Prof. Deborah Kamen (she/her) (dkamen@uw.edu)
MTWThF 10.30-11.20am
Description
In this course, we will be examining the public and private lives of the ancient Greeks and Romans, with a special focus on status, class, and gender. The diversity of human experience in the ancient world will be explored through the following topics: Greek and Roman social organization (men, women, children, the elderly, enslaved people, and formerly enslaved people); housing; dress; food and drink; sex and sexuality; health and sickness; death and beliefs in the afterlife; magic and religion; politics; theatre and music; art and architecture; economics; law; warfare; athletics and spectator sports; etc. No prerequisites.
Objectives
By the end of the course, students will demonstrate the ability to identify the practices and ideologies of Greek and Roman society; understand the range of evidence for studying Greek and Roman social and cultural history; and appreciate the diversity of human experience in the ancient world.
Grading
- Exam 1: 30%
- Exam 2: 40%
- Quizzes: 30%
Quizzes (but not exams) will be open-book and open note, and will be administered ONLINE through Canvas. Open-book, open-note means you can use the assigned readings, your notes on the readings, the course lectures, and your notes on the lectures. You CANNOT consult with anyone else, use other people's notes, or use any internet resources (apart from ones found on or linked to this page) during the quizzes. Quizzes will be made available 24 hours in advance of their due date/time. You can take a quiz anytime within that 24-hour window, but once you start the quiz, you will have only ten minutes to complete it. Each quiz consists of 5 multiple-choice questions. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped.
Exams are NEITHER open-book NOR open-note, and they will be held IN CLASS. Exams 1 and 2 will consist of mini-essays; exam 2 will also have one longer essay question about diversity in the ancient world. Exam 1 will cover lecture material and assigned readings from the first half of the course; Exam 2 will cover the second half (though you should feel free to incorporate material from the entire course for the diversity essay).
Course Texts
- Both of these books are available FOR FREE as ebooks through UW Libraries (you just need to log in with your UW NetID).
- Aldrete: Aldrete, G.S. (2004) Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia. Westport, CT.
- Garland: Garland, R. (2014) Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. 2nd ed. Indianapolis.