Yale University offers online course on Roman Architecture

Yale University is offering an online course on 'Roman Architecture'. The course helps for those who love to travel and want to discover the power of architecture to shape politics, society and culture.

About the Course:

The course is an introduction to the great buildings and engineering marvels of Rome and its empire, with an emphasis on urban planning and individual monuments and their decoration, including mural painting.

While architectural developments in Rome, Pompeii, and Central Italy are highlighted, the course also provides a survey of sites and structures in what are now North Italy, Sicily, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and North Africa. Some of the learning materials have been adapted from the Roman Architecture course recorded for Open Yale Courses. The lectures are illustrated with over 1,500 images.

Course Syllabus:

Week 1

Introduction to Roman Architecture
Takes a City: The Founding of Rome and the Beginnings of Urbanism in Italy

Week 2

Technology and Revolution in Roman Architecture
Civic Life Interrupted; Nightmare and Destiny on August 24, A.D. 79
Writing Assignment 1: Does New Technology Lead to Innovation or Innovation to New Technology?

Week 3

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Houses and Villas at Pompeii
Habitats at Herculaneum and Early Roman Interior Decoration
Writing Assignment 1: Peer-Review Grading

Week 4

Gilding the Lily: Painting Palaces and Villas in the First Century A.D.
Exploring Special Subjects on Pompeian Walls

Week 5

From Brick to Marble: Augustus Assembles Rome
Accessing Afterlife: Tombs of Roman Aristocrats, Freedmen, and Slaves
Writing Assignment 2: How Do the Romans Use Architecture for Self Promotion?

Week 6

Notorious Nero and His Amazing Architectural Legacy
The Creation of an Icon: The Colosseum and Contemporary Architecture in Rome
Writing Assignment 2: Peer-Review Grading

Week 7

The Prince and the Palace: Human Made Divine on the Palatine Hill
The Mother of All Forums: Civic Architecture in Rome under Trajan
Mastery Quiz 1

Week 8

Rome and a Villa: Hadrian's Pantheon and Tivoli Retreat
The Roman Way of Life and Death at Ostia, the Port of Rome
Term Project: Design Your Own Roman City Project

Week 9

Bigger is Better: The Baths of Caracalla and Other Second- and Third-Century Buildings in Rome
Hometown Boy: Honoring an Emperor's Roots in Roman North Africa
Continue to work on Term Project

Week 10

Baroque Extravaganzas: Rock Tombs, Fountains, and Sanctuaries in Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya
Roman Wine in Greek Bottles: The Rebirth of Athens
Design Your Own Roman City Project: Complete and submit the 500-word writing assignment and the by-hand or computer-generated city design drawings

Week 11

Making Mini Romes on the Western Frontier
Rome Redux: The Tetrarchic Renaissance
Design Your Own Roman City Project Writing Assignment: Peer-Review Writing Assignment

Week 12