Becoming Civilized

A Resource for Teachers

This is a brief orientation for several of the most difficult lessons in the Becoming Civilized curriculum. Each lesson is either a handout for students or a 10-minute video to "huddle" with the authors.

Bill Dardis:

The Morning Huddle Overview

Tom Cox:

Teaching Homer

Course curriculum

  • 1

    INTRODUCTION

    • Introduction to Becoming Civilized Curriculum

    • Homer: A Cornerstone of Greek and Roman Culture
  • 2

    Becoming Greece

    • Mycenaeans, Minoans, Trojan War, and Collapse

    • Using Primary Sources (Also in Rome chapter)

    • Panhellenism

    • Cleisthenes and Athenian Democracy

    • Athenian Drama, Tragedy, Comedy, History

    • Themistocles and the Persian Wars

    • Pericles, Alcibiades, and the Peloponnesian War

    • Cicero or Alcibiades? (Also in the Rome chapter)

    • Handout: Alexander the Great: Is he a good student of Aristotle?

    • Handout: Principles for Military Strategy
  • 3

    Becoming Rome

    • Why Study the Romans: the Mos Maiorum

    • Humorous Video: What Have the Romans Done?

    • Using Primary Sources

    • Early Heroes of the Republic: Coriolanus, Camillus, and Cincinnatus

    • Cato the Younger

    • Handout: Clarifying Events in the Late Republic

    • Cicero or Alcibiades?

    • How the Republic Fell: From the Gracchi to Augustus