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Unit information: Exploring the Roman Cityscape in 2024/25

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Exploring the Roman Cityscape
Unit code CLAS20070
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Cole
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

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

The built environment is not only an indication of a community’s aesthetic inclinations and technological ambitions. It also reflects and affects the activities taking place inside and around it. This unit considers architectural forms and styles adopted in ancient Rome (the types of buildings and the way they are built and decorated) and the space enclosed by and between them. How do architecture and space help us understand a society and culture and what insight do they offer into how communities thought about themselves and their place in the world? The unit will explore these ideas through a case study of ancient Rome. We will tour the leisurely lands of the Campus Martius, the wealth of the Palatine, and the Suburan slums, visiting sewers and backstreet warehouses alongside the city's most famous monuments, the Pantheon and the Colosseum.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study?

This unit introduces you to a distinctive way of studying Roman culture, by focusing on space; this supplements and allows you to build on approaches taken in first year units (both historical and cultural). The increasing depth and nuance of the approach taken in this unit is in line with the focus of your other modules at this level, and points forward to the third year dissertation. This unit also introduces you to new types of source-material, as well as revisiting familiar ones (e.g. literary texts) in new ways.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:

  1. demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the relationship between architectural form and the use of space;
  2. demonstrate an ability to recognise the major architectural forms and the topography of the unit’s case study;
  3. use the knowledge acquired in class and through their own reading to construct coherent, relevant and persuasive arguments on the built environment;
  4. demonstrate communication skills in the composition of written work at a standard appropriate to level I.

How you will learn

This unit will involve a combination of independent investigative activities, long- and short-form lectures, and discussion. Students will be expected to engage with materials and participate on a weekly basis.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

2,000 word essay (70%) [ILOs 1-4].

60-minute examination (30%) [ILOs 1-4].

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.

Resources

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. CLAS20070).

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.

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