This course helps you to develop your abilities in primary source analysis and deepens your understanding of broad historiographical and methodological problems in the study and representation of Rome as a place and a concept. You are familiarized with cultural historical, material culture, sociological and anthropological models for studying historical movements in the ancient and medieval eras. As a result, at the end of the course, you will have:
- Learned to analyze and contextualize a variety of historical evidence (e.g. texts in edited and manuscript form, archaeological records, and art historical sources).
- Learned about the theoretical considerations and practical implementation of reconstruction as a tool for the historian.
- Developed the capacity for close analysis of sources through the use of relevant theoretical frameworks.
- Learned how to communicate research results to a community of both scholars and the wider public.
- Learned how to report the decision-making process of a collective creative project, how to defend yours choices, and how to assess and expand your research skills.
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The visualization of history is an increasingly important instrument both in an academic context and in society at large. Translating recent research results in dynamic and interactive ways for various audiences is thus increasingly becoming a skill that students of history will find useful in their future career. Virtual reconstructions of historical sites, video games, digital exhibitions, and VR experiences reflect historical research and source analysis, but also constitute a real tool that enriches and determines research questions and strategies. While reconstructing, we are forced to think about angles, details, presentation modes and the consequences of the choices we make. In this course, you will learn to conceptualise and co-create a virtual reconstruction of an historical episode, event, or place connected to the idea of Rome. You will acquire a strong foundation of knowledge about Rome in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, both of the actual city and of the idea of Rome. You will explore the enduring attraction of Rome as a political, religious and cultural center through a number of selected episodes. Building on this foundation, you will practice, individually and as a team, both fundamental research skills as well as transferable and creative competences that align with the current job market.
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This research seminar starts in period 1, parallel to the MA course ‘Historiography and Theory: Cultural, Memory and Cultural Memory’, which constitutes a general overview of the topics and concepts which you will encounter in this MA program. The research seminar (periods 1 and 2) focuses on research skills, centered on a particular topic that covers both the ancient and medieval worlds. The research skills you will further develop in this course are a continuation of what you already acquired in your BA program. The main research skills will be (re)introduced in period 1, which will give you a strong basis to start developing your MA thesis in periods 2-3. Because this research seminar also has a strong practical component and will introduce techniques employed in the cultural sector more broadly, this research seminar will also prepare you for an optional internship as part of your electives (ideally in period 4).
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This research seminar starts in period 1, parallel to the MA course ‘Historiography and Theory: Cultural, Memory and Cultural Memory’, which constitutes a general overview of the topics and concepts which you will encounter in this MA program. The research seminar (periods 1 and 2) focuses on research skills, centered on a particular topic that covers both the ancient and medieval worlds. The research skills you will further develop in this course are a continuation of what you already acquired in your BA program. The main research skills will be (re)introduced in period 1, which will give you a strong basis to start developing your MA thesis in periods 2-3. Because this research seminar also has a strong practical component and will introduce techniques employed in the cultural sector more broadly, this research seminar will also prepare you for an optional internship as part of your electives (ideally in period 4).
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Assessment of the course will take the form of (1) a paper and (2) a portfolio.
- Your paper will consist of an historical analysis of a historical episode related to the history of Rome broadly speaking, using the handbook as a guide. The paper should consist of 1500 words (footnotes and bibliography included).
- For this course you will create your own virtual reconstruction of a historical episode related to the history of Rome. This is a group project, on which you will report both collectively and individually. To report on the reconstruction, you will create a portfolio.
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