WOMEN IN ANCIENT ROME

The course is one of the core educational activities characterizing the Master’s Degree Program in Humanities.
It has the purpose to guarantee to the students the advanced knowledge of Roman women's history as part of long story read in 'feminine key' (gender studies) through the study of a central topic in the history of Roman women; knowledge of the methodology of research in the women's history; knowledge of the lexicon of the subject. It intends to guarantee the acquisition of cognitive abilities as sketch out a scientific research and practical abilities as be able to hand the results of scientific research over through the scientific communication and the public history. The students will develop research and didactical skills in the subject and acquire skills as critical approach during the evaluation of information and news, and understanding of events and cultural processes crucial in the constitution of the occidental identity.
The achievement of these goals assures to the student the cultural, disciplinary, methodological knowledge to insert in the world of work in didactical, cultural, divulgation and communication-linked field suitable with his itinerary of the academic studies.

Active participation in lectures and individual study will enable students to develop the following abilities and competencies, articulated according to the Dublin descriptors:
Knowledge and Understanding: knowledge and comprehension of the general outlines of the history of women and the female condition in Roman world; proficiency in analyzing sources; ability to connect theoretical and methodological content to the interpretation of past, present, and future events and processes.
Applying Knowledge and Understanding: ability to historically contextualize literary and epigraphic documents and to comment on them from the perspective of women's history in the Roman world.
Making Judgements: ability to read and contextualize previously unknown sources and to discern the peculiarities of specific themes in Gender History.
Communication Skills: ability to communicate the specifics of the discipline using appropriate terminology; ability to convey, argue, and present research findings to various stakeholders and target audiences.
Learning Skills: ability to apply learning outcomes to unfamiliar contexts and to utilize updated tools and bibliography; ability to engage with seminar topics.

Students should already have attended a BA level Roman history course. Foreign students are invited to contact the course tutor beforehand.

Through an ample introduction, an exemplification made by the teacher and a presentation, result of teamwork made by students, the course will examine the history of Roman women as part of Roman history; particular attention will be dedicated to the image of Roman women in literary and epigraphic sources, between description and representation (models and stereotypes). The course will examine the subject: "Women's Oratory in the Roman World: the gender Dimension in Ancient Speeches at the end of the Roman Republic and during the Early Principate". The course focuses on a communication practice from which the mos maiorum excluded women: indeed, by tradition, they did not participate in institutional life and, therefore, political communication. However, ancient sources report instances of Roman women who spoke out in political settings. The aims of this project are: to identify the peculiarities of female political communication compared to male ones by considering oratorical techniques and themes; to investigate elite culture, its political implications, and the elaboration of reference models, especially through the lens of gender history; to contribute to a better definition of female identity in the Roman world.
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A research (with sources and bibliography) will be assigned to each participant in team within a broader topic. A research (with sources and bibliography) will be assigned to each participant in team within a broader topic.

All foreign students are invited to contact the course tutor beforehand in order to discuss their study programmes for individual assessment.

The evaluation is based on three parts: the check of knowledge on the course contents through an oral examination on topics of the course and on topics developed on texts recommanded in the bibliography; during the same oral test the check of knowledge on contents explained by other students; during seminar, the oral exposition of brief personal research about a case of dissent during Augustan age.
Through these exam the teacher verifies:
1) knowledge: acquisition of fundamental concepts and scientific lexicon of the subject and the methodology of historical research;
2) cognitive abilities: the application of the methodology of historical research with particular focus on the use of sources and on critical approach on bibliography about the Roman women's history; the ability of analysis of historical processes and of gender studies; practical abilities: communicative abilities, for the public history and scientific communication (selecting the contents, the ways of communication, the time, know how to deal with team work)
3) skills: capability to analyze reality and information and to increase critical awareness in peculiarity of each historical period about gender history.
Each category of examination is judged according to a scale of thirty points, and the final mark is the result of the average of the points earned for each examination.
All foreign students are invited to contact the course tutor beforehand in order to discuss their study programmes for individual assessment.

Assessment Grid:
28-30L: excellent mastery of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; excellent ability to prioritize information; appropriate use of technical terminology of the discipline;
26-27: good knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; good ability to organize and present information; generally correct use of the technical terminology of the discipline;
24-25: fair knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; fair ability to organize information; use of technical terminology of the discipline not always correct;
22-23: occasionally superficial and/or incomplete knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; presentation not always clear and/or lacking in technical terminology of the discipline;
18-21: occasionally incomplete knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks, but still sufficient; presentation not clear and/or lacking and/or with scarce use of the technical terminology of the discipline.

Classes will be lead as eight teacher's lessons and two lessons as seminar, so that all students will have the opportunity to participate in class presentations. A specific research topic will be assigned to each participant. Ancient sources and further readings that will help students prepare their presentation will be provided in class.

Italian

Students who attend this course will be entitled to take part to the seminar activities, stages and training courses organised by the Roman History and Classics faculty during the two terms (the calendar of activities will be provided in class and on the Ca' Foscari website).

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development