HUMA317 - History and Geography of Rome

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

The abilities to identify, understand, evaluate and make connections between different ideas, perspectives and bodies of knowledge are important transferable skills, as useful in the workplace as in academic study. This intensive overseas History-Geography unit develops these skills by requiring students to work across traditional disciplinary boundaries, applying and combining historical and geographical concepts and approaches to the study of Rome's development over three millennia. Taught entirely 'in the field' at sites in and around Rome, students learn how Rome's geography has influenced its historical development and how that history has impacted on the physical environment, shaping the Roman urban and political landscape. The unit adopts a 'hands on' approach to learning, with site activities designed to maximise student interaction and engagement. Continuous critical reflection is an important element of the unit, giving students the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt, how they have learnt, and the skills they have acquired or developed while in Rome.

The aim of the unit is to deliver a powerful overseas learning experience which enhances students' academic competencies and encourages personal growth through exposure to, and immersion in, a foreign culture and environment.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Discuss broad and deep theoretical and factual knowledge of the symbiotic relationship between history and geography within the context of Rome and its environs and apply this to a variety of key conceptual approaches historians or geographers use to shape and debates about this topic. (GA5, GA6)

LO2 - Explain ideas and concepts to a specified audience using audio, digital, oral, visual or written form as appropriate (GA9)

LO3 - Locate, evaluate and appropriately reference a variety of primary and secondary materials and use them to sustain a nuanced evidence-based narrative or argument (GA3, GA8, GA10)

LO4 - Critically analyse historical evidence, synthesise scholarship and changing representations of Rome according to the methodological and ethical disciplinary conventions of history and geography through an independently formulated research task related to current historical debates (GA3, GA7, GA9, GA10)  

LO5 - Interpret and reflect on key historical and geographical theories and concepts and relate them to their own reading or to field-based learning activities during the unit. (GA4-6)

Graduate attributes

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• The regional environmental setting of Rome and how this shaped Rome’s foundation
• The importance of water resources and water management in Roman history from its origins to the present
• The role of geology and topography in the urban development and expansion of Rome
• The impact of human activity on the physical and urban environment of Rome
• The enduring influence of ancient Rome on the post-classical development of the city, c. AD 500 - present
• Rome as an idea(l)
• The political, cultural, architectural and symbolic appropriation of ancient Rome in pre- and post-unification Italy (19th and 20th centuries)
• Natural disasters, climatic shifts and their impact on the landscape and history of Rome
• Population change, settlement patterns, vegetation change and the landscape response

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This 10 credit-point unit is undertaken via attendance at pre-departure workshops, an intensive overseas field school in Rome, and a post-field school debrief session back in Australia.

Pre-departure workshops provide students with basic content knowledge, as well as guidance and advice around key issues, debates and problems. In this way, the workshops establish a framework appropriate for independent learning. Workshops are also used to prepare students for the intellectual, emotional and physical challenges of undertaking field-based, interdisciplinary study overseas. The in-country field school prioritises a ‘hands-on’, field-based approach. Studies of field-based learning demonstrate that leaving the classroom and learning through first-hand experience makes learning more interesting, enjoyable and relevant to students. This has been found to lead to greater student engagement, deeper learning and increased effectiveness in achieving learning outcomes. Field-based learning has also been shown to create a collective mentality among participants which enhances students’ understanding of the importance of cooperation and teamwork. On-site, group-based, problem-based learning activities are employed in order to develop interdisciplinary content knowledge as well as problem-solving, reasoning, communication, and interpersonal skills. End-of-day debriefs while overseas and a final debrief session on return to Australia allow students to reflect on their learning experiences both during and after the completion of the field school. Students are also expected to use LEO to post short answer reflections on their learning while in-country (see assessment task 1 below). Research shows that critical reflection facilitates deeper learning.

This unit has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as workshops, onsite learning, site visits, supported by webinars, podcasts or online materials and private study where appropriate

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements

Assessment task one is a relatively lightly-weighted, investigative-reflective task designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of LO1 and LO2. It is important for students engaged in interdisciplinary study to understand relevant key ideas and concepts in each discipline; it is equally important that students learn to make the connection (through critical reflection) between ideas and concepts learnt from books and the ‘real world’, in this case through field-based activities and observations. Assessment task one provides students with these opportunities.

Assessment task two (research task) tests achievement of LOs 1-4. It requires students to apply key Historical and Geographical ideas and concepts to the interdisciplinary study of specific sites in and around of Rome, at the same time utilizing a range of relevant source materials to draw conclusions as to the symbiotic relationship between History and Geography within the context of the city.

Assessment task three (research task) is summative and assesses student achievement of LOs 2-5. This task allows students to demonstrate the skills, understanding and knowledge they have acquired and/or developed during the unit through the construction of an appropriately referenced and sourced, evidence-based narrative or argument. The task also allows students to demonstrate their ability to communicate their ideas and arguments clearly in written form.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

REPRESENTATIVE TEXTS AND REFERENCES

Aldrete, G.S. (2008). Daily life in the Roman city: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Bosworth, R. J. B. (2011). Whispering City: Rome and its Histories. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Campbell, B. (2012). Rivers and the Power of Ancient Rome. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Claridge, A. (2010). Oxford Archaeological Guide: Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Heiken, G., Funicello, R., and De Rita, D. (2007) The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

Hughes, J.D. (2014). Environmental Problems of the Greeks and Romans. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Kallis, A. (2014). The Third Rome. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Taylor, R., Rinne, K. W., and Kostof, S. (2016). Rome: An Urban History from Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Thommen, L. (2012). An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wickham, C. (2015). Medieval Rome. Stability and Crisis of a City, 900-1150. Oxford: Oxford University Press.