CC 304 FINAL PROJECT
This term we have particularly been exploring the "non-verbal information systems" of Greco-Roman antiquity, with an eye to the cultural messages communicated by the symbol systems of art and architecture. Now's your chance to show others some of the information you've retrieved from walking around ancient cities, and how to "read" without words.
Please choose an object from the ones provided by the Royal Athena Gallery or from the Museum of Art's permanent collection. Your task: to explain and illustrate how the object might have been used or viewed or made within the context of the culture which produced it. (You may find it useful to imagine the object in the hands of a single member of that culture, whether passive consumer or maker.)
You or you and your collaborators are to produce a paper and a videotape (equipment, videotapes, and technical assistance will be provided free of charge on a schedule to be posted later) presenting the results of your researches and liberally illustrated with photographs, maps, drawings, reconstructions, film clips, or other visuals found in the library, private collections, or the Perseus multi-media library. The emphasis here is on enabling a casual museum visitor to "see" the object in use in its own time and place.
Some points you may wish to consider: your viewer may wish to see other examples of your object, whether ancient or modern; while the historical context should be as accurately recreated as possible, your viewer may find it interesting if you invent a fictional character who handles your object in some way (try to "color" your character with historically accurate name, appearance, attitudes, etc.); in general, so far as your object permits, you should attempt to explain what the object is saying to its user--what messages it's conveying to the ancient user about the culture's values, what instruction it's giving about good/bad, civilized/uncivilized, beautiful/ugly.
Length of the paper and videotape should be determined by the subject matter (when you're done, you're done), but shall we say at least 10 minutes and at least 8 pages?
I will make myself available as a video/research/Perseus consultant for this project. I will post regular hours when I'll be available in the lab or (armed with video camera) in the classroom.