CLAS 462 - Classical and Controversial: Critical Debates in Classical Antiquity

This course aims to introduce students to on-going issues and debates central to the study of the classical cultures in the Mediterranean world, that are far from resolved. Instead of focusing on certain periods or certain media, the students will be able to evaluate scholarly arguments on Classical material culture, including but not limited to discussions of style, technological choices, historical and social contexts, archaeological scientific methods, and cultural heritage, to name a few, spanning several millennia from Aegean Bronze Age to Hellenistic times. Test cases include celebrated but controversial vases, sculptures, mosaics, temples, and metalwork. We will also study how scholarship shifts its focus to different types of controversies, as a result of more general social, political, and economic contexts. Some prior 300-level coursework on History, Anthropology, Classics, Art History, or related discipline is recommended, but not required.