aCademiC Catalog 2013-2014 - Lorenzo de Medici

FLORENCE
School of Arts & Sciences
War in the Ancient World
CLA 246 F; Dual listed: HIS 246 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
An exploration of warfare in ancient Greece and Rome in terms
of values and ideology, impact on society, practices, arms and
artefacts, and representations. For Greece the focus is on the
fifth-century through the Hellenistic era, while for Rome the
entire time-span from monarchy through the empire and late
Antiquity is considered. Students analyze the strategy and
the unfolding of major wars and events, as well as the careers
of outstanding figures including Alexander the Great and the
emperor Augustus, promoter of the pax romana. Students
come to grips with the mindset and actual experiences of
commanders and common soldiers as they prepared for
campaigns and engaged in battles and sieges. The civilian
experience of war is not ignored. Space is dedicated to the
problematic relationship between modern regimes and ancient
military culture, notably the Italian fascist excavations of
imperial Roman sites for propagandistic ends.
Archaeology of Religion: Death and Ritual in
the Past
CLA 252 F; Dual listed: PHR 252 F / ANT 252 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
Religion is based on a combined system of beliefs and practices
that allows people to answer fundamental questions regarding
human life. What can archaeology tell us about religion? The
course explores key questions regarding the role and evolution
of religious beliefs and practices by systematically analyzing
the archaeological remains of ancient religious material culture
across the Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East, between
the prehistoric and early classical periods. Direct links between
religious practices and beliefs are strongly evident in ancient
societies, where the construction of large physical structures
(such as temples) appears to be pivotal in the evolution
of mankind. Students learn to use archaeological data and
historical sources for the period. They address broad theoretical
and methodological issues, explore how architecture was used
by ancient societies in creating their cosmological landscape,
and evaluate interpretations of the first appearance of family
ancestor cults. The first part of the course treats theoretical
and methodological issues in the study of religious thought,
while the second part reinforces understanding through close
analysis of ancient written sources, architecture, and other
examples of material culture.
Prerequisites: one previous course in History of Religions,
Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology
Egyptian Art and Archaeology
CLA 255 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course provides an overview of ancient Egyptian
civilization. It examines the material culture and human life of the
inhabitants of the Nile Valley, and surveys major sites, objects,
and texts to discover the essentials of Egyptian culture, politics,
art, religion, and literature. The course covers 4000 years of
ancient Egyptian civilization, from the origins of its culture
in the late fourth millennium BCE to the late Roman Empire.
This introduction to the art and archaeology of ancient Egypt
also looks at the discipline of Egyptology, in which Italy has
played an important part, and it will allow students to answer
such questions as How did Ancient Egypt originate? How were
the pyramids built? How do you read hieroglyphics? What
did the afterlife signify for Egyptians? What was the Amarna
revolution? The course will explain these and other topics using
archaeological data and historical sources, starting from the
pieces present in the notable Egyptian Museum of Florence.
Ancient Tuscany: the Etruscan Civilization
CLA 265 F; Dual listed: HIS 265 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course offers an overview of the archaeological, historical
and cultural features of the Etruscans, the ancient civilization
that flowered in central Italy during the first millennium BCE.
Students will explore this civilization, (known to itself as
“Rasenna”), which contributed so much to Roman and later
Italian culture and heritage, through in-class lectures and visits
to selected, major museums and sites. Attention is given to both
chronological periods and major issues (e.g. language, politics,
art, burial customs), as well as essentials of archaeological
practice. This course offers direct contact with the over 2500
year-old archaeological finds in CAMNES/LdM’s Archaeology
Lab. These finds have recently been unearthed at the digs of
Accesa (Archaic period settlement) and at Bosco della Riserva
and Pratino, near Tuscania, (Hellenistic necropolis), where two
excavation projects have been conducted by CAMNES/LdM
since 2005. The present course is an ideal preparation for the
institute’s summer archaeological workshops.
The Dawn of Humankind: Archaeology and
Evolution
CLA 292 F; Dual listed: ANT 292 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course surveys topics and questions surrounding the
fundamental events that characterize the human evolutionary
path - a journey that continues still today. We will follow the
appearance and disappearance of different hominid species
that competed for resources, ultimately resulting in the survival
of only one species - our own! How is evolution related to DNA?
How did environmental conditions affect the evolutionary
process? After hominids acquired an upright position (freeing
our hands) and our brain expanded (in relation to our body
size), these traits eventually conditioned our material culture.
When and where did the cultural explosion happen? We will
seek answers through evidence such as new stone tools and the
appearance of what we define today as symbolic expression.
Indeed, the Paleolithic era, with its paintings, objects, and
burials, takes us to the beginnings of human artistic expression
and belief systems. This course will show how anthropologists
and archaeologists find and retrieve evidence (fossil, artefact,
site) from the past and then analyze it to learn how people in
the past lived. In addition, it also explores explanations these
fields offer for two profound questions: Who are we? Where do
we come from?
Ancient Near East: Roots of Western
Civilization
CLA 295 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course explores the main features of ancient Near Eastern
cultures, notably the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Hittites, between
prehistory (ca. 10,000 BCE) and the death of Alexander the
Great (323 BCE). We will focus on these cultures’ history,
religion and socio-economic organization, mainly through their
archaeological remains. The Near East was the cradle of the
most ancient civilizations known to humanity. They developed in
part of the so-called Middle East, corresponding to the “Fertile
Crescent” region including those areas known as Mesopotamia,
Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Persia. While the rest of the
world was still organized in hunter-gatherer communities, in
this area there appeared the first towns and cities ever built as
well as the first writing system. In fact, the ancient Near Eastern
civilizations were certainly the most influential of all antique
cultures. To understand them is to gain essential insights onto
the origins of Western Civilization.
The Age of the Heroes: Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid,
and the Origins of Western Literature
CLA 306 F; Dual listed: LIT 306 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course is a general overview of ancient literature through
the analysis and comparison of some of the oldest works of
Western civilization. Through a reading of the most significant
chapters of the Iliad and the Odyssey, students will get in
contact with the aristocratic world and heroes described by
Homer in 8-7th century BCE, in order to reconstruct the society
of early Greece in the Mycenaean period. The stories presented
in the Iliad and Odyssey, considered the “Bible” of classical
civilization, show how Greeks used myth to express archetypal
values which became immortal for successive generations.
Myths are analyzed not only as amazing stories but also as
bearers of important messages about life within society, and
as primary forms of communication and instruction in a nonliterate
and oral society. The great influence of Greek myths on
Roman legends will also be seen through the reading of some
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LdM Academic Catalog 2013-2014