History and Gender in Ancient Times
Code: 100369 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500241 Archaeology | OT | 3 | 0 |
| 2500241 Archaeology | OT | 4 | 0 |
| 2500501 History | OT | 4 | 0 |
| 2503702 Ancient Studies | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Agnès García Ventura
- Email:
- Agnes.Garcia.Ventura@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Agnès García Ventura
Prerequisites
None.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of the course is to place gender at the same level as other variables such as socioeconomic status or ethnicity when explaining the social configuration of the four great civilizations of the ancient world (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome). At the end of the course, the students will be able to explain these civilizations starting from the concept of intersectionality discussed in the sessions. Besides, they will be able to identify the presence or absence of gender perspectives in academic reference texts.
Competences
- Archaeology
- Contextualizing and analysing historical processes.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethic relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- History
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Ancient Studies
- Be able to express oneself orally and in writing in the specific language of history, archaeology and philology, both in one’s own languages and a third language.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Learning Outcomes
- Assessing and critically solving the characteristic historiographical problems of gender history.
- Autonomously searching, selecting and processing information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
- Carrying out oral presentations using appropriate academic vocabulary and style.
- Communicating in your mother tongue or other language both in oral and written form by using specific terminology and techniques of Historiography.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Identifying the context of the historical processes.
- Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Identifying the specific methods of History and its relationship with the analysis of particular facts.
- Identifying the specific methods of history and their relationship with the analysis of particular facts.
- Interpreting material sources and the archaeological record.
- Knowing the main historiographical debates concerning the Middle Ages.
- Organising and planning the search of historical information.
- Properly using the specific vocabulary of History.
- Recognising and implementing the following teamwork skills: commitment to teamwork, habit of cooperation, ability to participate in the problem solving processes.
- Recognising the importance of controlling the quality of the work's results and its presentation.
- Solving problems autonomously.
- Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
- Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.
- Using the specific interpretational and technical vocabulary of the discipline.
Content
Five major blocks will be developed throughout the course. Blocks 2 to 5 will have a similar structure articulated from thematic blocks that will adapt to the peculiarities of the sources and the traditions of study of each field allowing, at the same time, a comparison between the different realities that we will analyze during the course. In all cases topics will be approached both from primary sources and from the critical reading of secondary literature.
1. Historiographical trends in the study of gender in antiquity.
2. Mesopotamia: introduction (geography, chronology and sources) / image of women in literary texts (stereotypes and ideals) / elite women / legal context and justice / work (motherhood(s) and production) / sexuality / old age and childhood.
3. Egypt: introduction (geography, chronology and sources) / the construction of gender roles in literary texts (stereotypes and ideals) / elite women / legal context and justice / work (motherhood(s) and production) / sexuality / old age and childhood.
4. Aegean: introduction (geography, chronology and sources) / the elites from a gender perspective (male "homosexuality", women and worship) / work (motherhood(s), domesticity, work versus leisure) / discussing the sexual segregation of spaces / old age and childhood. This block will deal with Minoan Crete, the Mycenaean period, archaic and classical Greece.
5. Italic peninsula: introduction (geography, chronology and sources) / gender stereotypes in epitaphs / spaces, architecture and gender / work (motherhood(s), prostitution, production) / elite women (cult and political life) / legal context and justice / old age and childhood. This block will be devoted mainly to Rome, but it will also include a section dedicated to Etruria.
Needless to say, all topics discussed during this course will be particularly sensitive to aspects related to gender and will be approached with several perspectives from gender studies. Moreover, the use of non-sexist language willbe ensured at all times both in the classroom activities and in the written activities carried out by the students.
Methodology
The teaching methodology of the subject incorporates three types of activities:
(1) Theoretical sessions: where spaces for debate and theoretical and methodological reflection will be encouraged.
(2) Classroom practices: where a selection of readings will be discussed in group at the beginning of the course.
(3) Seminars: In the second half of the course, three seminars will be scheduled. They will be taught by experts in gender studies applied to the ancient world to promote first-hand knowledge of these experts as well as the plurality of voices. One of the seminars will be synchronous and, if health circumstances allow, face-to-face (if not, it will be done in virtual format). The other two will be asynchronous.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Classroom activities and exercise corrections | 30 | 1.2 | 16, 1, 4, 6, 9, 7, 12, 5, 14, 13, 19, 18 |
| On-site sessions | 88.5 | 3.54 | 16, 1, 4, 6, 9, 7, 12, 5, 14, 13, 19, 18 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Seminars | 30 | 1.2 | 16, 1, 4, 6, 9, 7, 12, 5, 14, 13, 19, 18 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the course revolves around three blocks: 1) Readings (individual and group work); 2) two exams; 3) a commentary on primary and secondary sources. These blocks are specified with the following evaluation activities:
● Readings - I: reading of an article / academic chapter + elaboration of a reading sheet + oral presentation in class (10% of the final grade)
● Readings - II: written test after reading four articles / academic chapters (15% of the final grade)
● Exam I (first part, 25% of the final grade)
● Essay on primary / secondary sources (25% of the final grade)
● Exam II (second part, 25% of the final grade)
After the publication of the qualifications of each activity, a calendar for the revision of the qualifications of the students will be established (Moodle).
The only resit activities are the two partial exams. Day and time for the exam or for the viva voce will be scheduled for each student. This exam will be on-site or on-line depending on the, possibilities, rules and laws operating at the end of the course.
The students will obtain a "not assessed/not submitted" course grade and cannot be submitted for resit if the minimum mark of the Continuous Assessment set is 4 or less. To do this must mean that the two exams also have a minimum of 4 each.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay primary/secondary sources | 25% | 0 | 0 | 16, 1, 4, 6, 9, 7, 12, 5, 14, 13, 19, 18 |
| Exam - I / viva voce | 25% | 0 | 0 | 16, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 19 |
| Exam - II / viva voce | 25% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 16, 4, 6, 8, 12, 13, 19 |
| Reading - I (reading sheet+viva) | 10% | 0 | 0 | 16, 1, 2, 4, 11, 3, 9, 7, 5, 17, 14 |
| Reading - II (written test) | 15% | 0 | 0 | 16, 1, 2, 11, 9, 7, 15, 18 |
Bibliography
Budin, Stephanie Lynn / Turfa, Jean MacIntosh (eds.), 2016: Women in Antiquity, Oxon / New York.
Cenerini, Francesca, 2009: La donna romana: modelli e realtà, Bologna.
Chavalas, Mark, 2014: Women in the Ancient Near East, Oxon / New York.
Graves-Brown, Carolyn, 2010: Dancing for Hathor. Women in Ancient Egypt, London / New York.
Iriarte, Ana, 2002: De amazonas a ciudadanos. Pretexto ginecocrático y patriarcado en la Grecia antigua, Madrid.
Iriarte, Ana, 2020: Feminidades y convivencia política en la antigua Grecia, Madrid.
James, Sharon L. / Dillon, Sheila (ed.), 2012: A companion to women in the ancient world, Blackwell.
Justel, Josué Javier / Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (eds.), 2018: Las mujeres en el Oriente cuneiforme, Alcalá de Henares.
Loraux, Nicole, 2004: Las experiencias de Tiresias (Lo masculino y lo femenino en el mundo griego), Barcelona.
Mañas, Irene, 2019: Las Mujeres y las relaciones de género en la antigua Roma, Madrid.
Milledge Nelson, Sarah, 2006: Handbook of Gender in Archaeology, Lanham, Maryland.
Molas, Dolors (ed.), 2002: Vivir en femenino. Estudio de mujeres en la antigüedad, Barcelona.
Molas, Dolors (ed.), 2007: Violencia deliberada: las raíces de la violencia patriarcal, Madrid.
Picazo, Marina, 2008: Alguien se acordará de nosotras. Mujeres en la ciudad griega antigua, Barcelona.
Pomeroy, Sarah, 1987: Diosas, rameras, esposas y esclavas, Madrid.
Robins, Gay, 1996: Las mujeres en el antiguo Egipto, Madrid.
Rodó de Zárate, Maria, 2021: Interseccionalitat: desigualtats, llocs i emocions, Manresa.
Stol, Marten, 2016: Women in the Ancient Near East, Berlin.
Zsolnay, Ilona (ed.), 2017: Being a Man: Negotiating Ancient Constructs of Masculinity, London / New York.
Software
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