The work of the fifth-century Greek Thucydides, The War between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, has long been recognized as a foundation in the creation of the discipline of history.  Students of international relations have also discovered in Thucydides the origins of the realist paradigm in international politics.  Increasingly, these assessments of the nature and importance of Thucydides' work are being seen as partial or limiting.  There is a renewed interest in the work of Thucydides among literary scholars, philosophers, and thoughtful citizens.  For, what he has to say about the human condition and human conflict is more generally understood.  These questions become more, not less, pressing under the realization that the Cold War has not been replaced by any sort of new world order.  We are forced to take seriously Thucydides' claim that his work is a possession forever precisely because it offers the harshest and most unsettling teachings.  This course will focus on a careful reading of Thucydides' text, supported by readings of other classical and modern sources.  The course's text is the prize-winning contemporary translation of Steven Lattimore.  Students will be asked to read, discuss, and write about the text in efforts to discover and assess Thucydides' contributions to liberal education.