CL 506SEM - Problems in Greek Arch

“Ancient Greek Houses & Households - The aim of this seminar is to introduce advanced students to the study of Greek domestic architecture, both in terms of the principle examples thereof and to the variety of methodological approaches to them. We will take up issues ranging from the use, function, and decorative elaboration of domestic space, to the domestic economy, to issues of status, ideology, and gender in the Greek house. (Ault) Classical Urbanism - Aspects of the city, city-state, and urbanism have long been a focus for scholars of ancient Greece. Historical and archaeological studies abound. This semester we will address and explore issues related to the Greek city and urbanism. Our approach to studying ancient cities should be diverse and interdisciplinary, oriented towards conceptual entities as well as physical realities. Topics for consideration will include case-studies of individual cities themselves, and may also take up the rise of the polis; the need for defense and measures of fortification; varieties of public spaces, buildings and civic amenities; as well as aspects of their development, design and placement; orthogonal planning and Hippodamos of Miletus; urban design in the colonies; and the relationship between the city and its countryside. (Ault) The Iconography of Greek Painted Pottery - This seminar should provide both a broad overview and in depth coverage of the study of painted pottery from the Greek world. Starting from the proposition that we can and should be reading material culture as a text, the iconography of and on Greek pots provides a singularly rich source for shedding light on numerous aspects of ancient Greece simply not recoverable through other avenues of exploration. (Ault) The Greeks Overseas - We shall consider Greek colonial and other activity abroad from an archaeological as well as an historical perspective. We will take up significant examples of where the Greeks left their mark as well as instances where others influenced them. Many avenues present themselves for study as part of our wide-ranging topic, from detailed considerations of settlements themselves, the foreign populations impacted by Greek culture, of relations between colonizers and the colonized, or between mother city and colony, as well as the phenomenon of the Greek apoikia within the larger historical framework of colonization, colonial and, more recently, post-colonial scholarship. Moreover, I would like to stage the seminar itself within the overarching framework of Braudelian and post-Braudelian Mediterranean Studies generally. (Ault) The Topography of Athens & Attica - We will spend the semester engaged in a diachronic survey of the urban and rural landscapes of Athens and Attica, considering not only the physical manifestations of cultural behaviors (i.e., sites, monuments, and artifacts), but their associated institutional, social, historical, and ideological aspects. That we may gain a deeper appreciation for how the discipline conducts itself, I would also like to take up issues impacting upon the history of Classical Archaeology, especially as practiced out of the omphalos of Athens. (Ault)”

Credits: 3