CLU22702 Ancient Visual and Material Culture: Exploring the Hidden Lives of Objects
Every object has stories –shaped by human uses– to tell. This module explores how visual and material culture offers a distinctive window for understanding the past by choosing specific artefacts from the ancient Mediterranean, reconstructing their ‘biographies’ and using them as a prism for thinking about wider social issues. Using both iconic and lesser-known objects, the module focuses on themes such as image and text; religion, power and ideology; warfare; funerary rituals; daily life and its fictions; gender and sexuality.
- Module Organiser:
- Dr Giorgos Papantoniou
- Duration:
- Semester 2
- Contact Hours:
- 27 hours (22 hours lectures, 5 seminars)
- Weighting:
- 10 ECTS
- Assessment:
- 100% coursework (three written assignments)
- Course Open To:
- Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology; TJH Greek; TJH Latin; Columbia Dual Degree; Visiting; Open Module
Learning Outcomes
Upon the successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Apply visual and spatial skills to the analysis of visual and material culture
- Reconstruct specific themes, drawing on the full range of archaeological, artistic and textual sources.
- Evaluate the role of visual and material culture in shaping society
- Think critically about the social biography of objects, from their production to their consumption and transformation, from antiquity to the present
- Apply relevant methodologies and theoretical approaches to independent work
- Communicate ideas and arguments effectively both in oral presentations and discussion, and in written work.