| Unit name | Encountering Ancient Worlds |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLAS10068 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Hales |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This unit offers an exciting introduction to the study of ancient worlds at university. It will feed your curiosity and help you to develop the creative and critical tools you will need to investigate them. In addition to exploring the main features of these worlds, we’ll scrutinise the discipline of Classics and Ancient History that studies them. How did the discipline come to be and how could we shape it for the future? This unit will also encourage you to think about what you want from your degree: what skills do you have to contribute, and how can we help you to develop them? We’ll build your knowledge and confidence by discussions and group work both in and out of the classroom, exploring the city and local sites. Whether you have studied ancient worlds for many years or are completely new to the subject, this unit will challenge and inspire you as you embark on your degree.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit will prepare you for the rest of your degree by equipping you with the basic knowledge and key study skills that you will then develop throughout your course. It will help you to see how your programme of study fits into a broader context of enquiry into the ancient world.
An overview of content
The content is delivered through these themes:
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
What you know: You will have developed your knowledge of ancient worlds and the way they have been studied in the past as well as developing ideas about how they might be studied in the future.
How you think: You will think critically and creatively about ancient worlds and the way they have been taught. You will be inspired to question traditional ideas and have the confidence to create new approaches.
What you can do: You will have the key skills and knowledge to meet the Learning Outcomes below.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
1. Identify key periods, places, themes and approaches that shape our knowledge of the ancient world.
2. Recognise the boundaries of the ancient worlds we study and discuss the problems of how those boundaries have been drawn.
3. Employ their knowledge and skills to analyse key themes in the discipline.
4. Develop their ability and confidence to assess their own contribution, learning needs and opportunities.
This unit will be taught with four classroom hours a week, supplemented by online asynchronous activities to allow you to further explore and practise that week’s content.
Your unit tutors will take the lead in guiding you through the material and conveying key information. Online mini-quizzes will be embedded in the course, offering you instant feedback on your understanding of the issues explored, knowledge of content, and mastery of skills practised that week. We will encourage you to identify your strengths and learning needs coming into the degree and start to think about what you wish to achieve during your time with us. As a group, we will discuss different approaches to reflective learning. You will keep a weekly reflective journal throughout, focusing on how your activity on the unit is helping you progress towards your learning goals, which will be crucial preparation for your summative assessment.
The main focus of this unit is empowering you to begin your university learning journey. To this end, the unit is:
Student-centred: throughout the unit we will be responding to your needs and interests, for instance in choosing the focus for the Key Debates section of the unit. This is to build your initiative in shaping your own learning journey.
Inquiry-based: the unit is arranged around a series of questions about what it means to study ancient worlds because we want to encourage your curiosity and critical faculties. This inquiry-based approach will come to fruition in the Key Debates section of the unit, which will allow you to apply the skills and knowledge we have worked on throughout the unit. You will work in smaller seminar groups to explore specific topics from a particular perspective, before sharing your findings with the rest of the cohort.
Reflective: one of the main aims of this unit, and the focus of the summative assessment, is to help you think about your own personal interests and skills, to plan how best to nurture and develop them, and to understand how they might contribute to the cohort. This is important for setting you up to make the most of your undergraduate career.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The summative assessment is a 2,000 word report that will use material from a weekly journal you will keep throughout the unit to reflect on how you have developed in terms of expansion of knowledge, understanding of the discipline and development of key skills. You will provide evidence of that development (e.g. attendance; participation; quiz taking; extra reading) and close the report with three suggestions for improvement/development.
The report will be marked on a Pass / Fail basis with feedback given through a RAG rating (red, amber, green).
The feedback you receive will concentrate on practical advice for further development.
While this report is a summative assessment for this unit, you might also think of it as formative assessment for your degree. We encourage you to share the report with your personal tutor so that it can form the basis of a dialogue about your ongoing academic development.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. CLAS10068).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
