Course Catalogue

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This course will provide an introduction to the connection between gender and magic in classical antiquity, using ancient literary, documentary, and archaeological evidence to explore ancient mythological figures associated with witchcraft such as the goddess Hecate, the Titan Circe, and the heroine Medea, and ordinary women such as wives, mothers, courtesans, and hags.

One two-hour seminar per week for ten weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

Standard entry to honours in Classics or Ancient History.

CLASSIC5129 Women, Witches and Witchcraft in Antiquity

None

This course will involve student-led assessment, and the portfolio will comprise of pieces of work that the students will prepare for each other based on the week's specific seminar topic. The precise nature of the portfolio is undecided at this time, and will vary according to course content. For example, 1 page handout with bibliography on a selected piece of text (25%), 1 page handout with bibliography on a selected object (25%), 1000 word book review (25%), 1000 word commentary on a piece of classical reception (25%).

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will involve 'flipping the classroom', and the portfolio will comprise of pieces of work that the students will prepare for each other based on the week's specific seminar topic. Therefore, resits will not meet the original conditions for the assessment, unless more than one student is resitting, in which case those resitting can present their work to each other in the same way as those submitting the work on time.

This course aims to:

Develop students' knowledge of ancient magic and magical practitioners with particular attention paid to women and gender;

Analyse ancient perceptions of magic and magical practitioners with particular attention paid to women and gender;

Provide students with the tools to critically evaluate literary, documentary, and archaeological evidence for ancient magic and magical practitioners with particular attention paid to women and gender.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Analyse a range of different types of ancient Greek, Roman and other ancient civilisations' magical practice, the nature of the different types of evidence for them, and the problems associated with these;

■ Critique the key themes of the diverse scholarly approaches to magic;

■ Explain literary, socio-cultural, and historical contexts, and how these affect our interpretation of the ancient evidence, with particular attention paid to women and gender.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.