Courses in English at the Department of Classical Studies

Spring 2019

Every week of the semester.

Love, Wine, and Muses: Central themes in archaic Greek poetry

Students will acquire good knowledge of all leading figures of archaic Greek poetry, appreciation of the peculiar nature of preservation of their works and the ability to interpret foundational pieces of European poetical tradition.

Every week of the semester

Reading Homer's Odyssey

Students will become familiar with the contents and the genesis of the work ("Homeric question"), its metrical and linguistic features, as well as basic notions of Homeric society, morality, religion, warfare and politics.

Every week of the semester.

Ethnographic field research methods

As research activity staged in the host community ethnographic field research cannot be done without at least some self-reflection, restraint and wariness. As part of a preparation for the practical aspects of ethnoarchaeological research, the lecture part aims to make the students familiar with the ethics and best practices of ethnographic field-work.

Every other week of the semester. Matthew Kinloch, Ph.D. (ÖAW, Wien)

A Theoretical History of Byzantium

This course will introduce students to late Byzantine history and historiography through the examination of critical theoretical approaches to its study. The class set text is the Chronikē syngraphē or History of George Akropolites. In each class, we will examine a different theoretical approach to historiographical analysis, with reference to key passages of the Chronikē syngraphē. These topics will include Postmodernism, Narratology, Gender and Queer Theory, Social History, and Postcolonialism.

Block lecture.

Special Topics of the Cultural Anthropology

The course should be both a means to brief students about the most recent discourses & and serve as a ‘think tank’ for the Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East. The main accent, however, will lay on media culture, the popularization of anthropological content, ethics of journalism, applied gender study, cultural heritage protection, minority politics and topics that point towards developmental cooperation & advocacy.

Block lecture. Dr. phil. Arnulf Hausleiter, Priv.-Doz. (Berlin)

The Middle and Late Bronze Age in Syro-Palestine

The objective of this course is to provide its students with a basic overview of historical development since middle Bronze Age IIC until the end of late bronze age (1200 BC) in Syro- Palestine area, as well as with information about relevant written and archaeological material.

18. - 23. 2. 2019 Francesca Romgnoli, Ph.D. (Madrid)

Palaeolithic Stone Industries of the Near East and the Mediterranean

The course is designed to present the current data about Palaeolithic evidences in Near East and Europe and to show how multidisciplinary analysis of stone industry techniques can be used to understand and interpret past human activities within theoretical frames. Students will learn how to analyse knapped stone tools and how to relate knapped stone tools to socio-economic phenomena...

25. - 30. 3. 2019 Prof. Reinhard Berbeck, Ph.D. (FU Berlin)

Theories in Archaeology

The course is designed as chronological overview of the development of archaeological discipline. Its main topic is gradual development of theories and approaches to processing and interpretation of archaeological finds and situations. The aim is to explain and clarify development of the scientific discipline since oldest cultural-historical approach, through the development of processualist and post-processualist approach to the development of current theories.

1. - 5. 4. 2019 Maher Hamoud, Ph.D. (Gent/Leuven)

Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings

A cross-examination of the political economy of Middle Eastern countries in relation to the wave of uprisings that broke out in late 2010 and still continues to unfold. The course breaks down the three elements; the political, the economic, and the social; explaining how each influences the other and how together they brought an ongoing regional unrest in.

1. - 12. 4. 2019 Roberto Dan, Ph.D. (Rome)

Set in Stone. Art and Architecture in Iron Age Northern Mesopotamia

The course provides the introductory overview of the problems concerning visual culture and its architectonical heritage in Western Asia during Iron Age. In the lectures the students will be at first acquainted with the archaeological and socio- cultural aspects of this topic and they will eventually discover specific and relevant case studies.

Autumn 2018

24.-25.9. & 22.-24.10. Zuzana Wygnańska, Ph.D. (Warsaw)

The Early and Middle Bronze Age of Mesopotamia and Levant

The lecture will cover Mesopotamia and Syria-Palestine from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age until the end of the Middle Bronze Age. The issues highlighted in the lecture will include main historical and cultural phenomena. Major groups and categories of artefacts, from monumental art to small decorative objects will be presented along with architecture - temples, palaces, fortifications and dwellings - as well as funerary rites...

8.-16.10. 2018 Prof. Dr. Rudolf Haensch (Munich)

From an old world to a new one? Changes and continuities between the Roman High Empire and Christian Late Antiquity

The seminar will discuss examples of particularly important changes and continuity after 312 AD, i.e. after Christianity was officially acknowledged and became an ever growing religious, economic and political factor. We will discuss inter alia, at which time and how often, and with which intentions churches were built on the fundaments of temples or temples were reconstructed as churches.

29.10. - 2.11. 2018 Dr. habil. Béla Adamik (ELTE, Budapest)

Introduction into the problem of African Latin

The aim of the course is to provide Latinists with a reasonably comprehensive introduction to the problem of African Latin as a regional variety. During the course, the linguistic peculiarities of African Latin will be outlined according to metalinguistic evidences (grammarians, literary authors etc.) and epigraphic sources (mainly inscriptions), the latter with the help of the Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of the Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age.

Every other week of the semester Florin Leonte, Ph.D.

Narratives of Empire in the Post-Classical World: From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance

In this course we will explore examples of historical and fictional narrative beginning with late antique compositions and extending to late medieval texts. While we will focus primarily on individual works translated from Greek, occasionally we will compare them with Latin sources. We will also address their cross-cultural nature as well as their common ancient models...

Every Thursday 20.9.-25.10.

The Ethnography of Mesopotamia and its Bordering Regions

This course aims to highlight the basics of socio-economics and daily life of the Near East, particularly focusing over Anatolia as main research interest of the lecturer. The similarities and differences of perceptions, beliefs and ways of uses will be overviewed with some presentations and class discussions.

Every week of the semester.

Arab Women Writers

The lectures are open to students from different fields of study, and may be of particular interest to students pursuing literary studies as well as those enrolled in social sciences who also make use of literary and cultural texts in their theoretical work. No Arabic required.

Every week of the semester.

Reading Homer's Ilias

...introduces students to the Homeric world by close reading of selected portions of the foundational text of Western literature, ancient Greek epic Ilias.

Every week of the semester.

The Role of Religion in the Ancient Roman State

At the end of the course, students will be able to orientate in problems of relationships between the Roman religion and the Roman state.

Every week of the semester

Historical and Critical Introduction to the Early Christian Literature I: The New Testament

No previous knowledge of the New Testament or earliest Christianity is presupposed.

Spring 2018

Every week of the semester.

Love, Wine, and Muses: Central themes in archaic Greek poetry

Every week of the semester

Reading Homer's Odyssey

...students will become familiar with the contents and the genesis of the work ("Homeric question"), its metrical and linguistic features, as well as basic notions of Homeric society, morality, religion, warfare and politics.

Every week of the semester.

Late Ancient and Early Christian Culture

The aim of this course is to make students acquainted with the principles of early christian art which had resulted from the context of previous art of greek and roman pagan Antiquity and of its language...

Block lecture: 9. - 19. 4. 2018

Archaeology and Religion

This course aims at using archaeological and anthropological data and historical sources to understand the evolution of religious beliefs and practices in the Old world. In so doing, the course will foresee what archaeology can tell us about religion and, more specifically, in defining theoretical and methodological answers to general questions, in understanding how architecture was used by ancient societies in creating their cosmological landscape.

Block lecture: 9. - 20. 4. 2018

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology for Archaeologists B

The Near East archaeologist is a ‘marginal person’, in the sense that she/he often trespasses the fence-line between societies, ethnic groups, social classes and interest groups while doing her/his work. To comprehend this social reality is vital for persons who want to run archaeological projects in the Near East.

Block lecture: 30. 4. - 10. 5. 2018

Sumerian language

The sources for the Sumerian language date basically to the third millennium. The course will treat the language and the logographic writing system by reading simple inscriptions. Student will be able to: read, understand and use simple text written in Sumerian script. She/He will be able to use text to understand historical contexts.

Block lecture: 30. 4. - 11. 5. 2018

Ethnological Examples of the Use of Space by Rural Communities in the Near East

The course aims to promote a bottom-up approach to spatial interpretations in SW Asian prehistoric archaeology. Often ‘alien’ spatial layouts are forced upon the worked site (top-down). Contrary to this the lecture favours a bottom-up approach that takes as its base the terrain perception of the excavator proper (sensory approach).

Block lecture: 18. 4. & 23. - 26. 4. 2018

Ethnoarchaeological studies with relevance to the archaeology of Mesopotamia

The excavator staying in or near villages is still to some extend ‘immersed’ in the use of some of the more traditional techniques, the local exploitation of raw materials and specific spatial patterns that are influenced by production, use and the final disposal of domestic products. Hardly any scientific contributions by field excavators will be found, therefore, that do not in one way or another contain allusions to rural or small-town life and some of the ‘older crafts’. The course serves as introduction to ethnoarchaeology as a method of research.

Autumn 2017

Every week of the semester.

The Role of Religion in the Ancient Roman State

At the end of the course, students will be able to orientate in problems of relationships between the Roman religion and the Roman state.

Every week of the semester

Historical and Critical Introduction to the Early Christian Literature I: The New Testament

No previous knowledge of the New Testament or earliest Christianity is presupposed.

Every week of the semester.

Reading Homer's Ilias

...introduces students to the Homeric world by close reading of selected portions of the foundational text of Western literature, ancient Greek epic Ilias

Every week of the semester.

Selected topics in Arabic literature and culture

The course examines a variety of topics at the intersection of literature and culture. It largely draws on research originating in cultural psychology and/or sociology in order to gain new insights into literary and cultural texts...

9. - 13. 10. 2017 prof. Ulrike Ehmig (Heidelberg)

Perception and Handling of Risks in Roman antiquity

Why modern risk research does not consider antiquity and medieval age? How to calculate probability in antiquity? ...

9. -12. 10. 2017 prof. Stelios Virvidakis

Contemporary Debates on Greek Cultural and National Identity

This seminar focuses on the problem of Greek cultural and national identity, which is at the center of discussions among intellectuals dealing with competing narratives converning the formation and the history of the Modern Greek nation...

31.10. - 2.11. 2017 prof. Béla Adamik (Budapešť)

Introduction to bad Latin according to misspelt inscriptions

The aim of this course is to provide Latinists with a reasonably comprehensive introduction to inscriptional Latin particularly concerning the interpretation of misspellings and other, e.g. metrical faults to be found in inscriptions...

13. - 16. 11. 2017 dr. Lilia Diamantopoulou

Reading Pictures – Viewing Texts: Greek Visual Poetry from Technopaignia to Hypertext

Greek Visual Poetry is a literary form that has remained underexplored, although, as this seminar contends, it constitutes a crucial part of Modern Greek literature...

23. - 24.11. 2017 prof. Julia Verkholantsev

Language and Historical Method in the Middle Ages

The course aims to provide students with an advanced understanding of how language was imagined and used in medieval Christian communities with a special focus on central, eastern, and southern European lands...