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Remember, it's never too late to register for a class, even after it's begun. You can always catch up with any sessions you may have missed by watching the video recordings of previous sessions. The time remaining to register before the first class session is below, so stop hesitating and get to it!

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Offered:

  • This course is offered during the 2024 Term 4 (Oct-Dec) period as an in-person course at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand, live-streamed via Zoom if you live elsewhere, and as video recordings of the live sessions if you cannot attend the regularly scheduled class.

Date & Time:

  • Our 2024 Term 4 Understanding the Classical World course meets on Wednesdays from 11:00am-1:00pm beginning on 23 Oct 2024 (New Zealand time). The course meets for 4 consecutive weekly sessions. The final session will be held on Wednesday 13 Nov 2024. If you live outside of New Zealand and wish to Zoom in to our live class sessions, check the nearest local Time Zone equivalent below.

Time Zone equivalents:

for live-streaming Zoom Sessions from New Zealand. If your Time Zone doesn't suit our live-streamed class, you can also access our courses by watching the live-recorded sessions that are posted to the course webpage each week, usually within 1-2 days.

  • Honolulu, Hawai’i begins on Tuesday 22 Oct 2024, 12:00-2:00pm

  • US Pacific begins on Tuesday 22 Oct 2024, 3:00-5:00pm

  • US Central: begins on Tuesday 22 Oct 2024 5:00-7:00pm

  • US Eastern: begins on Tuesday 22 Oct 2024, 6:00-8:00pm

  • London, UK: begins on Tuesday 22 Oct 2024 11:00pm-1:00am

  • Bangkok, Thailand: begins on Wednesday 24 Oct 2024, 5:00 - 7:00am

  • Singapore: begins on Wednesday 24 Oct 2024, 6:00-8:00am

  • Sydney Australia: begins on Wednesday 24 Oct 2024, 09:00- 11:00am

HIS203:UNDERSTANDING THE CLASSICAL WORLD AND ITS RELATION TO US TODAY.

Wednesdays 23 Oct 2024

  • The ancient classical world of Greece and Rome has informed and shaped our lives in ways we are hardly aware of. This series of lectures will explore those influences and note how they get played out in the modern world in four specific domains.

  • This series of 4 lectures will reveal and explore those primal influences, how they manifest themselves and how they get played out in the modern world today. Knowing these things helps not only with our sense of identity, but also provides us with a point of reference against which to measure our values and make critical judgments.

Art and Architecture

Week 1: Wednesdays 23 Oct 2024

Classical art and architecture laid the foundations for what we see flowering in the Renaissance, had a second wind during the neo-classic revival and was revisited in the postmodern era.
art and architecture

Literature

Week 2: Wednesday 30 Oct 2024

Greek and Roman poets and dramatists provided models and reference points for later writers of western literature. James Joyce’s famous novel, Ulysses, is based on Homer’s, Odyssey, as is the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou? Even, Wind in the Willows, has a strong classical influence that not many know about.
Literature

Philosophy

Wednesday 6 Nov 2024

Christianity grew up inside the Greco-Roman world and was heavily indebted to ideas and practices already inside the culture of the time.
Religion

Philosophy

Wednesday 13 Nov 2024

Ideas are born in the ancient world and then later they pop up in the postmodern one. The prime example would be the Greek philosopher, Protagoras and his relativist doctrine, which got a second wind in the late 20th century, that posits judgemental relativism where all ideas are said to exist on an equal footing. This has become part of the push for the decolonization movement.
Philosophy

Meet our Instructor:

History, Literature & Philosophy Instructor Peter Dornauf, MA Dip Tchg

Peter Dornauf has taught in secondary schools, Wintec and Waikato University collectively for over 25 years. He is a well know Waikato artist, art critic and a writer of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. His book “Days of Our Deaths” serves as the basis for one of Peter’s other popular EarthDiverse courses, “A Cultural History of Death.” Peter also teaches our “The Spiritual in Modern Art” course and continues to develop additional EarthDiverse courses for future Terms.

Location:

All in-person classes are held at the EarthDiverse Centre located at 401 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton (located just north of the Hamilton Central Bus Station) (entrance is located on the side of the building, see map below). Those looking for parking for our evening classes can park just in front of the building in any of the available car parks. Daytime parking can be found in our dedicated car parks, or free 2-hour on-street daytime parking can be found just in front of Anglesea Street.

Location

Distance Learning:

This course has distance-learning options for those unable to attend the live class sessions in Hamilton. Students have three options for attending our courses once they have registered:

  • Attend in-person classes in our Hamilton classrooms at the regularly scheduled day and time.

  • Attend our live on-line classroom sessions via Zoom at the regular scheduled day and time.

  • Watch the live-recorded class sessions at your leisure, at a time, day and place more suited to your schedule.

Distance-Learning options:

  • In addition to our in-person classes in Hamilton, our courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed Hamilton classes are available via free Zoom software for those living outside the Waikato. Live-streaming allows you to participate fully in your own learning, ask questions of the instructor and participate fully in the same way as if you were in the physical classroom.

  • Those unable to attend the scheduled date and time of the actual class sessions, or those who need to miss a class or two due to previous engagements or unexpected illness, can watch any or all of the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace and in their own time.

  • Detailed instructions on how to access our distance learning components will be sent after completing your registration. There are no additional fees for this service. However, distance learners will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a good quality web-camera (tablet devices and mobile phones can also access our live-streamed classes), a built-in microphone (most modern laptops have built-in microphones) or a headset with a microphone. You will also need to download and install the free Zoom software on your computer or device. Those accessing the video recordings will be able to do so with a simple web browser on any device.

Pricing options:

All prices in New Zealand dollars and includes GST. Unwaged includes students, seniors and retirees.

Notes:

  • Any Term can be taken independently of the others, and there are no prerequisites for any of the Term courses.

  • This class has no assignments, required readings, quizzes, tests or exams.

  • All classes encourage questions and group discussion.

  • PDF copies of each class presentation are posted weekly to the course webpage usually 1-2 days after each class so that you are free to focus on class content rather than taking notes. You are most welcome to come, sit back, relax, take part in and enjoy the discussions!

  • Course fees include a short tea/coffee/snack break in the middle of each session.

  • There are no refunds for missed classes.

  • Guests of registered participants are welcome to attend a single class at no charge.

  • Certificates of Completion for any particular Term Course or Series are available for Professional Development purposes upon request at the end of each Term or Series.

Prerequisites:

  • There are no prerequisites for this course.