“Approaches to the Ancient World: Methodologies & Disciplinary Perspectives”
This Mellon workshop will bring together students from the departments of Classics, Comparative Literature, Egyptology, History of Mathematics, and Religious Studies who are conducting original research related to the ancient world.
Semester Schedule
September 22: Geoffrey Lloyd
October 3: Paul Cartledge
October 31: Lowell Edmunds
November 28: Rush Rehm
Workshop Description
Although their fields of inquiry may differ, all scholars approaching the literature, history, and culture of the ancient world confront similar methodological challenges. By uniting scholars conducting research on antiquity, this workshop will:
- strengthen the community of graduate students in fields related to the study of the ancient world.
- introduce graduate students to the advantages and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration.
- expose dissertation writers to new and potentially useful methodologies from other disciplines.
- provide a much-needed forum in which dissertation writers can benefit from new perspectives from scholars in other disciplines.
Faculty studying the ancient world at Brown have long benefited from a strong tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration in such programs as the Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium (CRAM) anJune 22, 2007quot;Writing History in the Ancient World," a broad cross-cultural comparison of the origins and purposes of writing history, from China to Mesopotamia, Israel, Greece, the early Islamic world, and Mesoamerica. Indeed, the breadth and interaction of the disciplines studying the ancient world at Brown is one of the University’s strengths in attracting world-class faculty and students. Similarly, undergraduates at Brown can participate in the interdisciplinary “Program in Ancient Studies,” a concentration featuring comparative studies in Mediterranean, South and West Asian, and Egyptian Civilizations. At present, however, there exists no institutional program to bring together graduate students from various departments involved with the study of antiquity. By expanding and reinforcing interdisciplinary collaboration between graduate students, the “Approaches to the Ancient World” workshop will help integrate the various Brown communities involved with the study of the ancient world, thereby creating a stronger and more vibrant community of current and future scholars. This Mellon workshop, therefore, will provide the one missing component of a vertically integrated community of scholars pursuing research on antiquity at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional level.
In order to encourage the diffusion of knowledge between disciplines and aid the progress of dissertation writers, the workshop will consist of two types of sessions: 1) the presentation and discussion of works in progress by graduate students and 2) surveys of specific methodological issues by graduate students and faculty. By creating a forum in which graduate students can meet, present, and discuss their work, this Mellon workshop will engage graduate students with the larger academic community at Brown while they are writing their dissertations, a time when there is a strong tendency to specialization and isolation. The surveys of methodological issues will introduce graduate students to new and interesting developments in related fields. While the specific surveys will depend on the participating students and faculty, topics such as the treatment of fragments, the nature of allusion, and the use of material evidence could be considered. Obviously, the interdisciplinary nature of the workshop will be valuable in expanding the knowledge-base with which participants can address such methodological challenges.
In order to support the development of graduate students and reinforce the advantages of interdisciplinary collaboration, this Mellon workshop will bring to Brown promising young scholars who are engaged in innovative, interdisciplinary work on the ancient world. This lecture series will have the two-fold goal of demonstrating the successful transition from graduate studies to professional research and showing how young professionals can develop and benefit from inventive interdisciplinary projects.