Over the last 29 years in C&T, Wabash sophomores have engaged the products, practices, and ideas of a variety of societies, historical periods, and voices and have begun to explore some of the complex ways that people from around the world, past and present, have lived and thought about their lives. As a required course taught by a college-wide faculty, over time C&T offers all students and much of the faculty an experience of communal learning. Some of the principles upon which this course is built are:

• C &T is designed to focus on learning and discovery through discussion, emphasizing the value of sharing insights and testing ideas against those of others.
• C&T should foster intellectual curiosity and a willingness to explore new things beyond the comfortable and familiar; it should help develop the confidence to pursue questions that are raised.
• C&T should foster variety in the interpretations, ideas, and values espoused by students and faculty.
• A C&T section should be a place where all feel it safe to disagree with others, to inquire into their views, and to try out new ideas.
• C&T should introduce representative works from several societies, selected as interesting in their own right and as a means to explore creative and intellectual traditions within and across societies.
• C&T should draw attention to the diversity and development over time within a single culture and the complexity of interactions between cultures, so that students can avoid the trap of oversimplifying and essentializing cultures.

The fall semester begins with an extended engagement with one major text, Homer's Odyssey. This unit provides an opportunity to learn how to read and discuss texts for C&T and introduces some of the issues that appear later in the semester. The remainder of the semester is divided into three modules, each examining an ancient culture. You will read selections from the Hebrew Bible in the context of the history and traditions of the early tribes of Israel; and you will explore some of the great works of Classical Greece and Classical China in their cultural and historical contexts.

Reading is obviously an essential part of C&T since you cannot discuss something that you have not read. You must read carefully and take the time to think about what you've read. Many of the ideas that you'll encounter in the readings are both subtle and complex, and they often take considerable effort to understand. Before you get started, you might want to read through the section "On Reading Well to Discuss Well" which follows the syllabus. Note that the C&T faculty have included introductions for each reading, with study questions that may help you prepare for discussion. This year we have also added an occasional "Supplement" to the readings book. These are designed to enrich your experience in C&T and will often give you additional historical context, a glimpse of the archaeological remains of an ancient culture, an introduction to an ancient language, or links to related web sites that you can explore. You will also find copies of all supplements on the C&T Blackboard site with web links.

Lectures also play a vital role in C&T. They usually mark the introduction of a new section or topic and they can introduce you to material which you might otherwise find strange or forbidding. A lecture can present information and insights that might be hard for you to discover on your own; lectures will also provide some context for readings. Don't be surprised if your discussion leader asks what you think of some point made by a recent lecturer or if material from lectures appears on an examination.

The following pages of the Book of Readings contain the syllabus for the fall semester. Please take the time to review it carefully before the course begins.

We would like to thank the many people who have made special contributions to this semester's C&T. Mike Axtell, David Blix, Joseph Day, Leslie Day, Glen Helman, Patrick Myers, Paul Myhre, William Placher, Robert Royalty, Will Turner, and many others played important roles in shaping the syllabus and in putting together the Readings Book. Mike Bachner took care of the massive job of obtaining copyright permissions for all of the works in the Readings Book. Jeana Rogers has prepared the digital images on the Virtual Media Reserve. As always, Judy Oswalt has done superb work in putting the Readings Book together, and Marcia Caldwell and Debbie Bourff have also done a great job of taking all the separate readings and turning them into a book. To these and many more, including the twenty-nine years of Wabash sophomores and Wabash faculty who preceded us, all of whom have given energy and ideas to Cultures and Traditions, we extend our thanks.

Joyce Burnette and Cheryl Hughes
Co-Chairs of Cultures & Traditions