58505 - Social History of the Ancient World (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the Course the student  will know the social history of the greek and roman world and he can understand and interact  with the present storiographic debate.  The student will be able to contextualize and comment upon the specific literary sources by means of  a personal knowledge of the  greek and roman language original texts. Furthermore he will know the structure of the greek and roman society as well as the importance of gender and identity definition involved in the social and cultural debate of that time according to their structural components and historical evolution. He will be able to deal with texts and data according to personal interpretative perspectives, and can synthetically organize  and classify complex informations and problems in a consistent manner.

Course contents

Death and society in the ancient Greco-Roman world.

 
The analysis of these social phenomena will be divided into:
- an introduction about the historical research method;
- sources used in this kind of research;
- an introduction to the concepts of Death and Afterlife in the ancient Mediterranean cultures;
- funerary practices and legislation in the ancient Greek world;
- funerary practices and legislation in the ancient Roman world;
- literary, epigraphic and archaeological expressions of death in the ancient Greco-Roman world

The lessons are going to begin on the 25th of September 2017 and they will take place on monday, tuesday and wednedsday from 11 to 13, in the Laboratorio informatico grande, in via Zamboni 34.

Readings/Bibliography

1) Lessons Notes.

2) N. LANERI, Archeologia della morte, Carocci editore, Roma 2011

Students not attending lessons, must contact the professor (daniela.rigato@unibo.it)

For those not attending lessons, the reading of two among the following volumes is highly suggested:

C. DE FILIPPIS CAPPAI, Imago mortis: l'uomo romano e la morte, Napoli, Loffredo, 1997;
N. LANERI, Archeologia della morte, Carocci editore, Roma 2011

M. S. MIRTO, La morte nel mondo greco: da Omero all'età classica,
Carocci, Roma 2007

Teaching methods

Direct lessons in classroom.

Assessment methods

The exam will take the form of an oral discussion and the student will be assessed according to the knowledge he has acquired, his ability to provide a clear summary of the topics covered and his critical handling of the material. He will be expected to refer to both the exam bibliography and the texts read and discussed during the lectures.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

The student will have to answer for three questions concerning:

-the handbooks,

-the items discussed during the lectures.

Teaching tools

Hand-outs; ppt concerning the different studied topics.

Office hours

See the website of Daniela Rigato