Studying online (if an online offering is shown below)
There are now 2 possible online modes for units:
Units with modes Online timetabled and Online flexible are available for any student to self-enrol and study online.
Click on an offering mode for more details.
Unit Overview
- Description
The adoption of writing by the Greeks and Romans was transformative of their own cultures and came to dominate them in fundamental ways. Our understanding of their civilisations and histories is overwhelmingly reliant on their written records, and on the processes of survival of these records—from inscriptions and speeches, to poems, narrative histories and philosophical investigations—up to the age of printing and beyond. This unit focuses on the technology of writing from its earliest beginnings in Mycenaean Linear B, through to the development of Greek and Roman alphabets, and the different materials used to preserve writing, such as stone, animal skin, metal and papyrus. The physical nature of books and libraries in the classical world is studied, with particular attention to the transition from roll to codex, the book format which remains the standard today. Finally, some attention is paid to the different forms of writing from antiquity to the beginning of printing, especially the emergence of minuscule in the eighth and ninth centuries.
- Credit
- 6 points
- Offering
(see Timetable) Availability Location Mode Semester 2 UWA (Perth) Face to face - Details for undergraduate courses
- Honours option in Classics and Ancient History [Bachelor of Arts (Honours)]
- Outcomes
Students are able to (1) demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the emergence of the Greek and Roman alphabets; (2) to describe, and synthesise the scholarship on, the physical nature of ancient writing materials, especially books, and the commercial and scholarly networks which distributed and preserved them in the ancient world; and (3) evaluate the scholarship on the changes of book forms and writing from late antiquity through to the early modern period.
- Assessment
Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) tutorial participation; (2) essay; and (3) exam. Further information is available in the unit outline.
Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.
- Unit Coordinator(s)
- Dr Konstantine Panegyres
- Unit rules
- Prerequisites
- Enroled in the Classics and Ancient History honours programme.
- Contact hours
- 2 hour per week for 12 weeks
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Visit the Essential Textbooks website to see if any textbooks are required for this Unit. The website is updated regularly so content may change. Students are recommended to purchase Essential Textbooks, but a limited number of copies of all Essential Textbooks are held in the Library in print, and as an ebook where possible. Recommended readings for the unit can be accessed in Unit Readings directly through the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Contact hours provide an indication of the type and extent of in-class activities this unit may contain. The total amount of student work (including contact hours, assessment time, and self-study) will approximate 150 hours per 6 credit points.
Face to face
Predominantly face-to-face. On campus attendance required to complete this unit. May have accompanying resources online.
Online flexible
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit is asynchronous delivery, with NO requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online timetabled
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit includes some synchronous components, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online Restricted
Not available for self-enrolment. Students access this mode by contacting their student office through AskUWA. 100% Online Unit.
NO campus face-to-face attendance. All study and assessment requirements are online only. Unit includes some timetabled activities, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times. In exceptional cases (noted in the Handbook) students may be required to participate in face-to-face laboratory classes when a return to UWA’s Crawley campus becomes possible in order to be awarded a final grade.
External
No attendance or regular contact is required, and all study requirements are completed either via correspondence and/or online submission.
Off-campus
Regular attendance is not required, but student attends the institution face to face on an agreed schedule for purposes of supervision and/or instruction.
Multi-mode
Multiple modes of delivery. Unit includes a mix of online and on-campus study requirements. On campus attendance for some activities is required to complete this unit.