Admission requirements
The Seminar is obligatory for all students in the MA Classics and Ancient Civilizations.
Description
The Ancient World Seminar brings together all students of the tracks Assyriology, Classics, Egyptology, and Hebrew and Aramaic Studies. The seminar serves two goals. On the one hand, this seminar invites students to reflect on their specialization as part of the wider ancient world and to explore (literary) connections between Egypt, the Near East, Greece and Rome. To achieve this, we read and discuss various ancient narrative texts, including passages from the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Epic of Kumarbi, Genesis, Iliad, Odyssey, The Story of Sinuhe, and The Shipwrecked Sailor. On the other hand, this seminar helps students to acquire academic skills and supports them in writing their Master Thesis.
The seminar runs through the entire academic year (September to June) and is structured as follows:
1. In the first semester, meetings concentrate on narratives of the ancient world in cross-cultural perspective, based on readings of narrative texts from the Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Students submit short essays on each of the texts that they have read, to facilitate interactive discussion. Furthermore, teams of students produce a digital presentaton of an ancient text, object, or artefact with intercultural dimensions.
2. In the second semester, meetings will focus on academic skills and on the writing of the Master Thesis. In the third term (February – March) students are guided through the first stages of writing their thesis. Instructions deal with formulating a research question, finding literature, oral presentation skills, academic writing, and academic integrity. One session focuses on the job market: alumni of the program will present their jobs and reflect on their studies and career choices. In the fourth term (April – May) students give short presentations of their Master thesis, followed by a response, discussion, and feedback.
Course objectives
Knowledge and insight:
Students gain
knowledge of some of the most prominent literary texts and narratives of different ancient civilizations, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Epic of Kumarbi, Genesis, Iliad, Odyssey, The Story of Sinuhe, and The Shipwrecked Sailor;
knowledge of forms of interaction between ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and Near East, in particular concerning the motifs of (epic) tales, mythology and literary texts;
insight into the diversity and cohesion of the ancient world;
knowledge of the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (academic integrity);
insight into the opportunities and challenges of the job market;
Skills:
Students learn
to read and interpret independently a selection of ancient texts in translation (independent learning);
to write short essays, which offer clear and well-informed perspectives on ancient narratives (written communication);
to analyze ancient narratives in terms of (common) motifs and typical elements (analysing);
to demonstrate their grasp of critical issues in recent scholarship on cultural interactions in the ancient world (research, analysing);
to give a clear and well-argued oral presentation about their MA thesis, which is accessible to a wider audience (oral communication, presenting);
to present a well-argued and well-formulated constructive response to a presentation (oral communication, presenting);
to participate actively in discussion and debate: the student demonstrates involvement in the topic by asking well-informed and constructive questions and making contributions to the collective progress, on the basis of antecedent independent preparation (oral communication);
to work together in a team to produce a digital presentation of an ancient text, object, or artefact with intercultural dimensions (project-based working, working together, digital skills);
to communicate the ancient world to a wider audience through a digital presentation (blog, website, etc.) (presenting, digital skills);
to formulate a research question, to organize and structure a written text (thesis), to find secondary literature, to accurately report on ancient sources and scholarship (footnotes, bibliography), and to adopt an academic writing style (written communication);
to do research according to the principles of academic integrity as formulated in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (academic integrity);
to reflect on their own disiplinary perspectives on the ancient world, including prejudices, attitudes and expectations; to critically evaluate what it means that we are divided into different disciplines (Classicsists, Hebraists, Assyriologists, and Egyptologists) while studying one interconnected ancient world (reflect);
to continue performing effectively in changing and challenging circumstances; to cope with setbacks and recover from them: such setbacks may occur when students are writing a thesis; the Ancient World Seminar helps students to cope with these challenges and to continue performing well (resilience).
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Teamwork assignment (30%)
Essays / assignments on reading (30%)
Oral presentation (on the MA thesis) (30%)
Active participation (10%)
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by (i) determination of the weighted average combined with (ii) the additional requirement that the oral presentation must be passed with a 5.5 minimum.
Resit
If the mark for the oral presentation is below 5.5 (i.e. a fail), there is a resit for the presentation. If the final mark for the seminar is below 5.5 (i.e. a fail), there is a resit for the thesis presentation, the take home assignments, and / or the teamwork assignment (please discuss with the instructors).
Inspection and feedback
Students will receive oral feedback on their essays; they will receive written feedback on their teamwork assignment; students will receive oral and written feedback on their oral presentation; they will receive a short written assessment of their participation at the end of the seminar.
Reading list
Any translation of Genesis (the first book of the Hebrew Bible / the Old Testament).
Auerbach, E. 2003 [1953]. ‘Odysseus’ Scar’, in E. Auerbach, Mimesis. The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (transl. W.R. Trask). Princeton / Oxford, 3-23.
George, A.R. 2003. The Epic of Gilgamesh. London: Penguin Classics.
Hammond, M. 1987. Homer, The Iliad. A New Prose Translation. Harmondsworth (or a different translation of Homer’s Iliad).
Haubold, J. 2005. ‘Homer between East and West’, in R. Armstrong and C. Dué (eds.), The Homerizon: Conceptual Interrogations in Homeric Studies. Classics@ 3: https://classics-at.chs.harvard.edu/classics3-johannes-haubold-homer-between-east-and-west/
Henkelman, W. 2006. ‘The Birth of Gilgameš (Ael. NA XII.21). A Case Study in Literary Receptivity’, in R. Rollinger and B. Truschnegg (eds.), Altertum und Mittelmeerraum: Die antike Welt diesseits und jenseits der Levante. Festschrift für Peter W. Haider zum 60. Geburtstag. Stuttgart, 807-856.
Hoffner, H.A. 1998. Hittite Myths. Atlanta.
Melville, A. 2008. Ovid, Metamorphoses. Oxford (or a different translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses).
Simpson, W.K. (ed.). 2003. The Literature of Ancient Egypt. An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry. New Haven / London.
Wilson, E. 2018. Homer, The Odyssey. New York.
Most of these publications are digitally available through Leiden University Library, or they will be made available through Brightspace. Further literature will be anounced through Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap (Login | Universiteit Leiden) is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
Students are required to attend the classes, to be fully prepared, and to join the discussions. Students who fail more than two sessions without valid reason will be excluded from the course.