Current course offerings

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Course description

The course `Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Ancient World¿ takes a thematic approach. It follows the ancient human life course from birth through to death and commemoration and incorporates important emerging fields of study such as sensory perception, ancient and modern cultural storytelling, and the creation of different types of identity. By focusing on stories about real people preserved in different types of ancient evidence, students are encouraged to think deeply about the role of written and visual storytelling in the creation and transmission of history. Topics such as childhood and families, gender, sexuality, bodily adornment, the social and cultural context of food and dining, lower-class occupations, slavery, intellectual and mass entertainment, physiognomy, disability, and bodily violence will be addressed. Students will also be encouraged to engage critically with ancient evidence, theories, and concepts which have helped to shape the modern world, both positively and negatively. During ANCH3580, students will develop advanced level discipline specific research and critical evaluation skills. They will work with diverse forms of ancient evidence such as Greco-Roman historical texts and letters, literature, inscriptions, papyri, coinage, art, and architecture as they study topics related to the themes of life, death, and entertainment in the ancient Mediterranean world under Roman rule from the last century BCE to the 3rd- 4th centuries CE.