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| Unit name |
Myth, Memory and History. |
| Unit code |
CLAS37022 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. O'Gorman |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None, |
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
Memory is central to human society. Memories of our collective past are dramatized in theatre and cinema, and celebrated (or mourned) in monuments. Documents regarding the past are carefully filed in archives. But all this commemoration doesn't mean that we all remember the same thing. Much is forgotten, repressed, or "reinterpreted." Journalists, politicians, and historians wrangle over what really happened, why it mattered, who was responsible. Thinking about how this way of writing had to find its place among other ways of representing the past will throw light on how memory, myth, and history continue to interact today. Topics will include: monuments, archives, oral history, performance of memory, the "truth" in myths, tyranny and
oppression of memory, trauma and the desire to forget.
The aims of this unit are:
- to familiarise students with the differing ways in which myth, memory and history have been configured in different contexts
- to develop skills in reading and interpreting different kinds of texts and monuments in relation to issues of myth, memory and history.
- to enable students to use the knowledge acquired in seminars and through independent research to construct coherent, relevant and critical arguments concerning the interpretative issues raised by the representation of time in the texts studied.
- to develop student skills in oral and written communication.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
- be familiar with the differing ways in which myth, memory and history have been configured in different contexts.
- have developed skills in reading and interpreting different kinds of texts and monuments in relation to issues of myth, memory and history.
- be able to use the knowledge acquired in seminars and through independent research to construct coherent, relevant and critical arguments concerning the interpretative issues raised in the material studied.
- have had the opportunity to develop their skills in oral and written communication, by making seminar presentations, taking part in seminar discussions, and producing an essay and a written examination.
Teaching Information
Seminars
Assessment Information
One essay of 3,000 words (50%) and one examination of 90 minutes (50%).
Reading and References
- Homer Iliad trans. R. Lattimore, Chicago UP
- Livy, Early History of Rome, trans. A. de Selincourt, Penguin Classics
- Alain Gowing Empire and memory: the representation of the Roman Republic in imperial culture Cambridge UP
- Paul Veyne Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths? Chicago UP
