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IRANIAN M60W

Achaemenid Civilization and Empire of Alexander

(Same as Ancient Near East M60W and History M60W.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: English Composition 3. Not open for credit to students with credit for course M60. Survey of period from circa 600 to 300 BCE, rise and fall of Achaemenid Persia, first world empire of antiquity, which was ended by Alexander the Great, whose campaigns were as transformative as they were violent. Alexander connected ancient Mediterranean and Near East as never before, ushering in new era and forever changing cultural landscape of ancient world. Focus on themes of ancient kingship and political ideology; comparative study of empires; administration and institutions; and religious and ethnic diversity in large, heterogeneous states. Emphasis on diversity critical to understanding political nuances of ancient world. Students gain broad knowledge of Achaemenid and Macedonian empires, facility with ancient primary sources, and development of analytical skills central to discipline of history that allow conceptualizing issues of diversity and othering in ancient world. Satisfies Writing II requirement. P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.66
n = 59 · 3 terms · ± 0.065
A range
83%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
2%
100% of those passed
D / F / W
1.7%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Not offered in Fall 2026.

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 2022W
  • 2523W
  • 1624W
Enrolment by term: 22W 20, 23W 25, 24W 16
Peak 25 Most recent 16 in 24W 3 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A 24 · 39.3%
  • A- 25 · 41.0%
  • B+ 3 · 4.9%
  • B 1 · 1.6%
  • B- 3 · 4.9%
  • C 2 · 3.3%
  • F 1 · 1.6%
  • P 1 · 1.6%
  • I 1 · 1.6%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
SHAYEGAN, M RAHIM 3.63 3.62 59 3 83%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term