CLAS 362/GWS 362: Women and Gender in Antiquity

Transcription

1 CLAS 362/GWS 362: Women and Gender in Antiquity University of Arizona Fall 2011 TR 3:30-4:45 HARV 404 Course Description: This course will examine the social construction of gender and gendered roles in Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. In so doing, we seek to understand the relationship between these and other cultural discourses, such as identity, sexuality, and power. You will evaluate a range of sources, both literary and material, in order to understand the conceptions of gender and sexuality that were developed by these distant societies; in so doing, you may gain new insights into contemporary culture s construction of gender. This course is a Tier Two Course in the University-Wide General Education Curriculum (Individuals and Societies). It satisfies Gender/Race/Class/Ethnicity and Non-Western Civilization diversity requirements. Instructor: Karen Acton (acton@ .arizona.edu) LSB 214 ( ) MW 1-3 Graduate Assistant: Kolb Ettenger wke2@ .arizona.edu Classics Department (LSB) T Texts: Gay Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993) Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity 2 nd ed. (New York, NY: Schocken, 1995) Additional material available as PDFs or online through the library (file or link posted on D2L Course Requirements Attendance and Participation: You are expected to prepare for and attend every class. If your absence is unavoidable, please notify the GAT as soon as possible; more than five unexcused absences will result in a lowered attendance and participation grade. (All religious holidays or events will be honored for those students observing them; see further the UA Calendar of Religious Holidays. Those absences approved by the Dean of Students will also be honored. Please provide advance notice in these situations, so that we can avoid confusion). Participation will be evaluated primarily in the prompt discussion sessions noted in the syllabus, although you are encouraged to ask questions during lecture should they arise. Excessive disruptive behavior (including talking during lecture, answering your cell phone, reading the newspaper, etc.) will result in a lowered attendance and participation grade. Quizzes: A list of key terms from the lectures and readings will be posted on the course D2L site every week. You are responsible for identifying and (briefly) discussing

2 these terms in three short in-class quizzes, noted on the syllabus. These quizzes cannot be rescheduled without supporting documentation. Exams: There will be a one-hour midterm examination (scheduled on the syllabus) and a two-hour final examination. These examinations will focus on the readings, especially primary source readings; you will also be asked to identify and briefly discuss terms from the key terms lists. These examinations cannot be rescheduled without supporting documentation. Papers: You will be asked to complete three 3-4 page papers, whose due dates are noted on the syllabus. You will receive a prompt for each paper which will ask you to apply your knowledge in an analysis of the readings assigned for the course; the in-class discussions will allow you to explore your responses to these prompts. The papers themselves are to be submitted to Dropboxes on the course D2L site on the days marked on the syllabus. Papers which have received a grade of C or lower may be rewritten. If you wish to rewrite a paper, you must discuss your graded work and your objectives in rewriting the assignment with either the course instructor or the GAT in person; you may not submit a rewritten paper unless you have had this discussion. Rewritten assignments will be accepted up to ten days after the graded papers were returned to the course. Rewritten papers will be held to the same standard as the original assignment; there is no guarantee that you will receive the same or a higher grade for your rewritten assignment. Grade Breakdown: Attendance and participation 10% Quizzes (5% each) 15% Papers (15% each) 45% Exams (15 % each) 30% Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated. For further information about what this term encompasses, and for resources in helping you avoid unintentional plagiarism, please see the library tutorial at Sanctions for violations may include a written warning, loss of credit for the work involved, a failing grade for the course, probation, suspension, or expulsion. Students with Disabilities should contact the UA Disability Resource Center ( ) for any special needs or accommodations. Statement of Content Discussions of gender and sexuality in any context no matter how chronologically distant can assume a very present significance that might affect you or your classmates personally or emotionally. Every attempt will be made to present and discuss this material objectively and without political bias, while acknowledging that our analysis of ancient attitudes toward gender and sexuality can shed light on contemporary issues; every participant in the class (students and instructors) is expected to be respectful; threatening or harassing behavior including insensitive jokes (see further the UA Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students) will not be tolerated.

3 Schedule Dates Aug. 23 Aug. 25 Aug. 30 Sept. 1 Sept. 6 Sept. 8 Sept. 13 Sept. 15 Sept. 20 Sept. 22 Sept. 27 Sept. 29 Topic, Readings, and Key Terms Introduction Women in Ancient Egypt Read: Robins 56-74; ; Amunnakhte and Onchsheshonqy (on D2L Pharaohs and their Families Read: Robins 21-41; De Buck 1937 (on D2L Egypt s 18 th Dynasty Read: Robins 42-55; Egyptian Religion Read: Robins ; Greece and Mesopotamia: Homer Read: Pomeroy 16-31; Iliad 3 (on D2L Quiz 1 (in class) Homer (continued) Read: Odyssey , (on D2L Prompt 1 discussion (in class) Greece after the Bronze Age Read: Pomeroy 32-48; 79-92; ; Herodotus , , Thucydides (on D2L Herodotus and the Persian Wars Read: Blok 2002 (on D2L ; Herodotus selections (on D2L) Paper 1 Due Homosexuality in Classical Athens Read: Pomeroy , 48-56; Plutarch Pelopidas (on D2L ; Plato Symposium 212c-222d (on D2L ; Sappho 8 (on D2L Women in the Athenian democracy Read: Pomeroy 57-74, ; Herodotus and (on D2L ; selections from Aristophanes Lysistrata (on D2L Quiz 2 (in class) Women and Tragedy Read: Pomeroy ; selections from Euripides Medea (on D2L

4 Oct. 4 Oct. 6 Oct. 11 Oct. 13 Oct. 18 Oct. 20 Oct. 25 Oct. 27 Nov. 1 Nov. 3 Nov. 8 Women and Gender in Sparta Read: Pomeroy Elite Women (on D2L ; selections from Plutarch s Sayings of Spartan Women (on D2L ; Herodotus and (on D2L Greek Religion Read: Pomeroy 1-15, 75-78; Versnel 1992 (excerpt; on D2L ; Diodorus (on D2L Midterm Exam Alexander: the Rise of Macedonia Read: Carney 1992 (on D2L ; Diodorus (on D2L ; Herodotus 5.22 and (on D2L Alexander s accession Read: Plutarch Alexander (excerpts; on D2L ; Fredericksmeyer 1991 (on D2L ; Arrian Anabasis (excerpts; on D2L Alexander s succession Read: Ogden 2009 (on D2L ; selections from Arrian and Plutarch (on D2L The Hellenistic Period Read: Plutarch Pyrrhus (on D2L Women in Hellenistic Culture Read: Pomeroy ; Hipparchia and selections on Hellenistic women (on D2L Ptolemaic Egypt Read: Shipley (on D2L ; Polybius, Histories (on D2L Prompt 2 discussion (in class) Ptolemaic Egypt continued Read: Pomeroy Women in Hellenistic Egypt ch. 3 (pp ), available online as ACLS Humanities E-Book; selections from Apuleius (on D2L The Rise of Rome Read: Brown 1995 (on D2L ; selections from Livy (on D2L Paper 2 Due

5 Nov. 10 Nov. 15 Nov. 17 Nov. 22 Nov. 24 Nov. 29 Dec. 1 Dec. 6 Roman Women: marriage and legal status Read: Pomeroy ; selections from Lefkowitz and Fant on Roman women (on D2L Women in public life: the career of Julius Caesar Read: Pomeroy ; selections on Roman women (on D2L Quiz 3 (in class) The Career of Julius Caesar Read: excerpts from Suetonius Julius Caesar (on D2L Augustus, the imperial family, and moral reform Read: Damon and Potter 1999 (on D2L ; Pomeroy Prompt 3 discussion (in class) No class: Thanksgiving Roman emperors and imperial women Read: selections on Roman emperors (on D2L Paper 3 due Rome s Foreign Women Read: selections on Rome s foreign women (on D2L Women in the Early Christian Church Read: The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity (available online: Final Examination