Module CLAS42330: GREECE, ROME AND THE NEAR EAST

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS42330: GREECE, ROME AND THE NEAR EAST

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• In accordance with the general aims of the MA in Classics, to promote self-motivated and self-directed research for students who have received appropriate grounding in their undergraduate studies.
• In accordance with the pathway in Greece, Rome and the Near East, to introduce graduate students to the study of cultural contact between the classical world and the ancient Near East, with a view to preparing them for independent research in this area of classical scholarship.

Content

• Teaching will be by fortnighly 2-hour seminars. The course is divided into four sections: Cultural Studies, History, Literature, Material Culture. Two seminars will be devoted to each section. Each seminar will comprise two presentations: a review of the relevant secondary literature, and an in-depth discussion of a select number of ancient sources relating to the issues at hand.
• Cultural exchange in the ancient Mediterranean - Overview of the relevant literature and in-depth study of a set of sources relating to the following topics: Models of culture (e.g. Structuralism; Marxist critiques; Cultural capital; Appadurai and the ‘social life of things’; Postcolonial views of culture); Cultural identity ancient and modern; Ethnicity and culture; Trade, conquest and other contexts of cultural exchange in the ancient world; Orientalism and the classics; Orientalizing revolutions.
• The perspective of the historian - Overview of the relevant literature and in-depth study of a set of sources relating to the following topics: Greeks and non-Greeks in the Bronze Age; Trade networks, guest friendship and ‘colonialisation’ in the Archaic period; The rise of a panhellenic consciousness; Greek communities outside the Greek mainland; Slaves and metics; Greeks and Persians; Alexander and the aftermath; Greeks and non-Greeks in the Hellenistic world; Rome and Carthage; the Roman East.
• Literary texts - Overview of the relevant literature and in-depth study of a set of sources relating to the following topics: Archaic Greek poetry and the problem of ‘parallels’; Inventing the barbarian; Hellenistic Greek literature by and/or about non-Greeks; Greek literature for non-Greek audiences; The role of Carthage in Roman literature; African authors writing in Latin; Egypt, India and the Near East in the Roman literary imagination.
• Material Culture - Overview of the relevant literature and in-depth study of a set of sources relating to the following topics: Why objects travel: from gift-exchange to trade; Orientalising movements in art and architecture; Syncretism and religious iconography; Material remains and the problem of ethnicity; Reuse, recontextualisation, reinterpretation; Inscriptions in their monumental setting; Eclecticism and synthesis in the context of empire; ruler iconography; coinage.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the course, students will have studied and discussed a wide range of literary, historical and archaeological evidence; they will have gained an overall view of the study of cultural contact between Greeks and Romans and their neighbours in the ancient Near East; and will have acquired a good grasp of the methodological questions raised by the study of this type of material.

• Students will develop the historical, archaeological and philological skills relevant to the evaluation of a wide range of sources. They will be able to construct plausible arguments about cultural contact in the ancient Mediterranean and develop a wide variety of skills pertaining to the production and transmission of objects, images, texts and ideas in this area.

• The analytical and interpretative skills required for the successful completion of this module are transferable to any field which demands sophisticated understanding of human cultures and their interaction; and the construction of plausible arguments about historical, archaeological and literary evidence. It also requires the effective use of library and IT resources and good written presentation skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching sessions are conducted as fortnightly seminars which help students orient themselves in the field and give an opportunity for constructive feedback. Seminars are based on a specific set of primary and/or secondary sources (e.g. literary texts, inscriptions, letters, images, objects, buildings). They fall into four thematic blocks of two sessions each: 1. ‘Theories of cultural identity and exchange’, 2. ‘The perspective of the historian’, 3. ‘Literary texts’, 4. ‘Material culture’. Each block introduces students to issues of cultural contact from a distinctive and important scholarly perspective.
• Summative assessment takes the form of an end-of-year exam. The exam format encourages students to study a wide range of materials and approaches, in accordance with the interdisciplinary nature of the module. Formative assessment consists of seminar presentations and a written exercise on questions of a methodological nature (2500 words). Seminar presentations enable students to practice their oral skills and study in greater depth a specific set of sources. The written exercise enhances students’ awareness of methodological issues and ensures that they receive detailed feed-back in time for the exam.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Seminar presentations; written exercise.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University