History and Gender in Ancient Times
Code: 100369 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Archaeology | OT | 4 |
| History | OT | 4 |
| Ancient Studies | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Agnès Garcia Ventura
- Email:
- agnes.garcia.ventura@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
None.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of the course is to place gender on the same level as other variables such as socioeconomic status or ethnicity when trying to explain the social configuration of the main civilisations and areas of study of the ancient world (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Aegean, Italian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Levant). At the end of the course, students will learn about case studies where the gender perspective is fundamental in explaining these areas, applying above all the concept of intersectionality discussed in class. They will also have to be able to identify whether or not a gender perspective is used in a reference academic text.
Competences
- Archaeology
- Contextualizing and analysing historical processes.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Managing the main methods, techniques and analytic tools in archaeology.
- 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.
- Identifying the main historiographical tendencies and critically analysing their development.
- 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
- Analysing the key issues that allow us to address the study of historical phenomena from a gender perspective.
- Applying both knowledge and analytical skills to the resolution of problems related to their area of study.
- Assessing and critically solving the characteristic historiographical problems of gender history.
- Assessing and critically solving the historiographical problems of war studies.
- 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.
- Critically analysing informational speeches, especially in relation to ideology and ethnocentric and sexist bias.
- Critically assessing the models explaining the ancient times.
- Describing the economic, social and political structures of the Middle Ages.
- Effectively expressing themselves and applying the argumentative and textual processes of formal and scientific texts.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Identifying main and supporting ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Identifying the characteristic methods of Archaeology and its relationship with the historical analysis.
- 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 and analysing documentary sources.
- Interpreting historical texts in relation to archaeological contexts.
- Interpreting material sources and the archaeological record.
- Knowing the main historiographical debates concerning the Middle Ages.
- Mastering and identifying the history of immediate environment.
- Mastering the diachronic structure of the past.
- Mastering the relevant languages to the necessary degree in the professional practice.
- Mastering the Universal Ancient History.
- Organising and planning the search of historical information.
- Preparing an oral and written discourse in the corresponding language in a proper and organized way.
- Properly using the specific vocabulary of History.
- Reading historical texts written in several formats.
- Recognising and implementing the following teamwork skills: commitment to teamwork, habit of cooperation, ability to participate in the problem solving processes.
- Recognising diversity and multiculturalism.
- Recognising the importance of controlling the quality of the work's results and its presentation.
- Relating elements and factors involved in the development of historical processes.
- Solving problems autonomously.
- Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
- Transmitting the results of archaeological research and clearly communicating conclusions in oral and written form to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Using computing resources of the area of study of history.
- Using research sources characteristic of the study of Catalonia's History.
- Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
- Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.
- Using the specific interpretational and technical vocabulary of the discipline.
Content
The course will be articulated in six large Topics. The first will offer a theoretical, methodological and historiographic overview. The materials discussed in this Topic will serve as the basis for the following ones. Topics 2 to 6, on the other hand, will focus on the most widely debated topics within gender studies. In each block, examples of the great civilizations and areas of study of the ancient world (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Aegean, Italian Peninsula and Mediterranean Levant) will be discussed from primary and secondary sources. The course, then, will be articulated from a thematic approach, and not from a chronological or geographical thread. In doing so, comparisons between various realities of the ancient world and between the historiographical approaches to different case studies will be favored. The objective will therefore be to favor the critical and gender perspective.
Topic 1. Historiographic trends in the study of the gender in antiquity.
Topic 2. The construction of stereotypes and ideals of femininity.
Topic 3. The study of work/labor with a gender perspective.
Topic 4. Biopolitics, relational identity and care practices.
Topic 5. The study of masculinities in the ancient world.
Topic 6. Sexuality.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| in person sessions | 90 | 3.6 | 2, 4, 3, 15, 18, 17, 14, 33, 34, 42 |
| Seminars | 30 | 1.2 | 8, 35, 5, 11, 6, 40, 27, 36, 31, 37, 29, 41, 38 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Classroom practice | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 9, 7, 22, 10, 25, 23, 26, 24, 28, 16, 13, 19, 21, 20, 12, 32, 30, 42, 39 |
The teaching methodology incorporates three types of activity:
(1) Theoretical sessions: where spaces for debate and theoretical and methodological reflection will be promoted.
(2) Classroom practices: where key terms at the beginning of each thematic block will be discussed in plenary. The preparation of museum labels, being one of the evaluation activities, will be discussed as well.
(3) Seminars: two seminars will be delivered by experts in gender studies applied to the ancient world to promote first-hand knowledge of experts and a plurality of voices. One of the seminars will be synchronous, the other one 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.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay - primary and secondary sources (topics 2 and 3) | 25% | 0 | 0 | 8, 5, 11, 6, 40, 27, 31, 37, 29, 41, 38 |
| Exam (topics 4, 5, 6) | 40% | 0 | 0 | 1, 9, 7, 22, 10, 25, 23, 26, 24, 28, 13, 16, 19, 21, 42, 39 |
| Museum Label - gender perspective | 10% | 0 | 0 | 35, 20, 12, 36, 32, 30 |
| Reading seminar | 10% | 0 | 0 | 3, 11, 6, 12, 31, 34, 42 |
| Test: reading and basic concepts (topic 1) | 15% | 0 | 0 | 2, 4, 3, 15, 18, 17, 14, 33, 34, 42 |
The continuous evaluation of the subject is articulated from the following evaluation activities:
● Readings seminar (10% of the final grade)
● Test: readings + basic concepts topic 1 (15% of the final grade)
● Museum label with gender perspective (10% of the final grade)
● Essay - primary/secondary sources - topics 2 and 3 (25% of the final grade)
● Exam - topics 4, 5, 6 (40% of the final grade)
For the label, these indications on how to cite and prepare the bibliography must be taken into account: https://www.uab.cat/web/estudia-iinvestiga/com-citar-i-elaborar-la-bibliografia-1345708785665.html
After the publication of the qualifications of each one of the activities, a calendar of revision of the qualifications will be established for the students. The only recoverable evaluation activities are the essay and the exam. To pass the course, the exam and essay must obtain a minimum grade of 4 or higher.
Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items. Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade, and won't be able to resubmit the exam or the essay for recovery, if the minimum grade for the continuous assessment as a whole is 3.5 or lower.
Single evaluation
Students who take the single assessment will have to carry out the following assessment activities, which will have this weighting:
● Essay - primary/secondary sources (40% of the final grade)
● Museum label with gender perspective (10% of the final grade)
● Exam (50% of the final grade)
The same recovery system will be applied as for the continuous evaluation. Therefore, only the essay and the exam will be recoverable.
Plagiarism
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variationin the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
This subject allows the use of AI technologies exclusively for support tasks such as the preparation of the museum label and the reading seminar. For the museum label, the student must clearly (i) identify which parts have been generated using AI technology; (ii)
specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in the assessed activity will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade may be lowered, or the work may even be awarded a zero. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
During the course, specific readings will be provided and orientations will be given on magazines and periodicals where some of the specific topics are discussed. Below are collected some of the volumes that can help students to provide more context or delve into each of the areas (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Aegean, Italian Peninsula, Mediterranean Levant) that will be discussed during the course. Given the characteristics of the course, there is no single book that can be taken as a reference.
Ayad, Mariam F. 2022: Women in ancient Egypt: revisiting power, agency, and autonomy, Cairo / New York.
Budin, Stephanie Lynn / Turfa, Jean MacIntosh (eds.), 2016: Women in Antiquity, Oxon / New York.
Calvo Maturana, Antonio / Martínez Maza, Clelia / Ortega Cera, Ágata / Prieto Borrego, Lucía, 2022: Fuentes para el estudio de la historia de las mujeres. Granada: Editorial Comares.
Chavalas, Mark, 2014: Women in the Ancient Near East, Oxon / New York.
Creanğa, Ovidiu, 2010: Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond,Sheffield.
Deacy, Susan / Malheiro Magalhaes, José / Zacharski Menzies, Jean, 2017: Revisiting Rape in Antiquity. Sexualised Violence in Greek and Roman Worlds, London.
Graves-Brown, Carolyn, 2010: Dancing for Hathor. Women in Ancient Egypt, London / New York.
Greenough, Chistopher, 2021: The Bible and Sexual Violence Against Men, 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.
Laes, Cristian, 2017: Disability in Antiquity. London / New York
Loraux, Nicole, 2004: Las experiencias de Tiresias (Lo masculino y lo femenino en el mundo griego), Barcelona.
Middleton, Guy D., 2023: Women in the ancient Mediterranean world : from the Palaeolithic to the Byzantines, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
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.), 2007: Violencia deliberada: las raíces de la violencia patriarcal, Madrid.
Morant, Isabel / Ríos, Rosa E. / Valls, Rafael, 2023: El lugar de las mujeres en la historia, València, Publicacions de la Universitat de València.
Picazo, Marina, 2008: Alguien se acordará de nosotras. Mujeres en laciudad griega antigua, Barcelona.
Robins, Gay, 1996: Las mujeres en el antiguo Egipto, Madrid.
Rodó de Zárate, Maria, 2021: Interseccionalitat: desigualtats, llocs i emocions, Manresa.
Rubiera Cancelas, Carla / Garcia-Ventura, Agnès / Méndez Santiago, Borja, 2023: Cuerpos que envejecen. Vulnerabilidad, familias, dependencia y cuidados en la Antigüedad, Madrid.
Serafim, Andreas / Kazantzidis, George / Demetriou, Kyriakos, 2022: Sex and the ancient city: sex and sexual practices in Greco-Roman Antiquity, Berlin / Boston, De Gruyter.
Stol, Marten, 2016: Women in the Ancient Near East, Berlin.
Valdés, Teresa / Olavarría, José, 1997: Masculinidad(es). Poder y crisis, Santiago de Chile.
Watson, Nick / Roulstone, Alan / Thomas, Carol (eds.), 2022: Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies, London / New York. 2nd edition.
Zsolnay, Ilona (ed.),2017: Being a Man: Negotiating Ancient Constructs of Masculinity, London / New York.
Software
Word / pdf (acrobat reader)
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |