Fall 2004: GREK 1331/3331 (first semester)
GREK 1332/3332 (second semester)
PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTION
These two sequences of online Greek courses (1331/1332 and 3331/3332) are intended to engage students with diverse backgrounds, goals, and interests, in learning interactively. The common goal will be the acquisition of fundamental translation skills in Classical and/or Biblical Greek. Because the Greek "common" (koinê) dialect resulted from a convergence of ancient dialects where Attic, the Greek spoken in Athens, predominated, instruction in ancient Greek, which is traditionally based on Attic, is at the same time an introduction to the language of the Old and New Testaments.
Teaching a course on the web offers the attractive possibility of tailoring the materials also in other respects. The skeleton of the course will make grammatical matter as accessible as possible, even to those who have no prior experience in learning foreign languages and to those who have not learned or have forgotten the grammar of their own language.
Both semesters will be offered in Fall 2004. The upper-level sections, 3331 and 3332, fit the needs of graduate students in other fields who want to use ancient or koinê Greek to fulfill their school requirement of reading proficiency in a foreign language.
It is important to point out that neither sequence, equivalent to one full-year of study, will provide a sufficient foundation in this challenging language. The foreign language requirement in most colleges stipulates that a student must earn four semesters of credit in one language. A third semester of Greek online is also offered every fall semester, often combined with optional weekly meetings on campus for students who live in Houston.
INSTRUCTOR: Professor Dora C. Pozzi. For my credentials, go to my homepage.
MUTUAL EXPECTATIONS
What you can expect:
At the end of the first two semesters you will be able to recognize most of the forms and the structures of Classical and Biblical Greek. You will not learn by rote a collection of forms and rules but will acquire, gradually and with a lot of practice, the strategies necessary to understand selected prose passages, slightly adapted, from classical authors and some unadapted passages from the Bible.
You can expect your instructor to be readily available by email (and telephone, when necessary). If you live in Houston, you will be able to attend orientation and help sessions and schedule one-on-one appointments on campus.
If you take these courses for credit, you will earn a grade reflecting your performance throughout the semester, yet primarily the abilities you have acquired by the end of the course. Each semester I give three tests (on campus or by email). These are learning opportunities: your grade will not suffer because you make mistakes. If you fall behind schedule, you can expect some flexibility with deadlines and tests, as long as they don't imperil your ability to make progress.
What I expect:
Interest, obviously, and especially, persistence. I am very pleased with the performance of students who have taken the courses online so far, but I must point out that those who do well set aside time to work on each lesson week by week. These are not courses for which you may "cram" just before a test. Those who attempt it will disappoint me and themselves.
MORE INFORMATION:
Please email your questions: dcpozzi@uh.edu
or call me at (713) 743-3076.
REGISTRATION
If you are a UH student and live in the Houston area, follow the usual procedure
to sign up for a distance course. The sections numbers are as follows:
first semester: (sign up for one only)
GREK 1331: Section 05460
GREK 3331: Section 05468
second semester: (sign up for one only)
GREK 1332: Section 05461
GREK 3332: Section 05470
If you need to sign up online, whether you are or are not yet a UH student, please email me and I will reply with information on enrollment.