Sample Syllabus

Note: Your syllabus may not correspond to this one in all details

Beginning Classical Greek 1: GREK 1013

Online  / Term-based
Summer 2013
Professor Lauri Reitzammer
TA: Mitch Pentzer

Communication Policies

Please email with all questions or concerns; email is the preferred method of communication. The student can expect a response within 24 hours. If no response is received within 24 hours, the student should contact Mitch Pentzer (or Reitzammer, if no response from Mitch Pentzer).

Telephone (email is the preferred method of communication, voice mail is not checked regularly): 
Prof. Reitzammer: 303-492-6570

E-mail: 
Prof. Reitzammer: reitzammer@colorado.edu
TA Mitch Pentzer: mitchell.pentzer@colorado.edu

Instructor Bios

Lauri Reitzammer is an Assistant Professor in the Classics department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She studies Greek literature and Greek religion.

Mitch Pentzer is a graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He studies Greek and Latin literature.

Course Description (from the CU-Boulder Catalog)

For students with no previous knowledge of ancient Greek. Introduces basic grammar and vocabulary.

Objectives
  • Explain and demonstrate a basic understanding of the grammatical structure of the Greek language
  • Read and recognize basic ancient Greek vocabulary
  • Appreciate ancient Greek culture, literature, and history as learned through study of the language
  • Read aloud, write, and translate simple paragraphs in ancient Greek

Overview

This course is offered entirely online. The topics covered are the same as those covered in the on campus GREK 1013 class, but the content is delivered by different means and in a different format. The online format enhances students’ learning in many valuable ways. Two different kinds of videos (delivered in digestible 10-15 minute increments) are available online (lecture videos and dialogue videos):

  • The student will be able to watch lecture videos, (approximately 15 minutes) multiple times if necessary, in order to grasp challenging concepts.
  • In addition, daily dialogue videos are posted (approximately 15 minutes). These consist of conversations between Professor Reitzammer and Mitch Pentzer, who plays the role of a student struggling to come to grips with the difficulties posed by the Greek language (e.g., Mitch translates sentences and is corrected by Professor Reitzammer; Mitch asks questions about grammar and Professor Reitzammer responds). 

While ancient Greek is not a spoken language (like French or Spanish), students will need to develop facility with pronunciation. A feature of the course website (D2L) allows students to record sample sentences, and students will receive feedback on pronunciation.

Students are required to participate at least two times each week by means of a conferencing tool, Adobe Connect, in an online forum where Mitch Pentzer or Professor Reitzammer will meet them at regular times to go over questions posed by students. These sessions will be recorded and posted on the course website.

The Classics department regularly offers the two-course series, Beginning Classical Greek 1 and 2, during the Fall and Spring semester. The online summer class permits students (who might, for example, be living at home during the summer, far from Boulder) to get a year of Greek under their belt so that they are able to enter Intermediate Greek in the Fall. Graduate students in a variety of departments (e.g., Philosophy) need ancient Greek for their studies and are unable to devote the time to study the language during the regular semester. Finally, students across the country who need Greek in order to enter graduate programs will benefit from the online course (e.g., students who are either not enrolled in a university or are living in a location far from their university for the summer).

Please note: Typing ancient Greek into a document (e.g., Word) presents many difficulties. Therefore, all homework, tests, and the final exam must be scanned and uploaded to the course website (D2L). The documents must be uploaded in pdf format (please be sure to name your files with your first and last name). In addition to a reliable (and fast) internet connection, students MUST have access to a SCANNER for turning in homework, tests, and the final exam.

Quizzes will be completed online within the course website (D2L). Students are required to use Firefox when taking the online quizzes. In other browsers, the Greek may not display properly. (Please do not ever use Google Chrome to access the course website as the browser causes all sorts of difficulties.)

Required Text:

Anne H. Groton, From Alpha to Omega: A Beginning Course in Classical Greek, Fourth Edition, Focus Publishing, 2012.

Students are strongly encouraged to purchase the Fourth Edition of From Alpha to Omega, as we will be referring to exercises and page numbers contained in the newest edition. The Fourth edition is also available as an e-book, if students prefer this format.

All books (required and recommended) may be found at

Recommended Texts:

From Alpha to Omega: Ancillary Exercises, Jon Bruss, Focus Publishing, 2001.

Extra practice exercises for the student, along with a helpful answer key.

Greek Paradigm Handbook: Reference Guide and Memorization Tool. Focus Publishing, 2008

A handy pocket guide of Greek forms, with charts and tables for easy reference.

Grading

  • Daily Quizzes (18 out of 25):  25%
  • Weekly tests (4): 30%
  • Assignments: 15%
  • Participation: 15%
  • Final Exam: 15%

This is not a self-paced course. Each day, students are responsible for timely submission of assignments.

Quizzes. In this five-week course we will work through 25 lessons. The course website (D2L) contains 25 quizzes that correspond to the 25 lessons. Quizzes are taken each day (Monday through Friday) on the course website and must be completed each day by MIDNIGHT Mountain Time Zone (MT). You may drop your seven lowest quiz scores. If you wish, you may take only 18 (out of 25) quizzes.

All quizzes and tests will be posted in advance (the entire sequence of quizzes and tests for the entire course should be available by the end of the first week). Occasionally, two lessons will be covered on one day (June 11 and June 18, see schedule below). On such days you are responsible for taking both quizzes by MIDNIGHT Mountain Time (or you may choose to drop one or both quizzes). Please note: you may work ahead (in fact, we encourage you to do so).

Tests. Each week (except for the last day of class when students will take the final exam), students will take a test. Tests must be scanned and uploaded by Midnight (MT) each Saturday. It is your responsibility to make sure that your scan is legible. Please upload all files in pdf format.

Assignments are to be turned in by Midnight (MT) each day (Monday through Friday). For each lesson (except Lessons 1 and 2, for which please see below), students will:

  • Complete the Greek-to-English sentences in the textbook, numbers 1-10.
  • Complete a worksheet corresponding to each lesson (found on the course website in the dropbox section, beneath “Assessments” on the main navigation bar). The worksheets must be printed, completed, scanned, and uploaded to the course website (in pdf format). You will upload your textbook assignments and your worksheets to the Dropbox section (beneath “Assessments” on the main navigation bar).

Please note: Assignments for Lesson 1 and 2 are a bit different. In addition to your textbook assignment for Lesson 1 (Exercise A. 1-10) and Worksheet 1, you must complete a recording of your pronunciation of Exercise A. 1-10 (found in your textbook). The assignment for Lesson 2 is Exercise A. 1-10 and Worksheet 2.

Participation consists of appearing (at least two times per week) by means of a conferencing tool (a forum where students engage in real-time discussion with peers and either Professor Reitzammer or Mitch Pentzer. These sessions will be recorded and posted online for reference/review.

Please note: you must use headphones when participating in the Adobe Connect chat sessions. Before you attend the session, please run the Audio Setup Wizard. We will describe how to do this at the first meeting.

Professor Reitzammer (or Mitch Pentzer) is available at the following times for consultation by means of a conferencing tool, Adobe Connect:

  • Monday 7:30pm-8:30pm (MT)
  • Tuesday 3:00pm-4:00pm (MT) and 7:00-8:00pm (MT)
  • Wednesday 3:00pm-4:00pm (MT)
  • Thursday 3:00pm-4:00pm (MT)
  • Friday 3:00pm-4:00pm (MT)
  • (additional times TBD).

This course normally runs during the semester over 16 weeks. Even in a semester setting ancient Greek is a difficult (though incredibly rewarding!) language. Students must expect to devote a substantial amount of time to this course and may run into difficulty if they have other demands on their time.

We will not be using the online grade book feature in D2L. (The grade that you see in the course web site will likely be incorrect.) If you wish to calculate your grade, you may use the grade breakdown above.

What Do I Do the First Day?

The first day (Monday, June 3), after reading Lesson 1 in the textbook, the student will watch approximately 15 minutes of “lecture” video (it might be useful to watch this more than once!). He/she will then complete the assignment (Exercise A. (in the textbook), 1-10) and Worksheet 1. He/she will then watch 15 minutes of “dialogue” video (again, it might be useful to watch this more than once!). The student will then upload the assignment (Exercise A. 1-10 and Worksheet 1) to D2L.  The student will then complete the pronunciation recording (link can be found on “Day One” on the course web site). Finally, by MIDNIGHT MT the student will complete the quiz for Lesson 1.

The pronunciation recording is a special feature of Day One. You will not be required to do this again.

And the process repeats. (So, on the second day, the student reads Lesson 2, watches the lecture video, completes textbook assignment and worksheet, and watches the dialogue video; the student uploads the textbook assignment and worksheet and takes the quiz). Weekly tests are due by MIDNIGHT MT Saturday.

Other demands on your time may make it hard for you to succeed in this course.

Below is a suggested schedule. This is only a suggestion. It is possible that in order to succeed in this class you will need to spend more time on the class than this suggested schedule. (Times correspond to times in MT.)

  • 8:30-9:00 – Read Lesson
  • 9:00-9:30 – Watch 15-minute “lecture” video (perhaps twice)
  • 9:30-10:30 – Complete assignment (for all Lessons beginning with Lesson 3, the assignment is Greek-to-English sentences 1-10; Worksheet)
  • 10:30-11:00 – Watch “dialogue” video (perhaps twice)
  • 7:00-8:00 – Participate in Adobe Connect meeting
  • Upload textbook assignment and worksheet
  • Study and Take quiz

By midnight (MT) each day, students must complete the quiz and assignment (Greek-to-English sentences and worksheet). If the quiz and assignment are not submitted by MIDNIGHT, the student will receive a zero for this work.

The class is NOT self-paced, and all work needs to be done in the required timeframe.


Technical Issues

If you are experiencing a technical problem (you cannot log in, the discussions or the e-mail do not open and similar issues), please contact help@colorado.edu OR call 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone, and you will be helped or given further instructions. The most common issue is that some students forget to allow pop-ups in the online courses, and cannot see the e-mails or the discussions.

Students are responsible for keeping copies of all work they submit for grading, including exams, in case there are technical issues regarding their computer, Internet connection, or course software.

Within the context of a regular semester, you must devote a substantial amount of time to learning Greek if you are going to succeed. In a summer online course, we are unable to proceed at the leisurely semester pace. This summer course, then, requires a significant time commitment. But is there a better way to spend your summer than learning to read Homer, Euripides, and Plato? If the answer is no, this course is for you!

SCHEDULE


_________ 
Week One

Monday, June 3
Lesson 1: The Greek Alphabet
Tuesday, June 4
Lesson 2: Accents
Wednesday, June 5
Lesson 3: Ω-Verbs: Present Active Indicative, Present Active Infinitive, Present Active Imperative
Thursday, June 6
Lesson 4: First Declension: Feminine Nouns, Part 1         
Friday, June 7
Lesson 5: First Declension: Feminine Nouns, Part 2
TEST 1: DUE by Midnight MT Saturday


_________ 
Week Two

Monday, June 10
Lesson 6: Ω-Verbs: Future Active Indicative, Future Active Infinitive
Tuesday, June 11
Lesson 7: Second Declension: Masculine Nouns
Lesson 8:  Second Declension: Neuter Nouns; Adjectives: First/Second Declension
Wednesday, June 12
Lesson 9: First Declension: Masculine Nouns; Substantives
Thursday, June 13
Lesson 10: Ω-Verbs: Imperfect Active Indicative; Correlatives
Friday, June 14
Lesson 11: Ω-Verbs: Middle/Passive Voice; Prepositions
TEST 2: DUE by Midnight MT Saturday


__________ 
Week Three

Monday, June 17
Lesson 12: εἰμί Enclitics
Tuesday, June 18
Lesson 13: Demonstratives
Lesson 14: Personal Pronouns
Wednesday, June 19
Lesson 15: Contract Verbs; Contracted Futures
Thursday, June 20
Lesson 16: Third Declension: Stop, Liquid, and Nasal Stems
Friday, June 21
Lesson 17: Third Declension: Sigma Stems; Adjectives: Third Declension
TEST 3: DUE by Midnight MT Saturday


_________ 
Week Four

Monday, June 24
Lesson 18: Ω-Verbs: First Aorist Active and Middle Indicative, First Aorist Active and Middle Infinitives, First Aorist Active and Middle Imperative
Tuesday, June 25
Lesson 19: Ω-Verbs: Second Aorist Active and Middle Indicative, Second Aorist Active and Middle Infinitives, Second Aorist Active and Middle Imperative; Reflexive Pronouns
Wednesday, June 26
Lesson 20: Ω-Verbs: Perfect Active Indicative, Perfect Active Infinitive; Pluperfect Active Indicative
Thursday, June 27
Lesson 21: Interrogative τίς and Indefinite τις
Friday, June 28
Lesson 22: Ω-Verbs: Perfect Middle/Passive Indicative, Perfect Middle/Passive Infinitive, Pluperfect Middle/Passive Indicative
TEST 4: DUE by Midnight MT Saturday

_________ 
Week Five

Monday, July 1
Lesson 23: Relative Pronouns; πᾶς; Expressions of Time
Tuesday, July 2
Lesson 24: Ω-Verbs: Present Active Participle, Future Active Participle
Wednesday, July 3
Lesson 25: Present Middle/Passive Participle, Future Middle Participle, First and Second Aorist Middle Participles, Perfect Middle/Passive Participles
Thursday, July 4
HOLIDAY
Friday, July 5
FINAL EXAM: DUE BY MIDNIGHT MT


Official University Policies


Disability Accommodations

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to the instructor a letter from so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671 or visit Willard 322.

Religious Holidays

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or required attendance. If you need to miss class for a religious holiday please submit a letter to the instructor before the end of January. See a list of regarding religious holidays.

Class Behavior

Students and faculty each have the responsibility to maintain an appropriate learning environment. Students who do not adhere to behavioral expectations will be asked to leave the class. Severe or repeated infractions of behavioral expectations will be subject to further discipline. Instructors have the professional responsibility to treat students with understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion, and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which students express opinions. See and at .

Student behavior online should adhere to the same principles as that in an on-campus class. Students need to be aware that facial expressions or tone of voice do not translate into the cyberspace well, and so they need to be extra diligent in expressing their feelings and opinions. It is OK to disagree, but it needs to be done in a civil manner.

Academic Integrity

All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including, but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). See information on the . See .

Sexual Harassment Policy

The University of Colorado Policy on Sexual Harassment applies to all students, staff, and faculty. Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual attention. It can involve intimidation, threats, coercion, or promises that create an environment that is hostile or offensive. Harassment may occur between members of the same or opposite gender and between any combinations of members in the campus community: students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Harassment can occur anywhere on campus, including the classroom, the workplace, or a residence hall. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been sexually harassed should contact the at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550. See information about the or .