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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2011/2012
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Ancient History

Undergraduate Course: Ancient History 2a: Past and Present in the Ancient World (ANHI08014)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaAncient History Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThe course is an introduction to the study of ancient historiography, itself a crucial element of the study of history, past and present. I.e. the course encourages students to analyse a good number of ancient historians and histories, especially the key figures and key texts in the development of the practice we call history, including Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Livy, Cassius Dio, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. The selection of authors to be studied in any one year depends on the research expertise of staff teaching the course so as to allow maximum scope for cutting-edge teaching based on new research undertaken by staff at Edinburgh.
Students should thus gain a sound understanding of the creation and evolution of the writing of history, and in particular a clear understanding of the beginnings of the practice of history writing - and thus of the foundations of the modern practice.
In studying important historical writings and their authors, students will explore the concept of $ùhistory&© in comparing different ancient and modern approaches to this concept. Students will thus be challenged to consider and reconsider their own and others&© assumptions of what history is and how history is (to be) written.
In sum: whilst the past remains unchanged, history is always changing, and this course is concerned to examine how the past and present have been continuously interpreted and reinterpreted in antiquity through the exercise that we call history. It explores the sources and methods by which history is constructed in antiquity, looking at the roles different types of evidence can play, as well as how different historians aim to change the history of a particular geography, period or topic.
This course builds upon the first year survey courses in Classics with the intention to deepen students' understanding of ancient history as well as their understanding of how history is written.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: The Greek World 1A: Greece in the Making (CLGE08001) OR The Greek World 1B: Greece's New Horizons (CLGE08002) OR The Roman World 1A: The Rise of Rome (CLGE08003) OR The Roman World 1B: The Roman Empire (CLGE08004)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  107
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralLecture1-11 12:10 - 13:00
CentralLecture1-11 12:10 - 13:00
First Class Week 1, Monday, 12:10 - 13:00, Zone: Central. Meadows Lecture Theatre, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Doorway 4, Teviot Place.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Ancient History 2a: Past and Present in the Ancient World2:00
Resit Exam Diet (August)Ancient History 2a2:00
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
a variety of key ancient histories and historians
&· the different types of evidence used by ancient historians
&· the different types of methods used by ancient historians
&· the different forms in which history was written
&· the different themes and topics chosen by ancient historians
&· the different historical contexts in which the chosen histories have been written
&· the ways in which different ancient cultures viewed the past
&· the relationship/s between the historian and his subject matter, theme, and aim
&· approaches by modern scholars to the chosen historians/histories

&· the formal conventions of the scholarly debate
Assessment Information
The assessment is split in the following way:
60% degree examination (2-hour)
40% coursework (2,500 words)
Tutorial work is monitored via a tutorial log-book: students are required to
demonstrate due preparation and active engagement with the tutorial topics in 75% of
all tutorials. This is normally done by the tutor signing off the students&© tutorial logsheet
at the end of each tutorial, and the course organiser checking over each student&©s
log-sheet at the end of the course. If a student were prevented from attending the
required number of tutorials, they could still demonstrate due preparation and active
engagement with the tutorial topics by providing the course organiser with their logbook
entries for the tutorial work.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Sandra Bingham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3583
Email: S.Bingham@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Amanda Campbell
Tel: (0131 6)50 3580
Email: amanda.campbell@ed.ac.uk
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