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CL AR 342 A: Roman Art And Archaeology

Archaeological Sites in Rome
Meeting Time: 
MWF 9:30am - 10:20am
Location: 
* *
SLN: 
12514
Joint Sections: 
ART H 342 A
Instructor:
Headshot of Sarah Levin-Richardson
Sarah Levin-Richardson

Syllabus Description:

ARTH/CLAR 342

Roman Art and Archaeology

Winter 2021

Originally scheduled MWF 9:30-10:20am

This class is 100% asynchronous: all class lectures will be posted on Canvas via Panopto

                                                                                                                            

Prof. Levin-Richardson (you can call me Professor Levin-Richardson, Professor L-R, or just Professor)

Pronouns: she/her/hers

sarahlr@uw.edu

Office Hours: Zoom by appointment; just send me an email if you’d like to schedule a meeting! My personal Zoom room is: https://washington.zoom.us/j/9019806802

 

Description:

This class explores the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient Romans, including their most famous sites and monuments (such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon) as well as the art and objects that illuminate society (including women and slaves) more broadly. This course progresses from Rome’s hut dwellings of the 8th century BCE, through the height of the Roman Empire across Western Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia in the 2nd century CE, to the transformation of the Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire in the 4th century CE.

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Be able to situate Roman art, architecture, and archaeology within its historical and social/cultural context
  • Be able to analyze the intersection of Roman art, architecture, and archaeology with power and various types of identities
  • Explore the ways in which Roman art influences, and is influenced by, modern cultures

 

Learning Support:

If you know of something that might affect your learning (technology problems; health or family crisis; religious observance) please contact me as soon as possible, ideally at the beginning of the quarter, so that I can make appropriate accommodations. Below you can find further resources:

  • UW has a Student Technology Loan Program to increase student access to technology needed for class! It’s a free program for enrolled students, and they can ship equipment to you if you are not in the Seattle area.
  • Disability Resources for Students: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/
    • If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
    • If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
  • Religious Accommodations:
    • Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy . Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form .
  • UW Academic Support: http://depts.washington.edu/aspuw/more/campus-resources/
  • UW Counseling Center: http://www.washington.edu/counseling/

 

Required Readings:

The required textbook for this class is listed below and can be purchased from the University bookstore (https://www.ubookstore.com/books/textbooks) for about $40 (digital version). Please be sure to get the right edition of the textbook (check the ISBN number to make sure it matches the one listed below). Other required readings can be found on the course website. Each lecture in the schedule below has one or more readings to be read for that class session. For the second class, for example, please have read pages xxi-xxvi of the course textbook (which I refer to as Kleiner on the schedule). These readings are a starting point for class lectures, which often will expand upon the assigned readings and/or present new material. Thus, I strongly recommend careful reading of the assigned material as well as watching the lectures.

 

Kleiner, Fred. A History of Roman Art, Enhanced Edition. Wadsworth Publishing, 2010. [ISBN: 0495909874]

 

Grading:

  • Quizzes: 20% (must be completed by 9:30am Seattle time on Friday Jan 15, Wednesday January 27, Monday February 1, and Friday February 26) [lowest quiz is dropped)
  • Exam 1: 35% (due via uploading to Canvas by Monday Feb. 8 10:20am; Seattle time covers material from Monday Jan 4- Friday Feb. 5)
  • Exam 2: 35% (due via uploading to Canvas by Monday March 8 10:20am Seattle time; covers material from Wednesday Feb 10- Friday March 5)
  • Final assignment: 10% (due Wednesday March 17 10:20am Seattle time; covers material from the entire course)

 

Exams will cover material from the assigned readings and from the Panopto lectures. Exams will be open-book, take-home, short-answer. The final assignment asks you to respond (in any way you like, from drawings to audio recordings to short written answers) to four things that you learned in class (one of these must be from the final two class sessions in week 10). Further details and requirements about all assignments will be posted online.

 

Your final course grade is calculated from these assignments in the proportions given. Please prepare carefully for these assignments, and please email me in advance if you have any questions about how to best prepare. There will be no extra credit.

 

Further Expectations:

  • Online
    • No posting of course materials of any kind is permitted without my written authorization.
    • The University of Washington prohibits the selling of notes online or through any other channels.
  • Getting in touch with each other
    • Please check your UW email daily; this is how I will communicate with you about pertinent information. You are responsible for all information disseminated over email and through the course website.
    • I’m available via virtual office hours for you! If you are anxious about assignments, please set up a time well in advance of the assignment or exam so we can discuss strategies over Zoom. I’m also happy to chat about any other class-related concerns you have, or (on a happier note), study abroad opportunities, how to follow your interest in archaeology or ancient history, etc. I am happy to answer questions over email, but please check the syllabus first to see whether the answer is there.
    • I will respond to emails by the end of the next working day (which means that if you email me on Friday afternoon, I may not respond until Monday afternoon).
  • Grading
    • Students are expected to adhere to ethical behavior in their work, including following guidelines posted for each assignment concerning group work and plagiarism/cheating.
    • I’d be happy to discuss any of your graded work with you, but I ask that you wait twenty-four hours after receiving your assignment back in order to begin to process my feedback. After the twenty-four-hour period, please feel free to email me to set up a time for a meeting.
    • I cannot discuss grades over email. If you have questions about your grades, feel free to set up a time to meet over Zoom.

 

Schedule of Topics and Required Readings:

Week 1: Introduction to Pre-Roman Italy

M Jan 4: Introduction

W Jan 6: Greeks in Italy (Kleiner xxi [start with paragraph “But the Rome of popular imagination”]-

xxvi [stop before section on “Etruria”])

F Jan 8: Etruscans in Italy (Kleiner xxvi- xxxviii [stop before “Classical Period”])

 

Week 2: Roman Monarchy and Republic

M Jan 11: Roman Regal Period (Kleiner 1-4)

W Jan 13: Rome and Latium under the Republic (Kleiner 4-15)

F Jan 15: Quiz 1 (on Torelli selections) due by 9:30am; Creating Identities in the Early and Middle Republic

  • [the following article is in the week 2 folder]: Torelli, Mario. 2006. “The Topography and Archaeology of Republican Rome,” in A Companion to the Roman Republic, eds. N. Rosenstein and R. Morestein-Marx. Blackwell. 81-101. [read only pages 81-84 (stop before the heading “The Patrician Republic”); 88 (beginning with paragraph “The ruling class of the mid-Republic…”)-94 (stop before heading “Luxuria Asiatica”)]

 

Week 3: Roman Republic

M Jan 18: NO CLASS (MLK DAY)

W Jan 20: Etruscans during the Roman Republic (Kleiner xxxviii -xlvii)

F Jan 22: Republican Town Planning and Pompeii (Kleiner 16-29)

 

Week 4: Roman Republic

M Jan 25: Republican Domestic Architecture and Mural Painting (Kleiner 30-45)

W Jan 27: Quiz 2 (on Talbot) due by 9:30am; Ancient Polychromy, Modern Identities

F Jan 29: Republic: From Marcellus to Caesar (Kleiner 46-59)

 

 

Week 5: Transition to Empire

M Feb 1: Quiz 3 (on Versluys) due by 9:30am; Identities in the Roman Republic

  • Versluys, Miguel John. 2013. “Material Culture and Identity in the Late Roman Republic (c. 200–c. 20),” in Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic, ed. J. D. Evans. Blackwell. 429-440. [in week 5 folder; read only sections 2, 3; and 6: pages 431-432; 436-438]

W Feb 3: Augustus (Kleiner 60-73 [stop before “Mural Painting”])

F Feb 5: Augustus (Kleiner 73-77) and optional, drop-in exam Q&A 9:30-10:20am:  https://washington.zoom.us/j/9019806802

 

Week 6: Early Empire

M Feb 8: Exam 1 due by 10:20am

W Feb 10: The Afterlife in the Early Empire (Kleiner 78-87)

F Feb 12:  The Flavians and Nerva (Kleiner 120-137)

 

Week 7: High Empire

M Feb 15: NO CLASS (PRESIDENTS’ DAY)

W Feb 17: Trajan (Kleiner 152-169)

F Feb 19: Hadrian (Kleiner 170-185)

 

Week 8: High Empire

M Feb 22: NO CLASS

W Feb 24: Antonines; Egyptian Mummies (Kleiner 187-201; 227-229)

F Feb 26: Quiz 4 (on Lenski selections) due by 9:30am; Identities under the Empire

  • Lenski, Noel. 2013. “Working Models: Functional Art and Roman Conceptions of Slavery,” in Roman Slavery and Roman Material Culture, ed. M. George. University of Toronto Press. 130-157. [read only pp. 129-141 (stop before section on Dumb-Waiters), and the Conclusion on pp. 146-7; be sure to look carefully at the accompanying images when they are discussed! both files are in week 8 folder]

 

Week 9: Late Empire

M March 1: Severans (Kleiner 230-245)

W March 3: Lepcis Magna and the Eastern Provinces (Kleiner 246-261)

F March 5: The Tetrarchs and Constantine (Kleiner 278-282 [stop before “Architecture and Relief

Sculpture”]; 290-298 [stop before “Aula Palatina, Trier”])

 

Week 10: Legacies, Afterlives, Connections

M March 8: Exam 2 due by 10:20am

W March 10: Monuments and memory, part 1

  • Gessert, Genevieve. 2014. “Ideological Applications: Roman Architecture and Fascist Romanità,” in A Companion to Roman Architecture, ed. R. B. Ulrich and C. K. Quenemoen. Blackwell. 426-445.) [in week 10 folder]

F March 12: Monuments and memory, part 2

  • watch Panopto mini-lecture first
  • then watch the following webinar from 4:08 to 1:22:48: LaVaughn Belle, Nicholas Galanin, Dell Upton, Tsione Wolde-Michael, Tiffany Cain. “As the Statues Fall: A Conversation about Monuments and the Power of Memory.” Society of Black Archaeologists webinar, July 23 2020. https://vimeo.com/439042290 )

 

Final Assignment due Wednesday March 17 10:20am via uploading to Canvas

 

Grade Scale:

The grading scale used in this class is as follows:

 

 

Percentage Earned 

Grade-Point Equivalent

100-97

4.0

96

3.9

95-94

3.8

93

3.7

92-91

3.6

90

3.5

89-88

3.4

87

3.3

86

3.2

85

3.1

84

3.0

83

2.9

82

2.8

81

2.7

80

2.6

79

2.5

78

2.4

77

2.3

76

2.2

75

2.1

74

2.0

73

1.9

72

1.8

71

1.7

70

1.6

69

1.5

68

1.4

67

1.3

66

1.2

65

1.1

64

1.0

63

0.9

62-61

0.8

60

0.7 [lowest passing grade]

59 and x < 59

0.0

 

 

 

Catalog Description: 
Roman architecture and art, with emphasis on the innovations of the Romans; illustrated by slides. Offered: jointly with ART H 342.
GE Requirements: 
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits: 
3.0
Status: 
Active
Last updated: 
October 15, 2020 - 7:57pm
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