BA History / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

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Course unit details:
Roman Women in 22 Objects

Course unit fact file
Unit code	CAHE20532
Credit rating	20
Unit level	Level 2
Teaching period(s)	Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit?	Yes

Overview

This course explores the material culture of Roman women. This includes any kind of object, artefact or archaeological evidence related to women, used by women or even produced by them. Twenty-two key objects, one for each lecture and dating from the early Principate to Late Antiquity, will be used as tools to introduce wider topics (e.g. the archaeology of birth and childcare; marriage and relationships in material culture), archaeological corpora (e.g. portraits, terracotta votive offerings, textiles), and specific archaeological contexts (e.g. female burials, female public and domestic spaces) in order to investigate women’s lives and roles in Roman society. Through close analysis of evidence in lectures and seminars, students will learn different approaches and methodologies to critically engage with Roman material culture.

Aims

to be introduced to the study of women in antiquity
to learn how to analyse material evidence in order to explore ancient women lives
to locate material evidence into the wider historical background
to learn how to use archaeological objects for research

Knowledge and understanding

to understand how archaeological objects are related with the study of Roman women
to understand how objects were produced, used and exchanged or commodified in the Roman world
to be able to classify ancient objects according to their aims, contents and material aspect

Intellectual skills

To construct an argument in written and oral form
To assimilate and summarise large quantities of evidence, and to engage critically and analytically with this evidence
To conduct independent research
To present the results in a professional manner with appropriate and detailed reference to sources and modern published scholarship

Practical skills

to manage time
to engage with collections of material evidence
to engage in critical discussion and debate

Transferable skills and personal qualities

to be able to communicate ideas in appropriate written and oral form
to work in groups
to analyse data and be able to interpret them

Employability skills

Other: The course involves a large number of important employment skills, most notably an ability to analyse and examine complex information, an ability to synthesise an argument in a cogent form, the ability to collaborate with experts in different fields, the retrieve information from complex sources and present it in a compelling and cogent fashion.

Assessment methods

Assessment task	Formative or Summative	Weighting within unit (if summative)
Poster	Formative & summative	50%
Essay	Summative	50%

Resit Assessment

Assessment task

Essay

Feedback methods

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback	Students will receive summative and formative feedback on their coursework assessments. Students are encouraged to submit a draft of the review to the course convenor for written formative feedback in advance of the final submission.
Oral feedback	The seminars are a place for directed discussion and thus provide verbal formative feedback on the development and presentation of argument and interpretation on a weekly basis. In advance of submitting written coursework, students are encouraged to discuss their plans with the course convenor who will provide formative feedback.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures	22
Seminars	11

Independent study hours
Independent study	167

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Duncan Keenan-Jones	Unit coordinator

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