UNIVERSITY OF KENT
MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
1. The title of the module:
Rome – The Imperial City (CL828)
2. The School which will be responsible for management of the module:
School of European Culture and Languages
3. The Start Date of the Module
Spring 2014
4. The number of students expected to take the module
10-15
5. Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with
other relevant Schools and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
N/A
6. The level of the module (e.g. Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate
[M])
M
7. The number of credits and ECTS value which the module represents
30 (15 ECTS)
8. Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Spring Term
9. Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
CL900 Research Skills in Ancient History: Understanding the City in Antiquity
10. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
MA in Roman History and Archaeology and MA in Ancient History.
11. The intended subject specific learning outcomes
The module is designed to provide students with both desk-based and on-site knowledge of
Ancient Rome.
1. Provide the students with skills to equip them for a further career either for doctoral research in
Roman History and/or Archaeology or in employment through the use of these transferable skills
2. Develop the students' competence in applying skills to analysis of a diverse body of ancient
evidence including that of on-site study of standing remains and museum collections
3. Develop the critical and analytical powers of the student in relation to ancient texts, excavation
reports, standing remains and publications associated with these forms of evidence
4. Develop critical, analytical problem-based learning skills in relation to the sites of the city of Rome,
as well as modern scholarship on the subject matter
5. Command a range of techniques and methodologies, such as bibliographical and library research
skills, a range of skills in reading and textual analysis, the varieties of historical method, the visual
skills characteristic of art criticism, use of statistics (e.g. in archaeology or the study of ancient
demography), academic argumentation and analysis
12. The intended generic learning outcomes
1.
Communicate effectively with a wide range of individuals using a variety of means in seminars.
2.
Evaluate his/her own academic performance.
3.
Manage change effectively and respond to changing demands including the access to sites in
Rome.
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4.
Take responsibility for personal and professional learning and development (Personal
Development Planning
5.
Manage time, prioritise workloads, recognise and manage personal emotions and stress.
6.
Information management skills, eg IT skills
13. A synopsis of the curriculum
The module introduces students to sites and museum resources in the City of Rome through a
series of weekly study blocks and is taught in Rome through collaboration between Kent staff and
those of the American University in Rome. Each block has been developed by Ray Laurence
(Kent) and Valerie Higgins (American University in Rome - AUR) to ensure that classroom based
learning, on-site learning and library based research by the students are fully integrated as a
thematic package. A typical timetable would be for each week:
Monday - classroom lecture and orientation;
Tuesday - group visit to sites;
Wednesday - group visit to sites/preparation of presentations;
Thursday – 2 hour seminar on the work at which work is set the following week;
Friday – library preparation for following block
An indicative list of teaching blocks is given below:
1. Lecture 1: Orientation
Group Visit: (accompanied by AUR and Kent staff members) Forum Romanum and Palatine
Group Visit: (accompanied in part by Kent staff member) Capitol and Campus Martius
Seminar: Impressions of Rome
2. Lecture 2: Redevelopment and Power in Rome
Group Visit: Imperial Fora, Valley of the Colosseum, San Clemente
Group Visit: The Route of the Roman Triumph
Seminar: Visualising the Roman Emperor in the City of Rome
3. Lecture 3: Volumes of Power – Architecture
Group Visit: Colosseum, Temple of Venus and Rome, Baths of Caracalla
Group Visit: Pantheon, Mausoleum of Augustus, Mausoleum of Hadrian
Seminar: The Relationship of Size of Buildings and the Power of the Roman Emperor
4. Lecture 4: The Language of Power: Inscriptions and Monuments
Group Visit: Museum – Diocletian’s Baths – Epigraphic Collection
Group Visit: Triumphal Arches and Columns in the City of Rome
Seminar: Understanding Written Space and the Role of Writing in the Imperial City
5. Lecture 5: Redevelopment and Power
Group Visit: Ostia Antica
Group Visit: Ostia Antica
Seminar: Redevelopment at Ostia
6. Lecture 6: The Representation of Power – Sculpture
Group Visit: Ara Pacis and Palazzo Massimo
Group Visit: Vatican Museums
Seminar: Sculpture and the Imperial City
7.
Lecture 7: Landscapes and Power
Group Visit: Villa of the Quintilli and the Via Appia
Group Visit: Hadrian’s Villa and Tivoli
Seminar: Visualising the Landscape of Rome’s Suburbium
8. Lecture 8: Water and Power
Group Visit: Park of the Aqueducts and the Aqua Traiana
Group Visit: Monte Testaccio to the Forum Boarium and Tiber Island
Seminar : The City and the Flow of Water
9. Lecture 9: Death and the Afterlife
Group Visit: Capitoline Museums and Tomb of the Scipios
Group Visit: Monti Martini Museum and beneath St John in the Lateran
Seminar : The Representation of Gods and Men
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10. Lecture 10: Power and the City of Rome – Putting it all together
Writing week – Assignment 2: essay plus time to re-visit site and research time for preparation
of the assessed itineraries
11. No lecture Assessed Itinieraries presented to Kent and AUR staff member
14. Indicative Reading List
Beard, M. (2008) The Roman Triumph, Cambridge Ma: Harvard University Press
Claridge, A. (2010) Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, Oxford: OUP.
Coarelli, F. (2008) Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide, Berkeley: University of
California Press
Coulston, J. and H. Dodge (2000) Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City. Oxbow
Books: Oxford.
Dyson, S.L. (2010) Rome: Portrait of a Living City, Baltimore: John Hopkins.
Edwards, C. (1996) Writing Rome: Textual Approaches to the City. Cambridge University Press.
Fagan G. (1999), Bathing in Public in the Roman World Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Favro, D. (1994), ‘The street triumphant: the urban impact of Roman triumphal parades,’ in Z.
Çelik et al. (eds.), Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space (Berkeley: University of California
Press), 151-64.
Favro, D. (1998) The Urban Image of Augustan Rome, Cambridge: CUP.
Galinsky, K. (1998) Augustan Culture: An Interpretive Introduction. Princeton University Press.
Hermansen G. (1981) Ostia. Aspects of Roman City Life Edmonton: Alberta UniversityPress
Kleiner, D. E. E. (1992) Roman Sculpture, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lançon, Β., trans. A. Nevill (2000) Rome in Late Antiquity: Everyday Life and Urban Change, AD
312-609. New York: Routledge.
Lansford, T. (2009) The Latin inscriptions of Rome: A Walking Guide, Baltimore: John Hopkins.
Laurence, R. (2008), ‘City traffic and the archaeology of Roman streets from Pompeii to Rome’, in
D. Mertens (ed.), Stadtverkehr in der Antiken Welt/Traffico urbano nel mondo antico (Wiesbaden
2008) 87-106
Laurence, R. (2000) ‘Metaphors, monuments and texts: the life-course in Roman culture’ World
Archaeology 31: 442-56.
Laurence, R. and Newsome D. (2011) Rome, Ostia, Pompeii: Movement and Space, Oxford:
OUP.
MacDonald, W.L. (1982), The Architecture of the Roman Empire, New Haven: Yale University
Press
Moatti, C. (1989) The Search for Ancient Rome. Thames and Hudson: London.
Nielsen, I. (1990) Thermae et Balnea: The Architecture and Cultural History of Roman Public
Baths. Aarhus Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2007) Rome’s Cultural Revolution, Cambridge.
Ostenberg, I. (2009) Staging the World
Sear F. (2006) Roman Theatres: An Architectural Study, Oxford: OUP.
Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2003) ‘The streets of Rome as a representation of imperial power’, in The
Representation and Perception of Imperial Power. Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the
International Network Impact of Empire (Roman Empire, c. 200 B.C. – A.D. 476), eds. L. De Blois,
P. Erdkamp, O. Hekster, G. De Kleijn and S. Mols. Amsterdam: 189-208. Wallace-Hadrill, A.
(1993) Augustan Rome. Bristol Classical Press: Bristol.
Yegül, F. (1992) Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity Cambridge Mass.
Zanker, P. (1988) The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Ann Arbor Press.
15. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the
total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement
of the intended learning outcomes
Contact hours: one 1 hour lecture and one 2 hour seminar per week (over a period of 13 weeks)
plus 4 days of accompanied visits to monuments comprising of 6 hours each.
A key feature of this module is the visits to monuments in Rome (LO11.2). These visits are for the
most part not accompanied by staff, for the reason that students should at MA level develop the
independence of self-study of museum collections and standing remains (LO 12.3.12.4.12.5).
Guidance will be provided on travel to locations, the location of entrances and other matters – a
member of staff will be accessible by phone during such visits.
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Additional time is expected to be invested by students in the form of private study in preparation of
seminars and towards the completion and submission of coursework (LO 12.2). While the contact
hours will enhance students’ overall knowledge on the topics addressed, on the available material,
on particular arguments, and on how to debate themselves, the private study hours will offer them
the opportunity to deepen their awareness and understanding on specific topics and issues, and to
research on particular themes (LO11.1-11.5; 12.1, 12.2, 12.4,12.5,12.6). This time will also be
used in improving their communication and independent learning skills, and methods of
constructing coherent arguments and critical thinking (LO 11.1-11.5,12.1, 12.2)). Students will be
required to read and think critically about the prescribed ancient sources and modern scholarly
literature in preparation for each seminar, to prepare for the seminar discussions and to research
and write their assignments (especially LO 11.1-5, 12.1-6). Students will be advised to do the
following in their study time so as to achieve all the learning outcomes: (a) read the seminar
reading and associated readings recommended by the lecturer or which they have found
themselves; (b) discuss the reading and lecture with each other away from the seminar; (c) prepare
for their in-class assignment; and (d) plan, draft and write their course essay.
Total study hours: 300 hours
16. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning
outcomes
1) Itinerary Design: Written Materials ‘Putting it all Together’ (15%) undertaken in Week 12 to
assess that students have fully gained LO 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5 with reference to their
understanding of the city of Rome.
2) Itinerary Presentations by students on-site ‘Putting it all Together (35%) undertaken in Week 12
to assess that students have fully gained LO 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5 with reference to their
understanding of the city of Rome, plus assessment of the following LO12.1, 12.3, 12.4,12.5.
3) Interpretative essay on the reception of the Roman past (4,500 words – 50%) to assess that
students have fully gained LO 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5 with reference to their understanding of
the representation of Rome as an eternal city in antiquity.
The coursework will enable students to develop their critical ability, and to elaborate on ideas using
logical and well-structured arguments (LO 11.1-11.5; 12.1,12.6). Seminar participation will assist in
testing the students’ knowledge on the topics discussed and taught during the life of the module, as
well as knowledge gained from on-site group visits (LO 11.1-5, 12.1-6). The design and delivery of
an itinerary of visits to the sites of Rome is a distinctive feature of this module that allows for the
additional assessment of generic learning outcomes on-site in Rome (a Kent and an AUR staff
member will undertake this on-site assessment: LO11.1-5, 12.1,12.3-5).
17. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Learning resources at the American University in Rome have been investigated by Ray Laurence
(visit 05-07 Feb 2013) and additional library resources in Rome have been identified to support the
module
AUR has a working library for the delivery of undergraduate modules on the ancient Rome. This
resource will be enhanced through the provision of ebooks, on-line access to JSTOR and other key
electronic resources associated with the Templeman Library, plus CLA copies of key works to be
included in moodle page for this module. It is anticipated that additional e-books will be purchased.
In Rome, these Kent graduate students have (like other graduate students) access to specialised
libraries close to AUR run by foreign institutes, including those of the Norwegian Institute and the
Finnish Institute – both specialise in the study of ancient Rome. In addition, close by to AUR is the
library of ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of
Cultural Property). In the centre of Rome is the Biblioteca di Archeologia e della Storia dell’Arte
(Palazzo Venezia) that is underused and is close to many of the sites visited during the module.
There is in addition access to the British School at Rome’s library that is located just to the north of
the centro storico. This combination libraries causes the students to be well-resourced.
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AUR has good computing facilities, including those suitable for digital reconstruction and animation.
In addition, there is good wifi access throughout their campus.
AUR has teaching rooms with audio-visual equipment to an equivalent standard of Kent’s
Canterbury Campus. There are rooms in the library that are suitable for group discussion and
study, as well as outside space in the various courtyards at which students conduct discussion.
18. The School recognises and has embedded the expectations of current disability equality
legislation, and supports students with a declared disability or special educational need in
its teaching. Within this module we will make reasonable adjustments wherever necessary,
including additional or substitute materials, teaching modes or assessment methods for
students who have declared and discussed their learning support needs. Arrangements for
students with declared disabilities will be made on an individual basis, in consultation with
the University’s disability/dyslexia support service, and specialist support will be provided
where needed.
19. Campus(es) where module will be delivered: Rome