Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor
Gil Davis
Contact via 0439817299
Every day except Wednesdays
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit presents a survey of ancient Greek history and culture in the Archaic and Classical periods. It examines colonisation and the emergence of Greek city-states, notably Athens and Sparta, tracing their transformation through conflicts with the Persian empire and one another, down to the rise of Phillip II of Macedon. During these years Greeks were ruled by kings, aristocrats, oligarchs, tyrants, and (some of them) by themselves, in the world's first democratic systems. It examines how literary, archaeological, and epigraphic sources are used to reconstruct the past.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE UNIT
To complete the unit successfully you need a minimum mark of 50% overall. You must attempt every piece of assessment or marks may be deducted (see 'Extensions and Penalties' below).
GRADES:
F: 0-49% P: 50-64% CR: 65-74% D: 75-84% HD: 85-100%
Grade descriptors may be found in a separate document on the unit’s website.
BLOGS
You are required to post three blog entries each of 150 words (+/- 10%) commenting on one significant aspect of the set reading(s) which will be discussed in the relevant tutorials by Saturday, 11 pm of weeks 3, 5 and 7. Each blog entry must include a topic sentence, evidence and argument, and be fully referenced using in-text referencing and a bibliography. Provide a word count. The bibliography does not count in the word count. Each blog is worth 5% of the total mark making a total of 15% of your assessment for the unit.
ONLINE QUIZZES
There are short online quizzes in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and one major online quiz in week 13. The minor quizzes will test you on material covered in the lectures and tutorials of the current and preceding week. (Tip: you will easily be able to answer the questions if you have listened to the lectures and read the set readings for each tutorial - they are not designed to trick you). Access to each quiz is through the unit’s website. You may take the quizzes at any time during the relevant week but you may take each quiz only once. All answers will be either right or wrong. Each minor quiz consists of eight questions and is worth 4% of your mark. The major quiz will comprise 20 questions and will test you on material covered in the whole unit - it is worth 8%. In total the quizzes are worth 40% of your overall mark.
ESSAY BIBLIOGRAPHY
You must submit a bibliography through Turnitin containing five of the most significant journal articles or book chapters you plan to use for your Major Essay. For each source provide a short explanation of no more than 50 words of its usefulness to your essay. The bibliography is due by 5 pm Friday of Week 10 and is worth 10% of your total marks.
ESSAY SKELETON
You must submit an essay skeleton through Turnitin containing a draft introduction plus, in point form, five topic sentences for the major paragraphs in your Major Essay. It is due by 5 pm Friday of Week 11 and is worth 10% of your total marks.
MAJOR ESSAY
The MAJOR ESSAY is due by 5pm Friday of week 12. It MUST be submitted through Turnitin. It is worth 25% of your total mark for the unit.
The essay question is: Why did the Athenians lose the Peloponnesian War? The tutorial in Week 8 is devoted to discussing the requirements for a good essay. Draft answers (on a non-assessed question) will be provided.
Your answer to the essay question should demonstrate extensive use of primary and secondary sources. Bibliographies provided give you a starting point for developing a reading list of secondary literature relevant to the essay topic. In order to locate further material on particular issues you should consult the footnotes and indices of modern works.
Your essay should be based on an analysis and discussion of primary (ancient) sources. Secondary literature should be used to aid you in your analysis and interpretation of the ancient sources and to place your interpretation within the context of previous scholarship. All opinions included in the essay, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, MUST be referenced according to the guidelines given in the Assignment Presentation Style Guide available on the iLearn site following the instructions for in-text referencing. Do not add any extraneous information in footnotes. Remember to include every reference you have actually used in your bibliography. Do not reference lectures. You must include a word count. Anything beyond the prescribed word limit (2,000 words +/- 10% excluding footnotes and bibliography) will not be marked.
Marking criteria:
1. Argument and critical evaluation of evidence - 30% weighting
2. Structure and organisation - 20% weighting
3. Use of primary sources - 15% weighting
4. Use of secondary sources - 15% weighting
5. Grammar, style and spelling - 10% weighting
6. Referencing and bibliography - 10% weighting
RETURN OF WORK
Blogs, Essay bibliography and Essay skeleton: I plan to mark the blogs with feedback within a week of submission.
Quizzes: Results will be available as soon as the quiz closes.
Essay: I will mark this on-line through Turnitin and release it when all marking is completed.
EXTENSIONS AND PENALTIES
Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON FINAL MARKS
Please note with respect to the marks you receive for work during the session that the marks given are indicative only; final marks will be determined after moderation. See further the note on Results in the Policies and Procedures section below.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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On-line quizzes | 40% | No | Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8-13 |
Blog Posts | 15% | No | Week 3, 5, 7 |
Essay bibliography | 10% | No | Week 10 |
Essay skeleton | 10% | No | Week 11 |
Major essay | 25% | No | Week 12 |
Due: Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8-13
Weighting: 40%
Do eight minor quizzes and one major quiz spaced throughout the semester based on information provided in the lectures and tutorials in the preceding weeks. The minor quizzes will consist of eight multiple-choice or right/wrong questions and will each be worth four percent of the total assessment. The major quiz at the end of the semester will comprise 20 questions and be worth eight percent of the total assessment.
Due: Week 3, 5, 7
Weighting: 15%
You are required to post three blog entries each of 150 words (+/- 10%) commenting on one significant aspect of the set reading(s) which will be discussed in the relevant tutorials by Saturday, 11 pm of weeks 3, 5 and 7. Each blog entry must include a topic sentence, evidence and argument, and be fully referenced. Each blog is worth 5% of the total mark, making a total of 15% of your assessment for the unit.
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 10%
Submit a bibliography through Turnitin containing five significant journal articles or book chapters you plan to use for your Major Essay. For each source, provide a short explanation of no more than 50 words of its usefulness to your essay.
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 10%
Submit an essay skeleton through Turnitin containing a draft introduction plus, in point form, five topic sentences for the major paragraphs in your Major Essay.
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 25%
Write a full-length essay (2,000 words +/- 10% excluding footnotes and bibliography ) and submit it through Turnitin. The set question is: Why did the Athenians lose the Peloponnesian War?
Delivery modes
Internal (Day) and External
Lectures and tutorials
UNIT WEBPAGE AND ONLINE TEACHING
READING LIST
The required course textbook is Terry Buckley’s Aspects of Greek History: A Source-Based Approach, 2nd edition, (London 2010), copies available in the Coop bookshop (some also available in the library).
You are also required to become familiar with the ancient literary source material which will be the basis of much of what we discuss. The most necessary are conveniently found in the following reasonably-priced editions:
Better versions with indices and explanatory appendices are the Landmark editions of both Herodotus and Thucydides edited by Robert B. Strassler and these have been ordered by the Coop bookshop:
Versions of Herodotus and Thucydides are also freely available on-line.
Week no. /dates |
Lecture no. |
Lecture title |
Tutorial no. |
Tutorial title/Assessment |
1 30 Jul-5 Aug |
1 |
Introduction: why study Greek history |
1 |
Understanding history |
2 |
Mycenaean and ‘Dark Age’ antecedents |
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2 6-12 Aug |
3 |
Homer, Hesiod, and the rise of the polis |
2 |
Using sources – old & new On-line quiz
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4 |
Colonies across the seas |
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3 13-19 Aug |
5 |
Greek tyrants |
3 |
The Spartan mirage Blog
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6 |
The expansion of Sparta, and the Spartan way of life |
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4 20-26 Aug |
7 |
Athens: Theseus to Solon |
4 |
Kleisthenes – father of democracy? On-line quiz |
8 |
Athens: Peisistratos to Kleisthenes |
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5 27 Aug-2 Sept |
9 |
Warfare by land and sea |
5 |
Barbarians? Blog
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10 |
From Persian imperialism to the Battle of Marathon |
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6 3-9 Sept |
11 |
Xerxes and the grand invasion of Greece |
6 |
Great men – Themistokles On-line quiz
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12 |
After the Persian Wars – Spartan politics & the Delian League |
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7 10-16 Sept |
13 |
Allies become enemies, amid power struggles at Athens |
7 |
How far can we rely on Thucydides? Blog
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14 |
Thucydides – the man & his writings; the pentekontaetia |
Session break
Week no. /dates |
Lecture no. |
Lecture title |
Tutorial no. |
Tutorial title |
8 1-7 Oct |
15 |
Labor Day – no lecture |
8 |
How to write a good essay On-line quiz
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16 |
The first phase of the Peloponnesian War |
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9 8-14 Oct |
17 |
Change of strategy – Perikles and his successors |
9 |
Understanding and using archaeological evidence On-line quiz
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18 |
Syracuse & the Sicilian expedition |
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10 15-21 Oct |
19 |
The Ionian War, and political turmoil at Athens |
10 |
Understanding and using epigraphic material On-line quiz Essay bibliography due |
20 |
The bitter end for Athens |
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11 22-28 Oct |
21 |
Post-war Athens: general amnesty, trial of Socrates |
11 |
How much of history is inevitable – Alkibiades? On-line quiz Essay skeleton due |
22 |
Law and judicial process |
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12 29 Oct - 4 Nov |
23 |
Spartan hegemony 1 |
On-line quiz Major essay due
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24 |
Spartan hegemony 2, Theban hegemony |
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13 5-11 Nov |
25 |
Athens resurrected/2nd Naval Confederacy to 359; rise of Macedonia |
Major quiz |
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26 |
Unit review for major quiz |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
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Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
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The time period covered in this unit has been extended into the 4th century down to the rise of Phillip II of Macedon.