Course Description:

In the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome, as in the modern world, art served as a powerful visual medium for the construction and communication of many aspects of cultural ideology, including notions about gender roles and sexuality. This course focuses on the varying ways in which these ancient societies used art as a means of presenting and representing the relationship between biological sex and the social invention of gender. The course will examine various scholarly approaches to female and male sexuality in the ancient world, the range of interpretations of the lives and roles of men and women produced by these methods, and the role of ancient art in communicating ideas about sexuality and gender.  In addition to attending mandatory field trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, students will complete a research project with a substantial paper and oral report; field trips required.