Classics
383B/Africana Studies 383C/Anthropology 380P/History 383B:
Race and Ethnicity in Ancient North Africa (G, N, O GenEds)
Spring
2013 Monday/Wednesday (2:20-3:45 PM) Nelson
Rockefeller 203
Binghamton
University, State University of New York, Department of Classical & Near
Eastern Studies
Instructor: John
H. Starks, Jr. jstarks@binghamton.edu
(607) 777-4524
Library Tower 1102 -
Office hours T 9-10AM, W 11AM-12P 2-18M
Synopsis: We will examine several cultures that inhabited ancient
North Africa (Egyptians, Nubians/Kushites, the Jewish
communities in Egypt, the Carthaginians, and several ethnic groups of northwest
Africa, often collectively described by outsiders as "Berbers")
before and during the period of Greek and Roman influence around the
Mediterranean. To understand these diverse societies we will use the tools of
cultural anthropology: ancient Greek and Roman literary texts, native and
western art and archaeology, inscriptions, papyri, and coins, qualitative and
some quantitative analysis of data, and modern scholarly studies in ethnicity
to see how these cultures lived and how they influenced, and were influenced
by, the Greeks and Romans. We will also, at times, employ geography and
physical and linguistic anthropology to comprehend the changes in African
peoples' lives from pre-dynastic to Byzantine Egypt and from the cultures of
native Numidians to Semitic Carthage to the
Christianized Roman province of Africa. Throughout the term, we will try to
find as much objective truth as we can about these important ethnic groups and
their societies, in spite of the usual absence of native texts and reliance on
Greek and Roman perceptions of "the other"; we will, therefore, also
treat issues of imperialism, oppression, prejudice, racism and alterity as applied to these peoples by their conquerors.
Greek and Roman ethnographic curiosity about the Mediterranean world and
diverse ethnic practices will be continually examined beside modern studies in
social science to further our awareness of how the native or early populations
of North Africa maintained or adapted their cultures under foreign rule.
Through
reading and discussion of Greek (Herodotus, Polybius) and Latin (Horace, Livy,
Juvenal, Ammianus Marcellinus)
authors and modern studies of Egyptians, sub-Saharan Africans/Nubians, the
Alexandrian Jewish community, and the "Berber" tribes of North
Africa, we will engage ancient and modern conceptions of race and ethnicity
daily. In this course, to build oral communication skills, students will
participate regularly in class discussions, deliver an oral paper on a topic in
classical North African ethnic studies, and an original deliberative debate
speech as a member of the Carthaginian senate on the pros or cons of a third
war with Rome. Peer critique and suggestions for improved oral skills will
always be given to students on these projects so that they will know their
improvement in presentation will factor into assessment of their work. A
written midterm on Northeast Africa and a short written ethnic self-study round
out the grade.
Texts,
Course Requirements and Grade Distribution
Student Learning Outcomes for Race
& Ethnicity in Ancient North Africa– by the completion of this course,
students will:
1) Improve and gain proficiency in oral communication skills
through practice in discussion, creative role play, and formal presentation,
and through peer evaluation and review (O GenEd)
2) Recognize, analyze, and understand, with the aid of
anthropological, historical, and geographical methods, some of the mutual
influences that Egyptians, Nubians/Kushites, Jews,
Carthaginians, and ‘Berber’ communities in Africa had on Greek and Roman
history, institutions, economies, societies and cultures through contact,
observation, and imperialism (G GenEd, N GenEd)
3) Appreciate and analyze the continuities and
discontinuities between these ancient cultures and modern cultures, in both the
western and non-western traditions (G GenEd).
4) Appreciate and analyze the chronology of these African
cultures with respect to Greek and Roman historical and cultural chronology (N GenEd)
5)
Improve analytical and evaluative skills in writing and critical thinking
through extensive reading, discussion, composition, and creative thought (N GenEd, O GenEd).
Learning Outcomes for G(lobal Interdependency) Courses
Students in G courses
will demonstrate knowledge of how two or more distinctive world regions have
influenced and interacted with one another and how such interactions have been
informed by their respective cultures or civilizations.
Learning Outcomes for N (Social Science) Courses
Students in N courses
will demonstrate
- Knowledge of major concepts,
models, and issues (and their interrelationships) of at least one of the
social sciences: anthropology, economics, geography, history, political
science, or sociology.
- An understanding of the methods
used by social scientists to explore social phenomena, including, when
appropriate to the discipline, observation, hypothesis development,
measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence,
and analysis by mathematics or other interpretive frameworks.
Learning Outcomes for O(ral Communication) Courses
Students in O courses
will demonstrate
- Proficiency in oral presentations.
- The ability to improve oral
presentations in response to critiques.
- Skill in listening to and
critiquing oral presentations.