Daily Assignments/Syllabus

Course Requirements/Grading

Classics 315/English 300C

Satire from Rome to Colbert

(J, H GenEd)

Binghamton University SUNY

6-7:25 PM T/Th, Student Wing 309

Fall 2014

Prof. John H. Starks, Jr.

jstarks@binghamton.edu

Library Tower 1116

9-10 AM W/Th

607-777-4524

Synopsis:

Searing wit and unrelenting mockery employed in perceptive socio-political critique can arouse deep understanding, cheap laughs, or both—maybe neither. Satirical humorists from Petronius and Juvenal, to Swift and Twain, to Stewart and Colbert touch the rawest of nerves to fortify, rectify or undermine societal norms. Through readings, discussions, viewings, composition and performance of satire from antiquity to, literally, present-day America students will investigate social thinking across multiple cultures.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students in J courses will 

1. Demonstrate understanding of course content through formal academic writing;
2. Construct effective prose that demonstrates critical thinking and advances sound conclusions, appropriate to the course and discipline; and
3. Demonstrate the ability to revise and improve their writing in both form and content.

1. Demonstrate proficiency in oral presentations.
2. Demonstrate the ability to improve oral presentations in response to critiques.
3. Demonstrate skill in listening to and critiquing oral presentations. 

Students in H courses will demonstrate an understanding of human experience though the study of literature or philosophy.