AHIS2700
10 units
2000 level
Course handbook
Description
Students will study the literature and archaeological evidence of major periods of crisis, including pandemics, invasions, and collapses, from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. The course considers examples of societal transformation, decline and resurgence, and leadership responses to cataclysmic events. Major examples include the Bronze Age collapse, the Plague of Thucydides, the Antonine Plague, the Crisis of the Third Century, the Plague of Justinian and the Persian and Islamic invasions of the seventh century CE. Students will analyse literary and documentary evidence in conversation with archaeological evidence to determine how best to interpret pre-modern responses to crises, and what lessons these responses have for our own times.
Availability2024 Course Timetables
Callaghan
- Semester 2 - 2024
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the course students will be able to:
1. Discuss major global disasters in the premodern world and their impact on society.
2. Evaluate and employ major types of primary evidence, from written works to archaeological evidence, to support an argument
3. Communicate information about history in a range of modes for different audiences.
4. Construct succinct and accurate arguments for a range of audiences and purposes.
Content
This course will include the following topics:
• The Bronze Age Collapse
• Homer’s Plague and the Trojan War
• The Plague of Thucydides: A Crisis of Medicine or Morality?
• The Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great
• Civil War and the Rise of the Roman Principate
• Earthquakes and Eruptions
• The Antonine and Ambrosian Plagues
• The Third Century Crisis
• The Plague of Justinian
• Seventh Century Invasions
• Can bones speak? Archaeology and literary sources in dialogue
Requisite
If you have successfully completed AHIS2600 you cannot enrol in this course.
Assessment items
Online Learning Activity: Complete an assessment item or activity using online media
Tutorial / Laboratory Exercises: Tutorial/Laboratory Exercises
Essay: Create an argumentative essay using primary and secondary evidence
Professional Task: Engagement in a professional activity for a real-world audience
Contact hours
Semester 2 - 2024 - Callaghan
Lecture (face-to-face)-1
- Face to Face On Campus 1 hour(s) per week(s) for 12 week(s) starting in week 1
Tutorial-1
- Face to Face On Campus 1 hour(s) per week(s) for 11 week(s) starting in week 2
Course outline
Course outline not yet available.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.