Please note: Due to alternative arrangements for teaching and
assessment in place from 18 March 2020 to mitigate against the restrictions in
place due to COVID-19, information shown for 2019/20 may not always be accurate.
Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information
for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Historical Topic: The Hellenistic World |
| Unit code |
CLAS10034 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
C/4
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Sandwell |
| 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
This unit explores political and social developments in the Mediterranean world in the Hellenistic Era. This period is important for understanding the dissemination of Greek culture around the Mediterranean and its transmission through the growth of the new empires. It will cover the rise of the Macedonian Empire, the conquest of Western Asia, and the Successors to Alexander. The unit focuses on intercultural contacts between the Greeks and the different ethnic groups of Western Asia, mutual influences, clashes of culture and the diverse ways of dealing with them, as well as some of the mental pictures and perceptions of the other originating in this period that are operative to this day.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, successful students will be able to:
- demonstrate a detailed understanding of the varied sources available for understanding the Hellenistic World, and a developed understanding of the best way to make use of them;
- demonstrate a good knowledge of the political and social developments in the Hellenistic world and an advanced understanding of how to analyse these;
- reflect on the significance of the Hellenistic Era for later classical and post-classical periods;
- produce written work in an academic style appropriate to level C;
- respond appropriately to a question or problem within a specified time.
Teaching Information
1 x 2hr lecture and 1 x 2hr workshop
Assessment Information
1. Essay of 2,000 words. 50% [ILOs 1-4]
2. 90 minute exam. 50% [ILOs 1-5]
Reading and References
- Albert B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire, The Reign of Alexander the Great (1988)
- Andrew Erskine (ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World, Part I chapters 2-6 (2003) 19-102
- Susan Sherwin-White and Amalie Kuhrt, From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, 1993, Graham Shipley, The Greek World after Alexander (2000)
- Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great: a reader (2003)
