history” spans the giving of the law to Moses to the rise and fall of the monarchies of Israel and Judah, respectively in the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods. During this course we will examine the reasons why biblical scholars have argued in varying ways that this body of text represents the work of a group of ideologically driven scribes, the Deuteronomists; we will also investigate the primary texts themselves for evidence for divergent views about the need for a king in Israel and the role and fate of the royal house of David. We will also explore the relationship between the books of the former prophets (Joshua>2 Kings) and Deuteronomy, which is a book that concludes the Pentateuch. This course requires students to engage with the biblical text in the original Hebrew language at an advanced level. We will also engage with biblical scholarship regarding the scope, purpose, and nature of a cohesive Deuteronomistic History, as well as with dissenting voices that probe the unity of these biblical books.

• Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Mandell, Alice H
• Room: Gilman 130G
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 12/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

An introduction to archaeology and to archaeological method and theory, exploring how archaeologists excavate, analyze, and interpret ancient remains in order to reconstruct how ancient societies functioned. Specific examples from a variety of archaeological projects in different parts of the world will be used to illustrate techniques and principles discussed.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Anderson, Emily S.K.
• Room: Gilman 17
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 27/40
• PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH

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.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Chen, Xin
• Room: Krieger 108
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/24
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MAJOR

Hebrew for Beginners 121 is a continuation of Hebrew 120 and as such, students are required to have a foundation in Hebrew. The course will enhance and continue to expose students to Hebrew grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. All components of the Hebrew language will be emphasized in this course; we will highlight verbs, adjectives, and the ability to read longer texts. Speaking in Hebrew will also be highlighted to promote students’ engagement and communication. Cultural aspects of the language will be incorporated into lessons too

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Scott, Cameron David
• Room: Smokler Center Library
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/10
• PosTag(s): n/a