Course Catalogue

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Ranging broadly across the ancient world from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Nubia to Greece and Rome, this course introduces students to outstanding women of the past, from the (in)famous to the relatively unknown. We will explore the sources - both direct and indirect - that help us reconstruct the lives and experiences of women in the ancient Mediterranean world and its environs, using key themes to guide comparative case studies.

10 x 2 hour seminar as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the PGT options in Classics and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Standard entry to Masters at College level.

CLASSIC4101 Women and power? The extraordinary and ordinary women of the ancient world (Hons) - course code to be confirmed

None

- Critical analysis (3000 words: 70%)

- Group project 1500 words (30%).

This course aims to:

- Explore key primary sources that might enable the reconstruction of the social and cultural roles of ancient women, paying particular attention to their possible biases

- Use broad comparative themes, such as religion, politics, sexuality, ethnicity, to the reconstruct lives and experiences of ancient women by

- Problematise ancient perspectives on ancient women across cultures, balancing predominantly male ancient sources with direct glimpses of women themselves

- Consider how to draw on primary evidence in contrasting modern scholarly on ancient women with popular views 

- Debate the nature of 'power' and how that might have applied to the women studied in the course

- Encourage group-working and leadership skills on a shared project.

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

- Contextualise and present primary sources on ancient women culturally and temporally and make cross-cultural comparisons

- Critically analyse secondary sources and their approach to ancient women

- Identify and apply critical approaches to our evidence to present the experience of ancient women in their respective cultural worlds

- Present contextualised views of the legacies of key ancient women in light of ancient and modern perceptions of them

- Create and curate a virtual exhibition showcasing the primary evidence for women in the ancient world and opinions of them.

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