A&H 206 Ancient History

Content

Ancient history is of course indispensable for any university track in Antiquity. Without it, disciplines like ancient art, archaeology and classical languages would become unacceptably decontextualised, providing nothing more than a modern view of ancient civilisation.
The first part of this course investigates the crucial early contacts between Greece and the Near East. The later rise of the Greek (and Italic) city-states is the next important topic, and their hard-earned independence throughout the classical and Hellenistic periods will be put against the wider backdrop of evolving power structures in the Mediterranean, of Persians, Etruscans, Phoenicians and most of all, Rome.
Within ancient history, many subfields developed over the last century, focussing on aspects of culture and society, such as for example politics, economics, religion, and technology. The theoretical models used on these aspects are by default anachronistic: their  value is constantly disputed and their contents changed.
The students will choose one of five focus areas each in which they are most interested and form a focus group. During the course, as a group, you will pay special attention to your chosen aspect of the ancient societies under discussion, thus getting a better understanding of the theoretical implications of one aspect of classical studies.

Instructor

Helle Hochscheid, M.A.

Track

Antiquity

Period

Spring / 2012

Aim

Students will be asked to summarise the reading assigned for sessions all through the course, and will each get more than one turn. The assigned articles will in turn be concerned with one the five focus areas (see schedule). Additionally, focus groups will give two joint presentations on their subject during the course, one in the weeks before the midterm and one before the final exam.
In these presentations, each group will give an overview of their subject throughout the periods we discussed. If for example your focus was trade & economics, for the midterm discussion you would give an overview of trade from the Neolithic period to the Classical period. Depending of what we have discussed with regard to this, you will come up with a discussion topic, briefly introduce it and chair the discussion. It is recommended to split up the class in two or more groups for this. You are to hand in the topic with me two weeks before the sessions. You also have to give a written report of your presentation to everyone.
It is emphatically the purpose of this setup that the focus groups work together and the participants divide the work fairly. If there were to occur any problem or discontent and/or if it proved difficult to solve this among you, do not hesitate to come and talk it over with me. The projects are supposed to be stimulating, not a source of irritation.

Course Proceedings

Students are expected to have studied the assigned reading prior to class. Classroom sessions consist of a combination of lectures, debates, presentations and project work. During the course students will be randomly asked to present the reading for that session to check on the homework assignments and general progress. Apart from these summaries, there are two exams, presentations and an essay.
Participation is 10% of the final grade. It is essential that you all participate in discussions and general class interaction; the motivation shown in this and the quality of the contributions to the contents of discussions and group activities will determine the grade. If there are problems with this, please bring them to my attention so we can find a solution.

Prerequisites

One needs to have followed one of the following courses in order to take this course:

• A&H 105 Classical Mythology
• A&H 175 World History

Required for

This course is required in order to take the following courses:

• A&H 305 Greek Art & Archaeology
• A&H 307 Topics in Antiquity
• A&H 306 The Global Artefact