ART H 541 A: Seminar in Greek and Roman Art

Vision and Viewership in Roman Culture

Spring 2023

T, Th 2:30-4:20pm

Meg Greenfield Room (Denny 257)

Prof. Sarah Levin-Richardson (you can call me Sarah)

Pronouns: she/her/hers

sarahlr@uw.edu

Office Hours: Wednesdays 11am-noon and Thursday 1:30-2:30pm in person (I wear a mask when holding office hours in my office; Zoom option available, too—please email me in advance so I can set it up) and by appointment

Office: Denny 227

personal zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/9019806802

Description:

In this class, we examine how the Romans discussed their relationship with vision and art. Topics to be explored include scientific theories of vision (i.e., the theory of vision in Lucretius), ekphrasis, vision and morality (e.g., as discussed by Seneca), and the viewership of different types of individuals, including enslaved individuals and individuals of various genders. Case studies will be drawn from literary, epigraphic, and artistic evidence. No previous experience is required.

Assignments:

Participation in class discussion: 50%

Presentation on Chinn chapter: 10%

Research paper preparation (meeting; abstract and bibliography; presentation): 20%

Research paper (15-20 double-spaced pages): 20%

Supporting your learning and well being

If you know of something that might affect your learning (technology problems; health or family crisis; religious observance) please contact me as soon as possible, ideally at the beginning of the quarter, so that I can make appropriate accommodations. Below you can find further resources:

• UW Counseling Center: http://www.washington.edu/counseling/
• Husky Health and Well-Being: http://wellbeing.uw.edu
• Disability Resources for Students: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/
  • If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
  • If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at uwdrs@uw.edu or uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
• Student Technology Loan Program: https://stlp.uw.edu/
• Classics Department Graduate Student Accessibility Fund: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvkYb80erRg536kD1GBe8mqfy92emtCjwr92eCycRVivYaTA/viewform
• Religious Accommodations:
  • Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy . Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form .

Schedule of Topics/Readings:

All readings are on canvas, are accessible online, or are on reserve in the seminar room

Week 1

T March 27: Introduction to Sight

• Squire, Michael. 2016. “Introductory Reflections: Making Sense of Ancient Sight.” In Sight and the Ancient Senses, ed. Michael Squire. London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 1-35. [canvas]
• Davis, Lennard. 2021. “Foreword.” In Disability Studies and the Classical Body: The Forgotten Other, Ellen Adams. London and New York: Routledge. xv-xix. [https://www-taylorfrancis-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/books/edit/10.4324/9780429273711/disability-studies-classical-body-ellen-adams ; click “read online” near the top right to access the foreword]

Th March 30: Sight in Greco-Roman Thought

• Van Wassenhove, Bart. Review of below in Bryn Mawr Classical Review: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2006/2006-11-28.html
• Bartsch, Shadi. 2006. The Mirror of the Self: Sexuality, Self-Knowledge, and the Gaze in the Early Roman Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [read pp. 58-83 (“Ancient Optics”, “Eros and the Eye”), 103-114 (“Hostius Quadra”), 138-152 (“The Penetrating Gaze”)] [canvas]

Week 2

T April 4: Sight in Roman Thought

• Bartsch, Shadi. 2006. The Mirror of the Self: Sexuality, Self-Knowledge, and the Gaze in the Early Roman Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [read pp. 115-138, 152-164] [canvas]
• Barton, Carlin. 2002. “Being in the Eyes: Shame and Sight in Ancient Rome.” In The Roman Gaze: Vision, Power, and the Body, ed. David Fredrick. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp. 216-235. [canvas]

Th April 6: Art and Text

• Elsner, Jas´. 2002. “Introduction: The Genres of Ekphrasis.” Ramus 31: 1-18. [canvas]
• Newby, Zahra. 2009. “Absorption and erudition in Philostratus’ Imagines.” In Philostratus, ed. Ewen Bowie and Jas´ Elsner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 322-342. [canvas]

Week 3

T April 11: Art and Text

• McKay, Gretchen Kreahling. Review of below in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2007/2007-12-18.html)
• Elsner, Jas´. 2007. Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art & Text. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [read pp. 67-112 (“Ekphrasis and the Gaze”) [canvas]

Th April 13: Ancient Polychromy (NO CLASS; but do these readings please!)

• Brinkmann, Vinzenz. 2017. “A History of Research and Scholarship on the Polychromy of Ancient Sculpture.” In Gods in Color: Polychromy in the Ancient World. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Pp. 12-25. [canvas]
• Brinkmann, Vinzenz, and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann. 2017. “On the Polychromy of Ancient Sculpture.” In Gods in Color: Polychromy in the Ancient World. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Pp. 26-51. [read pp. 26-28 (the introduction), skim through images on pp. 28-46, and read pp. 46-end] [canvas]
• Talbot, Margaret. “The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture.” New Yorker. 29 October 2018. [canvas]

Week 4 [meetings]

T April 18: Vision and Text

• Mulvey, Laura. 1975. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Screen 16: 6-18. (reprinted in Amelia Jones, ed. 2010 [2003]. The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Second Edition. Routledge. Pp. 57-65.) [canvas]
• Chinn, Christopher. 2021.Visualizing the poetry of Statius: an intertextual approach. Leiden and Boston: Brill [read Introduction] [canvas]

Th April 20: Vision and Text

• Chinn, Christopher. 2021.Visualizing the poetry of Statius: an intertextual approach. Leiden and Boston: Brill [read Conclusion on canvas and prepare 5-10 minute presentation on assigned chapter below] [in seminar room]

• 1: Dai

  2: Laura

  3: A.M.

  4: Caden

  5: Elsie

  6: Jonathan

  7: Lauryn

  8: Lexi

  9: Cat

Week 5

T April 25: Vision and Text

• Chew, Kathryn. Review of below in The Classical Review [canvas]
• Morales, Helen. 2005. Vision and Narrative in Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Clitophon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [read pp. 152-226 (“Chapter 4: Gender, Gaze and Speech”)] [canvas]

Th May 27: Oppositional and Resistant Gazes

• hooks, bell. 1992. Black Looks: Race and Representations. Boston. (reprinted in Amelia Jones, ed. 2010 [2003]. The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Second Edition. Routledge. Pp. 107-118.)  [canvas; citational practices google doc for classhere]
• Pandey, Nandini. 2014. “Reading Rome from the Farther Shore: Aeneid 6 in the Augustan Urban Landscape.” Vergilius 60: 85-116. [canvas]

Week 6

T May 2: Viewership and Gender

• Clarke, John. 1998. Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. Berkeley: University of California Press. [read pages 212 (starting with the section on “Sex and Laughter in the Suburban Baths”)-240]. [canvas]
• Clarke, John. 2005. “Representations of the Cinaedus in Roman Art.” Journal of Homosexuality 49: 271-298. [canvas]
• Åshede, Linnea. 2020. “Neutrumque et Utrumque Videntur: Reappraising the Gender Role(s) of Hermaphroditus in Ancient Art.” In Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World, ed. Allison Surtees and Jennifer Dyer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Pp. 81-94. [canvas]

Th May 4: Viewership and Status

• Severy-Hoven, Beth. 2012. “Master Narratives and the Wall Painting of the House of the Vettii, Pompeii.” Gender and History 24: 540-580. [canvas]
• Green, F. Mira. 2015. “Witnesses and Participants in the Shadows: The Sexual Lives of Enslaved Women and Boys.” Helios 42: 143-162. [canvas]

Week 7

T May 9: Viewership and Disability

• Sneed, Debby. Review of below in Bryn Mawr Classical Review: https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2022/2022.02.09/
• Adams, Ellen. 2021. “Introduction.” In Disability Studies and the Classical Body: The Forgotten Other, Ellen Adams. London and New York: Routledge. 1-36. [https://www-taylorfrancis-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/books/edit/10.4324/9780429273711/disability-studies-classical-body-ellen-adams ]
• Graham, Emma-Jayne. 2021. “Interactional sensibilities: Bringing ancient disability studies to its archaeological senses.” In Disability Studies and the Classical Body: The Forgotten Other, Ellen Adams. London and New York: Routledge. 165-191. [https://www-taylorfrancis-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/books/edit/10.4324/9780429273711/disability-studies-classical-body-ellen-adams ]

Th May 11: Viewership and Multiculturalism

• Versluys, Miguel John. 2013. “Material Culture and Identity in the Late Roman Republic ( 200–c. 20).” In Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic, ed. J. D. Evans. Blackwell. Pp. 429-440. [canvas]
• Chimirri-Russell, Geraldine. 2008. “Taking an Oblique Point of View: The Challenges of Interpretation and Display in Museums.” The International Journal of the Humanities 5: 115-126. [canvas]
• Riggs, Christina. 2018. “Art and Identity in Roman Egypt.” In Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World, Jeffery Spier, Timothy Potts, and Sarah E. Cole. Los Angles: J. Paul Getty Museum. Pp. 218-223. [canvas]
• Beyond the Nile catalogue entries 138-146, 151, 154-161 [canvas]

Week 8  [bibliography due Friday May 19 by midnight]

T May 16: Blackness

• Derbew, Sarah. 2022. Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www-cambridge-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/core/books/untangling-blackness-in-greek-antiquity/5520140757B8E3C8CD5EA8BD4CAFD8A4 [read “Note on Nomenclature” (pp. xiii-xv) and chapters 1-3]

Th May 18: Blackness

• Derbew, Sarah. 2022. Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www-cambridge-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/core/books/untangling-blackness-in-greek-antiquity/5520140757B8E3C8CD5EA8BD4CAFD8A4 [read chapters 4 through the Conclusion]

Week 9: Writing Group  [synopsis due Friday May 26th by midnight]

T May 23: writing group

Th May 25: writing group

Week 10: Presentations

T May 30: research paper presentations: Cat, A. M., Jonathan, Lauryn

Th June 1: research paper presentations: Elsie, Caden, Laura, Dai

Research papers due by midnight on Tuesday June 6 via Canvas