Making and Meaning in Ancient Greek
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ARCL0162 UCL, INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY ARCL0162 MAKING AND MEANING IN ANCIENT GREEK ART COURSE-HANDBOOK Module coordinator: Dr. Eva Mol [email protected] Office: Room 105. Tel: 0207 679 1525 Online office hours: Weekly Monday morning Chat session 12-1PM, or by appointment Please see the online IoA Student Handbook for instructions on coursework submission, IoA referencing guidelines and marking criteria, as well as UCL policies on penalties for late submission ARCL0162 1. Overview of course Introduction This module is designed to develop in students the skills of careful looking, detailed visual analysis, and critical rethinking of Greek art. The module will be grounded in a strong awareness of the major theoretical and contemporary issues central to research in classical art history. Classical Greek art is an object of study in archaeology since Winckelmann wrote his canonical book ‘Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums’ in 1764. His work has shaped art- history and classical archaeology, and left us with a particular scholarly approach and canon. The past decades this canon and approach has been seriously questioned, and Classical art history is slowly emerging out of traditional scholarship and more in sync with current art historical thinking, engaging with topics such as agency, materiality and globalisation theory. This means we live in exciting times where we need to rethink the body of objects that were deemed ‘the canon of Greek art’, as well as how we study them and this is exactly what this course attempts to do. Together we will study new ways to look at ancient art, this year’s theme will be on: the Other in Greek Art. We will deal with how the ‘other’ (as non-Greek) are depicted in visual culture and how we can study this, or how other cultures have appropriated Greek art. Also on how we can study other viewpoints giving space to different material, spirits, or other scholarly perspectives that can broaden up how we look at Greek art. The Other also resonates in today’s current society and the issues that Greek art have, and a large part of the course will be focused on how, amidst the era of Covid19 and Black Lives Matter, we make Greek art relevant. Module schedule: Seminars will be held online, 2-4pm every Tuesday Week Date topic 1 6-10 Introduction to the course: some key concepts and approaches 2 13-10 Geometric Greek art. Memory, narrative, and the world of Homer 3 20-10 Orient and orientalising: early Greek art and cultural contact 4 27-10 Archaic art, agency, and animism 5 3-11 Rethinking Greek vases I: Context and Sensoriality 10-11 Deadline reflection essay 6 No class Reading week 7 17-11 Winckelmann’s victims: Classical art in the museum and beyond 8 24-11 Rethinking Greek vases II: Making the ‘Other’ in Greek art. 9 1-12 The ideal body and naturalism: gender and sexuality in Greek art 10 8-12 Style, power, and identity in the Hellenistic world 11 15-12 Final discussion and presentations 12-1 Deadline research essay Essay submission deadlines: reflection essay- Nov 10 2020; Research paper -Jan 12, 2021. ARCL0162 Teaching methods: Seminars The seminars will be held each week, and will consist of student presentations, discussion, in-class exercises and discussions on objects and readings. They will focus on new theoretical approaches and debates in Greek art, and their application to case studies. Time in class is used as an opportunity for students to work out their own ideas and accumulate knowledge to be able to read about the topic and research by themselves. Your questions and interests will structure the seminar. Check this page for UCL online etiquette: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/academic-support/netiquette-good-online-behaviour-ucl Lectures Very brief 5 to 10-minute lectures introducing the topic discussions will be provided with each seminar and need to be watched beforehand. The links to these can be found on the moodle page. Moodle forum blog posts Discussion will also take place on moodle forum, where students have to submit weekly ‘blog posts’ of 200-150 words reflecting on the readings and engaging with specific questions posted beforehand. Joint reading with Hypothesis.is Occasionally, specific key literature will be integrated as an hypothesis exercise and subsequently used for seminar discussion. Students will read one article together and need to annotate and reflect. When the paper is done by Hypothes.is will be indicated. Chat sessions Additional chat-sessions on moodle of an hour are organised (not compulsory) on Monday morning 12-1PM. These are meant to ask last minute questions on the readings, course material and assignments for the seminar the day after. Workload: There will be 20 hours of seminars for this course. Students will be expected to undertake 80 hours of reading for the course, and 50 hours preparing for and producing the assessed module work. This adds up to a total workload of 150 hours for the course. 20 hours Staff-led teaching sessions (lectures, seminars, tutorials, discussion-board sessions) 80 hours Self-guided session preparation (reading, listening, note-taking and online activities), about 8 hours a week 10 hours Reading for, and writing, object essay 40 hours Reading for, and writing, the research essay Prerequisites: It is really important that students have a basic background in classical (Greco-Roman) art, the goal of the class is to rethink Greek art, so students need to be aware of basic literature, the ‘canon’, periodization, and stylistic categories. To brush up your knowledge, you are advised to read Richard Neer’s Greek Art and Architecture, for each session the appropriate background material will be provided. Students without the right background may take the course, subject to consultation with the module coordinator. ARCL0162 Communications: Moodle is the main hub for this course. Important information will be posted in the Announcements section of the Moodle page and you will automatically receive an email notification for these. Weekly chat session on moodle will take place during the course to ask about course content, Monday 12-1 PM For personal queries or making an appointment, please contact the co-ordinator by email. [email protected] For tips on writing, policies and other coursework related subjects consult https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/current-students. The IoA: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/current-students/ioa-student-handbook 2. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT Aims: To provide a seminar for the study of Greek art at an advanced level, preparing students to develop dissertation research at MA level and beyond. To provide an advanced level exploration of classic and contemporary theoretical frameworks and methodologies for the understanding of Greek art. To provide a basis in skills of problem definition and visual analysis prerequisite to developing innovative research in Greek art. To address a range of key problems in the history of Greek art through close engagement with online collections and connection to current societal issues. Objectives: Students will develop and advanced critical understanding of a range of key issues in the history and historiography of Greek Art. They will develop an active mastery of key theoretical frameworks and methods of analysis in contemporary approaches to the history of Greek art. They will develop key skills of close looking and detailed visual analysis through first hand engagement with objects from the collections of London museums. They will acquire the ability to identify significant research problems in the history of Greek art, as a preparation for developing their own independent research projects. Outcomes Students will: 1) Be able to demonstrate a good understanding of the key principles which inform the systematic and critical visual analysis of works of art 2) Be able to demonstrate a good understanding of key classical and contemporary theoretical and methodological frameworks for the understanding of Greek art 3) Be able critically to evaluate existing research in Greek art, and identify ways in which a range of research programmes might be taken forward 4) Be familiar with the range of visual, textual and archaeological sources relevant to the understanding of Greek art 5) Be able to understand and appreciate the range of problems involved in the interpretation of complex, ambiguous and often incomplete data. ARCL0162 Assignments&Assessments: The module contains weekly assignments for all students synchronous and asynchronous. Asynchronous: watching lectures, weekly readings, posting on the moodle forum and occasional hypothes.is reading. This is meant to engage with the literature individually and as a group, but also to make the seminars more fun, and stimulate your own critical thinking. Synchronous: weekly seminars in which we discuss the readings and the forum posts, one student presentation, and a variety of objects. The assessed coursework, consists of two essays: a smaller reflection essay (1000 words 25%) and a research essay of 3000 words (75%). Non-assessed coursework Readings There will be 2-3 readings a week and background reading, the number is kept low because I want you to seriously reflect on it and read it slow and carefully.1 Slow reading is the intentional reduction in the speed of reading, carried out to increase comprehension and pleasure. The background reading is meant to re-familiarise yourself with the historical framework and objects and requires less concentration. Additional literature (for your presentation, blog posts, and essays) can be found in the supplementary reading list-file on Moodle. Some of the theoretical literature will not directly relate to Greek art, this is because it is meant for you to make the connection and for all of us to expand our current ideas on Greek art.