“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants; we perceive more and see farther than they, but not because we have better vision, nor because we are taller than they, but because they have lifted us up and added their gigantic height to ours.”
These words of Bernard of Chartres ring as true today as when he first penned them in the twelfth century. Current events serve as a daily reminder of the role that the past plays in the twenty-first century and how much of our own culture rests firmly upon past accomplishments. In order to make our students fully global citizens, it is imperative that they understand the cultures which shape the world today. The minor in Pre-Modern and Ancient World Studies (PAST) allows students to study the past from a variety of perspectives and to make connections across time and space. Such experiences will make them better global citizens.
Unlike traditional Ancient, Medieval or Early Modern Studies programs that focus on Western Europe, the PAST minor at Wittenberg provides a global perspective. Students can elect, for example, to take courses in pre-modern Asia or Africa, as well as the Ancient Near East, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Eastern and Western Europe.