Race: Antiquity and its Legacy (CLAS0160)

Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 10 weekly lectures.

Content:  The module looks at theories, roles, and meanings of race in the Greek and Roman world; it also explores the interplay between ancient and later concepts & practices of race.  We look at the social and historical contexts in which questions of difference are posed in antiquity and how such categories as gender, class, status, and sexuality intersect with race.  We also explore how ideas of race have changed across time and place and how ancient ideas of race continue to have an impact into the present.  Some of the questions we shall consider are:  What is race?  How should we think about race in relation to the ancient world?  Are Greek and Roman attitudes to race the same?  What is the relationship between race and prejudice, and between race and slavery?  What is the legacy of ancient theories of race in the modern world?

Skills: At the end of the module students should:
1. have engaged with texts, images, and theories with which they can reflect on race in the ancient world;
2. have a good understanding of how race has been used in ancient and modern cultures through evidence from the texts and visual culture;
3. have a sound knowledge of the relevant primary and secondary bibliography;
4. have developed their understanding of the methodological problems relevant to the field;
5. be able to deploy appropriate evidence and test arguments in oral discussion and written analysis;
6. be able to deploy evidence and argument effectively in written presentation.

Module text:

Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World: An Anthology of Primary Sources in Translation. Selected and Translated by Rebecca F. Kennedy, C. Sydnor Roy, and Max L. Goldman, 2013.

D. E. McCoskey, Race: Antiquity and Its Legacy. London, 2012.

Summary 

This module offers health professionals the opportunity to acquire academic credit for learning gained from specific educational activity undertaken...