CE5402: Invisible Greeks

School Continuing and Professional Education
Department Code LEARN
Module Code CE5402
External Subject Code 100298
Number of Credits 10
Level L4
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Michelle Deininger
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2020/1

Outline Description of Module

The study of ancient Greece has a tendency to prioritise stories of conquest and expansion that have largely been derived from the accounts and material evidence left by the Greek male elite. Yet Greek poleis were centres of diversity. This module seeks to find the voices of the marginalised within ancient Greece and its empire. With a large percentage of ancient evidence descending from the Greek male elite, the module will consider the obstacles that must be navigated in order to access the multifaceted lives of women, slaves, foreigners, the poor and criminals. This exploration will be framed via an awareness of how modern debate, such as feminism and postcolonial theory, has influenced ancient history as a discipline. Using a variety of sources, the module will ask questions such as: are mythical tales of monstrous women, such as the Medusa, helpful for an understanding of Greek gender ideals? What were Greek attitudes towards foreigners, and did attitudes change over time? This will lead to the final topic that will consider the exciting new developments within ancient history, such as the study of the disabled and new finds from Troy.  

On completion of the module a student should be able to

 

On successful completion of the module a student should be able to:

 

Knowledge and Understanding:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of an alternative history of the ancient world, focused geographically on Greece.
  • Identify the appropriate textual and material evidence for marginalised people.
  • Understand how to approach critically and interpret different evidence types, and recognise the difficulties of interpretation, particularly the limitations of the evidence.
  • Recognise and analyse the major scholarly debates and trends concerning the history of marginalised people in the ancient world.
  • Demonstrate a basic comprehension of postcolonial and feminist theory as applied to the study of the ancient world

 

Academic Skills:

  • engage critically with both literary and archaeological evidence.
  • assimilate and understand the arguments of modern scholars.
  • offer their own interpretations of the past based on a synthesis of the evidence and ideas provided by ancient sources and modern interpretations.
  • engage critically with modern attitudes and assumptions about the past.

 

Transferable/employability Skills:

  • present views and arguments clearly to an audience.
  • structure a piece of writing effectively.
  • argue a point with supporting evidence.

 

 

How the module will be delivered

How the module will be delivered

 

The module will be delivered through nine 2-hour sessions, initially on weekday evenings from 7-9pm. These sessions will consist of a 1-hour lecture followed by class discussion and group work on specific topics relating to the module. The discussion and group work will enable the students to think critically and contribute to the debates and topics presented during the lectures. The discussion-led sessions and the lectures will be supplemented by resources available to the students via Learning Central.

 

Skills that will be practised and developed

  • The ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in class discussion or in written form.
  • The ability to work effectively with others in groups and to learn collaboratively through discussion and interaction.
  • The ability to think critically, analyse sources, evaluate arguments, and challenge assumptions.
  • The ability to formulate and justify arguments and conclusions and present appropriate supporting evidence.
  • The ability to locate relevant resources in the library and online and use them appropriately in academic work.
  • The ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval and assignment presentation.
  • The ability to independently organise study methods, manage time effectively, and prioritise workload.

 

 

How the module will be assessed

Assignment 1 (Source analysis) 30% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 500-700 words End of week 5

Assignment 2 (Essay or Blog entry)  70%An essay or blog entry: choice of questions and themes will vary from year to year   1000-1200 words End of course

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students who fail one or both assessment elements will be given the opportunity to re-submit coursework in response to different titles over the summer once the Exploring the Past exam board has met.

 

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 Coursework N/A

Syllabus content

  1. Introduction: looking for lost lives in ancient Greece
  2. Women in the Classical Period
  3. Women in the Hellenistic Period
  4. Children
  5. Slaves
  6. Foreigners
  7. The poor and criminals
  8. Sex, prostitution and homosexuality
  9. New areas of research into life in ancient Greece

Essential Reading and Resource List

O. Bobou. Children in the Hellenistic World: statues and representation (Oxford, 2015)

B. Goff (ed.). Classics and Colonialism (London, 2005)

M. R. Lefkowitz and M. B. Fant. Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: a source book in translation (London, 2005)

S. Pomeroy. Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece: representations and realities (Oxford and New York, 1997)

M. L. Rose. The Staff of Oedipus: Transforming Disability in Ancient Greece (Ann Arbor, 2003)

Background Reading and Resource List

L. Beaumont. Childhood in Ancient Athens: iconography and social history (London, 2012)

S. Blundell. Women in Classical Athens (Bristol, 1998)

S. Boehringer. 'Female Homoeroticism', in A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities. ed. by Hubbard, Thomas K. (Chichester, 2013), 150-63

S. Forsdyke. Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: the politics of expulsion in ancient Greece (Princeton, 2005)

T. Gallant. Risk and Survival in Ancient Greece: reconstruction the rural domestic economy (Cambridge, 1991)

P. Garnsey (ed.). Non-Slave Labour in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge, 1980)

P. Garnsey. Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to Augustine (Cambridge, 1996)

A. Glazebrook. Greek Prostitutes in the Ancient Mediterranean, 800 BCE – 200 CE (Madison, 2011)

M. R. Lefkowitz. Women in Greek Myth (London, 2007)

J. Ober. The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece. (Princeton, 2015)

I. M. Plant (ed). Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome: an anthology (London 2004)

S. Pomeroy. Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: women in classical antiquity. (London, 1994)

S. Pomeroy. Women in Hellenistic Egypt: from Alexander to Cleopatra (New York, 1984)

A. Powell and S. Hodkinson (eds). Sparta: the body politic (Swansea, 2010)

N. S. Rabinowitz and A. Richlin. Feminist Theory and the Classics (New York and London: 1993)

E. D. Reeder (ed.). Pandora: women in classical Greece. (Baltimore, 1995)

R. Sealey. Women and Law in Classical Greece (London, 1990)

S. M. Wijma. Embracing the Immigrant : the participation of metics in Athenian polis religion (5th-4th century BC) (Stuttgart, 2014)

M. Wyke. Gender and the Body in the Ancient Mediterranean (Oxford, 1998)

 


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