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CLAS 123Classical Studies in Pop Culture

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Classical Studies

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

An introduction to the role that classical studies and the classical cultures have played in pop culture. This course will examine specific references, such as ancient Greek myths, and more general trends, such as literary types, in contemporary movies, television shows, comic books, and video games to illustrate the continued fascination with the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

33% liked it63% easy31% useful

From 6 ratings and 4 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • The course material was interesting. There was no grading rubric provided which made doing the discussion posts and writing assignment difficult. We did not receive marks from the 1st discussion post until after the 2nd was due and no feedback was provided.

    May 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course was supposed to be more of a fun and creative take on mythology, however, it turned out to be more of a headache to complete. It was extremely hard to understand the marking as there were no rubrics provided or any criteria, and I found some of the topics covered to be quite boring instead of interesting. Maybe if this was an in person lecture it could've been more fun.

    Apr 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • If you're going into this course for the pop culture aspect or for a bird course, DO NOT. I had Lisa Trentin as a prof and she mostly focused on Greek mythology (that I have no interest in) and talked about comics or a video game for 20 minutes in an almost 3 hour lecture. She was very picky about participation that was worth 25% and was not very friendly. I am never taking another classics course.

    Apr 2024 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Took this course in Fall 2022 with Dr. Hardiman. The marking scheme is 2x25% for 2 non-cumulative midterms, 15% discussion posts and 35% creative writing assignment. This course is really fun and the content is really interesting as you look at comics, video games, and movies. The discussion posts are an easy 15%. The two midterms are not very challenging they have MC, FIB, Matching, and Identify/Define but no Long or Short answer written response questions. The creative writing assignment is kinda hard as the instructions are so broad and Dr. Hardiman did not really talk about the assignment that much. Overall, finished with a low 90, which is less than my marks in the previous CLAS…

    Dec 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

11 posts and comments in 8 threads mention CLAS 123, January 2019 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2022

Clas 123 3 points, 0 comments

u/EmptyFortune7295: “I am wondering if anyone has any Information on clas 123 in terms of assessments or course outlines as I want to take the course during the winter of this year or fall of next year. …”

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Fall 2021

CLAS 123 1 point, 0 comments

u/cheeese_cake: “Im planning to take CLAS 123 next term. Anyone had taken this class before, could you give some feedback on the course. It seems like a new course and no reviews on uwflow so I was just curious. Thank you.”

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Winter 2021

CLAS 123 anyone ?????????????? 1 point, 0 comments

u/No_Physics1765: “hey is anyone here currently in CLAS 123? if so, do you know what tf is up with the final writing assignment? Like we haven't gotten any directions or rubric on it at all, and its worth 35% and also DUE IN A FEW DAYS????????????? &x200B; how do we format it? …”

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Fall 2020

Has anyone taken CLAS 123? 3 points, 1 comment

u/ItsMethiic: “I’m just wondering if anyone has taken CLAS 123? It sounds pretty interesting but I can’t find any information on it anywhere. I’m deciding between CLAS 104 and CLAS 123 but it would be nice to have someone thoughts on CLAS 123! If you have, how was the course? …”

u/Skittlethrill: “Hi! I took CLAS 123 in my first year last term when it got cancelled halfway through. for the most part, it was pretty easy, as long as you kept an eye on which assignments were due when (there was a creative writing assignment). no weekly quizzes but it may have changed.”

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Spring 2019

Clas 123 2 points, 1 comment

u/CapitalWork: “Hey, is anyone in clas 123? I am wondering what the format of the midterm is going to be, and if the midterm is based only off of the slides that were posted. Thanks!”

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Winter 2019

Anyone have any elective recommendations? 5 points, 6 comments

“In the past I've chosen electives by reading the course descriptions in the undergrad calendar, but they really don't tell you much about what the course is actually like. …”

u/Frozen5147: “Econ is a common chain of 3. I'm doing Chem as my chain of 3. CLAS 104 is an easy humanities.”

u/HoodieSticks: “I've heard Econ can be pretty tough. Also, do you know anyone who's taken CLAS 123? Based on the description it seems like it'll either be awesome or super cringey.”

u/Frozen5147: “… Also CLAS 123 doesn't seem to be a course...?”

u/HoodieSticks: “Here's where I found CLAS 123.”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar