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| Unit name |
Pompeii |
| Unit code |
CLASM1008 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
M/7
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Hales |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
Pompeii has played a major part in the way we imagine and relate to the ancient world. The urge to resurrect the city prompted the invention of archaeology and evidence from Pompeii is used in a range of disciplines from ancient history to psychoanalysis. At the same time, the human tragedy of the eruption of Vesuvius has inspired artists of all kinds. The city is at once the backdrop for erotic paganism and Christian judgement. She appeals to the intellectual elite but also to popular culture. This unit explores popular and intellectual responses to Pompeii since its rediscovery in the eighteenth century and how contemporary preoccupations have affected the way that Pompeii has been viewed in academic scholarship, art, fiction and film. We will also ask what we want from Pompeii at the beginning of the twenty first century (a century that Pompeii may well not survive).
Aims:
- to familiarise students with a broad range of responses to Pompeii formed from the eighteenth to the twenty first century.
- to develop an awareness of the various contexts that have fuelled those responses and their development and evolution over time.
- to offer students experience of evaluating and comparing material across a broad range of media, and of developing their own interpretations of this material and its relevance to the topic.
- to enable students to use the knowledge acquired in seminars and through independent research to construct coherent, relevant and critical arguments concerning the interpretative issues raised by the study of Pompeii.
- to develop skills in oral and written communication, and in independent research.
- to broaden and/or fill-in the range of ancient texts and topics with which MA students are familiar.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
- be familiar with a broad range of responses to Pompeii formed from the eighteenth to the twenty first century.
- be aware of the various contexts that have fuelled those responses and their development and evolution over time.
- have had some experience of evaluating and comparing material across a broad range of media, and of developing their own interpretations of this material and its relevance to the topic.
- be able to construct coherent, relevant and critical arguments concerning the interpretative issues raised by the study of Pompeii.
- have had the opportunity to develop their skills in oral and written communication, in making seminar presentations, taking part in seminar discussions, and in assessed essays.
Teaching Information
Seminars.
Assessment Information
Summative assessment: 1 essay of 4,000 words (100%)
Formative assessment: written feedback on a presentation; comments on plans and draft bibliographies for summative essay.
Reading and References
- M. Beard, Pompeii. The Life of a Roman Town (2008)
- R. Harris, Pompeii (2003)
- E.B. Lytton, The Last Days of Pompeii (1834)
- J. Seydl & V. Coates, Antiquity Recovered (2007)
