Patrick's course topics include archaeology, history, ancent technology, the arts and literature and frequently fill up quickly. Early enrollment ensures an informative learning experience. Check back frequently as additions and updates are common.

Current and Upcoming Courses



Medieval Art and Archaeology

The Middle Ages were more than just the Age of Faith and incredible, soaring cathedrals. They were also times of great artistic and intellectual foment, but noted as well for feudalism in both castles and walled cities and ultimately the advent of gunpowder that made such castles obsolete, reducing them to expensive follies.

In this course we examine the treasure trove of artistic, architectural, and archaeological material that has survived to the present day from the immensely rich cultural heritage of the European Middle Ages. This course will move from exquisite art and stunning architectural projects (cathedrals and castles) to delicate handwork (ivory carving); from sacred art (manuscript illumination) to the secular arts of war (chased armor and heraldry) and luxurious textiles (tapestries). The Middle Ages has been romantically revived many times over the past 200 years, most notably in Great Britain by Sir Walter Scott and William Morris, and by Viollet-le-Duc in France. While not dismissing completely their portraits of the medieval period, we will look closely at the findings of recent archaeology and try to reach a more balanced assessment of the accomplishments of what must be considered one of the dazzling pinnacles of European cultural achievement.

Spring 2010
Wednesdays, Spring Quarter, Stanford University

Winter 2010

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Lists of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were originally compiled in antiquity for astonishing engineering works that almost defied description —some of the monuments were referred to as early as the 5th century BCE by

Stanford University – Winter Quarter 2010 - ARC 109  

Wednesdays, Jan. 13 – Mar. 17

This has also been a Stanfod University undergraduate and graduate student summer course.

Previously Offered Courses



Medicine in the Ancient World June-July 2009

Ancient medicine sometimes appears surprisingly similar to modern medicine. At other times, it exposes what we regard as deep superstition and ignorance. The ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans, and other cultures often asked similar questions to the

ones we pose about health and disease today. And they began developing surgical processes that still exist in some form, while also practicing pharmaceutical and psychiatric approaches that we can recognize in modern science. This course offers a survey of ancient medicine, looking at both ancient cultures and pioneering individuals. Here we will encounter ancient doctors such as Hippocrates, Celsus, Dioscorides, and Galen and also explore important texts (including De Materia Medica) and ancient medical instruments that have been preserved from Pompeii to Northern Europe. Memphis, Babylon, Alexandria, Cos, Pergamon, and Epidaurus are only a few of the places we will study where ancient medicine had a long and successful tradition."

Summer 2009
Wednesdays: 7:00 - 8:50 pm
6 weeks:
June 24 - July 29

Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Classical Mystery Cults of the Greco-Roman World - Spring 2009

The great cult and mystery of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, the Mysteries of Dionysus, the Mithraic Mysteries, the mysteries of Isis, and the mysteries of Cybele-Attis all competed in the Classical world for the souls and wealth of

Nonetheless, during its early rise, Christianity could not escape the influence of these mystery cults, and the new religion subtly assimilated their praxes in an "if you can’t beat them, join them" philosophy. Eventually, by the late 4th century, Christianity would solidify its hold on Europe and the mystery religions would be outlawed by Roman emperors such as Theodosius and gradually fade into history. In this course, we will recover these religions that organized and gave meaning to ancient life.

(CLA 117)

Spring 2009
Wednesdays: 7:00 - 8:50 pm
5 weeks:
May 6 - June 3

Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Archaeology and Art of Persia - From Cyrus the Great to the Ottomans - Fall, 2008

Persia has had one of the longest, most glorious and fascinating histories in the world. Too often neglected by the West, Persia has

a wealth of culture and has made immense contributions to civilization jealously admired and acknowledged by the ancient Greeks and the later Byzantines at least from Cyrus the Great around the 6th c. BCE all the way through the Ottoman perod in the 19th century. Its legendary arts and architectural sites range from Achaeminid Persepolis to Safavid Tabriz and Isfahan with great monuments, rich textiles, intricate miniature paintings, ceramics and perfumed gardens. Its jeweled metalworking include such materials as the fabulous Oxus Treasure Hoard discovered in the 19th c. and its great literature includes the epic SHAHNAMEH (Book of Kings) to the Tales of Rustam, the medieval Persian Hero. These are only a few highlights covered in the course.

Fall 2008
Sept. 24-Dec. 3, Wed. eve.

Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Plundered Art: From Nebuchadnezzar to Nero, Napoleon and the Nazis
Summer 2008 - ARTH 218 (June 25 to July 23)

In recent years, many leading museums have found themselves at the center of controversies focusing on whether they have developed their antiquities collections unethically.

Centaurs, Gorgons, Sphinxes, and many other myth personae have been painted and sculpted for thousands of years in Western Art, but what can we learn from their accumulated layers of meaning? Who and what were the older models of

Athena and Demeter going back to the Bronze Age? How has Aphrodite changed from her earlier archaeological antecedent in the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar? What meaning does the caduceus of Hermes possess through time? How long have myths been visualized in art? What changes in cultural perception, conventions, and social values are reflected in the variations of how mythology is rendered through time? Layers of iconography are shown and analyzed in this course, which examines known embedded archaeological evidence in the various arts depicting myth. These and other questions are a few of the approaches taken. This new course also suggests possible routes that images take across ancient cultures over millennia to the modern era, providing possible ways to date the changes in the art of myth through time.


Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Alpine Archaeology - Spring 2008

This course emphasizes the unique practices of conducting archaeology in the Alps and montane, high altitude regions while also covering global practices. Topics include geomorphology, montane ecology and paleoclimatology and how these help determine the ancient alpine environment

Rembrandt's Bathsheba

For a book revered as sacred scripture, the Bible has some of the most scandalous stories in world literature. Bloodshed, intrigue, temptation, jealousy, betrayal, lies and the baser human instincts are common portrayals. One consistent theme is that the greatest sinners have always made the greatest saints. Moses and David were more like us than we are often led to believe and their respective angers and lusts are not hidden from us.

Good literature always tells the truth about humans. Here we read and learn many new insights about being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Dinah and Judah, Moses, Rahab the Harlot, the Shibboleth, Saul and the Witch of Endor, David and Bathsheba, Amnon and his sister Tamar, Absalom, Solomon's Harem, as well as Peter, Paul and Mary [Magdalene, that is] and spooky screamers who lived in graveyards rattling their chains. Some of these shockers make The Scarlet Letter look tame and Halloween movies look silly. Why else need salvation?

Winter Quarter 2009
Wednesdays Jan-Mar

Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.


Great Lives in History

How many people in history actually deserve to have their names described as "great"? Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Constantine the Great, Charlemagne, Frederick the Great, and Catherine the Great are a few that immediately spring to mind. These historic figures earned the designation because they either greatly influenced history in their day, or they affected humankind afterward. Some others could be described as great if only because their intimidating influence was admittedly profound. As such, we have Nero-the-Not-So-Great, as well as Pope Gregory the Great, William the Conqueror, and Genghis Khan.

This course examines ancient and modern lives, using surviving records and accounts, in order to evaluate or confirm their claims to global greatness. Along the way, we will take a close look at the official historical accounts of these lives. And we will also peer into their tent camps and bedrooms and see these figures from less historically explored perspectives.

Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Hannibal - Spring 2008

Hannibal is a name that evoked fear among the Romans for decades. His courage, cunning and intrepid march across the Alps in 218 BCE with an army and elephants over snowy crags and dangerous passes are still features of one of the most exciting reads in ancient

"If any global archaeologist were asked to name the top ten archaeological discoveries that have made the greatest impact on archaeology and history, most lists would be likely to unanimously mention the following huge impact discoveries: the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, Nineveh, Troy, King Tut's Tomb, Machu Picchu, Thera-Akrotiri, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Olduvai Gorge starting with the Leakey Era and the Tomb of the Ten Thousand Warriors in China. This exciting book, written with a taut narrative, relates the dramatic moments of these discoveries, whether by professional archaeologists or by amateurs' accidents, and highlights their significance to history." Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies. 10 week course, September-December Goto: www.tendiscoveries.com.

Many evidences from ancient art and archaeology witness how seriously athleticism was taken as both a personal and communal value within society. The ancient Greeks believed in balancing mind and body where physical training was rigorously accompanied by mental training and vice versa. Few people know Plato's real

"Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) was one of those few genius artists who achieved fame in his youth only to be nearly abandoned by society in his later life. While ushering in the Dutch Baroque Age at the height of Amsterdam’s glory days in the 17th century, Rembrandt summed up Realism and in some ways anticipated both Romanticism and Impressionism. While he is still considered by some to be the greatest biblical painter of all time, Rembrandt hardly ever went inside a church.

The European Renaissance derives its name from the “rebirth” or rediscovery of ancient cultural models and ideals. Petrarch’s Ad Fontanes, “[Back] to the Fountains,” was the hallmark of the day, as thinkers in all disciplines dipped into the European cultural past for fresh inspiration.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought a forgotten wealth of ancient lore, along with thousands of refugees, to the West. The humanist Erasmus offered new Greek translations of biblical texts that improved on Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Around 1300, Giotto and other artists studied extant Etruscan and Roman wall paintings and borrowed their revolutionary perspective. Greek astronomy and mathematics, preserved through Arabic, saw new light of day, as Nicholas Copernicus and Giordano Bruno revived the heliocentric ideas of Aristarchus of Samos. In this course, we will study these and many other topics in art, medicine, physics, geography, and the history of science that reveal the deep debt of the Renaissance to the ancient past.

Autumn Quarter 2006
(HIS 128)
Monday evenings, 7:00 - 8:50 p.m.
Sept 25 - Dec 4, 2006


Offered by Stanford Continuing Studies.

Greek Mythology 2004-2007

How familiar we are with phrases like "Pandora's Box" or "the Labors of Hercules" or "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" or "Siren Song" and many others that have become idioms and metaphors for common expressions in our lives, now illumined in this course. Themes like the Trojan War, the Coming of Spring and the Seasons, The House of Kadmos and Oedipus and the Sphinx, Perseus and Medusa,

Prometheus Brings Fire, Deukalion and the Flood, Cupid and Psyche, Dionysus and Wine myths, the Loves and Feuds of the Gods, How Zeus, Poseidon and Hades divided the Cosmos between Them, Heroes and Monsters, Pegasus and Chimaira are just a few of the tales and topics in the course. Mythology - even fictive - may treasure kernels of truth about humanity. Patrick Hunt will also assign and share readings from his own unique and original retellings of myth.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY (CLASSGEN 18)
Stanford University, Fall Quarter 2006,
Undergraduate and graduate enrollment

This course is limited to registered students, including from outside Stanford.

Large-scale and small-scale engineering in the ancient world offer fascinating parallels to modern technology. How were the pyramids of ancient Egypt constructed? How did the Romans create a hydrology system with extensive aqueducts, and over 50,000

"The great mythologer Joseph Campbell suggested history can be real but not necessarily true whereas mythology is not necessarily real but full of truth. Some of the questions examined in this class are "Can we find kernels of historical truth in mythology as in places such as Troy, Mycenae and Thebes and other archaeological sites?" "How do mythology and archaeology overlap?"

If an archaeologist were to list the most exciting and seminal archaeological discoveries in the world, nearly every list would include King Tut's Tomb, Machu Picchu, the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, Akrotiri on Thera, the 10,000 Chinese Tomb Warriors, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Assyrian Library of Ashurbanipul at Nineveh, Troy, and Olduvai Gorge or African Great Rift ancient human ancestors like "Lucy."