Dr.

Christoph Greger
Humanities 41A
Fall 2019

Schedule of Assignments
Introductions: Prehistory and Early Civilizations
Reading Assignment: Culture and Values: Chapter 1, “Beginnings.”

Mon 8/19: Introduction to the class. We may start working towards some definitions: what do we mean
when we use the term “culture?”

Wed 8/21: Today we’ll get some practice in looking at cultural artifacts, and figuring out what we can
learn from them. Slide show: “The Uses of Art” (slideshows can be found on our class
website, which you should bookmark: humanities41a.weebly.com).

Fri 8/23: Today we’ll begin talking about our earliest ancestors, and try and figure out what made
them unique from other early hominids, by looking at some of their cultural artifacts.
Prehistory: What distinguishes our early ancestors from other hominids? Due Today – Read
& respond assignment #1.1: Read “An Animal of No Significance,” the first chapter of
Yuval Harari’s recent bestseller, Sapiens (handout). In your response, comment: what are
some of the things Harari identifies as providing Homo Sapiens with an early advantage over
other species? Could you add to the list?

Mon 8/26: We’ll continue our examination of the earliest human cultural artifacts, focusing on the
paintings discovered in the Chauvet caves, in France.

Wed 8/28: Today we’ll look at how technology can transform cultures. We’ll focus on the development
of agriculture as a means of looking at the evolution of the earliest civilizations, especially at
Jericho and in Sumeria. Due Today -- Read & respond assignment #1.2: Read “Selections
from the Code of Hammurabi” (selection A, in the unit 1 reader) and answer the question at
the top.

Fri 8/30: Today we’ll continue our look at how agricultural, urban societies looked back at their pre-
history as nomadic hunter gatherers. Due Today -- Read & respond assignment #1.3:
Read the story of Adam and Eve from the Hebrew bible (selection B, in the unit 1 reader);
then, try and answer the question at the top. After discussing we’ll begin a very quick look
at how (and why) the ancient Egyptians handled the transition to a settled, urban and
agricultural lifestyle.

Mon 9/2: Labor Day Holiday – No class!

Wed 9/4: Today we’ll focus on one episode in the cultural history of ancient Egypt, one of the earliest
human civilizations: a movement that’s sometimes referred to as the Amarna revolution.

Fri 9/6: Due Today -- Read & respond assignment #1.4: Read “The Case Against Civilization” by
John Lanchester (handout). Its subtitle is “Did our hunter gatherer ancestors have it better?”
It has a pretty interesting critique of, well, civilization – among other things, it suggests that
civilization amounts to more or less a con job. Once you’ve read it, try and summarize
briefly the main points in the article and I’d be really curious about your response.

Mon 9/9: Catch up day. We’ll have a brief review and then a quiz on the material we’ve discussed
thus far.