Roman Mobilities
Movement of persons, animals, objects, and ideas in the ancient Roman world

*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Physical mobility

The in-person module will take place between 27-31 May 2024, beginning and ending in Bucharest. But the focuswill be on the Romanian western coast of the Black Sea (Dobrudja), where museums and archaeological sites of interest are located.

This will give us the opportunity to expand on-site reflection on specific issues, where personal observation will supplement the earlier research: life in a Roman province; the impact of Roman conquest on previously existing Greek cities; the creation of the Roman frontier (limes) in the Danube and Black Sea area; Ovid’s exile in Tomis; Roman material culture in the provinces etc.

Students who cannot come to Bucharest or have to withdraw from this part will have the possibility to earn their credits by completing an online parallel task. Students must obtain their funding according to CIVIS rules (Erasmus or otherwise).

As part of this week, students will take part in a full-immersive workshop every day, coordinated mainly by instructors of the online seminar, but focused on specific case studies that relate to their topics. These experiences will be called ‘teaching on the move’ and will take place through different sites and venues on the Romanian western shore of the Black Sea (Dobrudja) and in Bucharest, of particular relevance to the programme’s aims and methodologies. These spots (subject to slight revisions) include:

• archaeological sites in Dobrudja: Histria, Tomis, Tropaeum Traiani, sites on the Roman limes;
• museums: the National Museum of History of Romania (Bucharest), the Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanța (ancient Tomis), the Archaeological Museum of Histria, the Museum of History and Archaeology in Tulcea (on the Danube). 

Small informative workshops will be offered on the spot by specialists on categories of artefacts (e.g. Roman glass, pottery, epigraphy etc.).

In addition, students will have three allotted hours each day to work in preparation for their final group project, which will be presented in a poster session on Friday, 31 May. The session will also be reproduced in a virtual (i.e. online) gallery of the posters, which will act to disseminate the findings of their collective research projects. Each of these working groups will be mentored by one of the instructors every day.

It is recommended for the students to bring a laptop.

Virtual part

The virtual module will be held weekly, on the Zoom and Moodle platforms, which are used in most of the universities of our network and allow us to invite guest participants and speakers.

From the pedagogical point of view, the online part of the programme will serve as a theoretical introduction to each of the topics we intend to address. The online sessions imply both synchronous (live) and asynchronous learning (pre-recorded lectures). The proposed structure per each weekly session is: 2 pre-recorded lectures made available in advance/ 2 live lectures + 2 sets of live interactive activities (commenting texts or iconography, discussing a specific archaeological site/ monument, digital approaches, team work etc.). It means about 2.5-3 hours per session every week. The students will be made aware in advance with respect to the status of the lectures (pre-recorded or live).

Every weekly session will take place on Friday (between February and April 2024), and will be consist of two monographic encounters, each led by one of the lecturers who are part of the team. The sessions will be devoted to specific topics that relate to the notion of Roman "mobility" and will also include theoretical introductions to the critical methodologies selected by the instructors. Every week, two other instructors will act as co-ordinators of the course, introducing the presenters, and helping to facilitate the students’ discussions. This will assure that the course follows a fluid and coherent progression.

The instructors will upload their materials and readings in advance to the Moodle site, so that they can be consulted before the session. At the end of the final session, students will engage in a broader conclusive discussion in order to summarise and highlight the most important aspects discussed throughout. As part of the assessment, each student will have to collect a portfolio, including a personal reflection of the course (ca. 3000 words).

Calendar of topics (subject to revision):

• 2 February: Course introduction and first contact with the students (1 h). Alexandra Lițu (University of Bucharest) and Valentin Bottez (University of Bucharest), followed by Pedro Duarte (Aix-Marseille Université): "Mobility and language contacts through the Roman Empire in the 1st century CE".
• 9 February: Matthew Fox (University of Glasgow): “Appropriation of Greek educational standards at Rome in the 1st century”; Sabine Luciani (Aix-Marseille Université): “Rome’s relationship to Greece through the case of Philosophy”.
• 16 February: Luis Unceta Gómez (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): “Mobility in Latin”; Florica Mihuț (University of Bucharest): “Exile, social mobility, and the exclusion from the citizen body in ancient Rome”;
• 23 February: Zoa Alonso Fernández (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): “The moving body and Roman dance. A study on performativity”; Giorgio Ferri (Sapienza Università di Roma): “Ritual movements of persons and animals in Roman Religion”.
• 1 March: Alexandra Lițu (University of Bucharest): “Religious practices and mobility on the edges of the Empire”; Valentin Bottez (University of Bucharest): “The promotion of imperial cult as a catalyst of cultural relations”.
• 8 March: Katell Berthelot (Aix-Marseille Université): “Jewish mobilities in the Roman Empire”; Sanaa Hassab (University Hassan II Casablanca): “The mobility between Morocco and Spain during Roman Antiquity”.
• 15 March: Silvia Gonzalez Soutelo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): “Healing spa culture through the Roman Empire: From Italy to frontiers”; Javier Moralejo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): “The mobility of the Roman army through the Western Empire”. 
• 22 March: students’ workshop 1 (2h). Concluding discussion, debate and synthesis
• Break for the Catholic Easter 
• 5 April: students’ workshop 2 (2h). Planning towards the teams’ projects

After the conclusion of the course, students will present an individual portfolio, based on their engagement with the topics. The portfolios will be distributed among the instructors for final assessment. Also, during the online part of the course, students will have to create working groups, integrating individuals from different universities and academic backgrounds and led by one of the instructors, who will be acting as counsellors. These groups will identify a topic for closer study, and develop a small outreach project to be displayed in a poster at the end of the programme.

Requirements

This course is open to Bachelor's, Master's and PhD students at CIVIS member universities enrolled or with a strong interest in Classics, Archaeology, Literature, Philology, Art History, Anthropology, History of religions, Philosophy, Linguistics, History, Cultural Studies.

This course is also open to students from the University Hassan II of Casablanca, Morroco - 1 student and the University of Sfax, Tunisia - 1 student).

A B2 level of English is required and elementary Latin is desirable. 

Participants should also have critical thinking and skills such as data analysis, inter/ multidisciplinarity, teamwork, research-based learning, public speaking in English, creating a scientific poster, ability to synthesize.

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

This course is also open to students with the same academic profile, who are enrolled at a CIVIS strategic partner university in Africa. Please check here, if you can apply and this particular course is open to applications from your university. Successful applicants will receive an Erasmus+ grant covering travel and subsistence costs during their stay. Applicants should be willing to extend their stay at the host university for 1-3 weeks for additional research and/or training purposes.

Application process

Send your application by filling in the online application form by 7 November 2023, including:

• CV
• Motivation letter

Applicants will be selected on the basis of:

CV's quality and aptness - 50%:

• previous studies in Classics, Archaeology, Literature, Philology, Art History, Anthropology, History of religions, Philosophy, Linguistics, History, Cultural Studies (50%)
• other areas of the Humanities, including Digital Humanities (40%)
• previous studies in Social Sciences (30%)

Motivation letter -50%.

Elementary Latin and/ or Ancient Greek is an added value.

Apply now

Assessment

Individual work: 

• written portfolio about the online lectures, plus general reflection on the elaborated notions, ca. 3000 words (30% of the course’s grade) - to be distributed among selected instructors for assessment
• active participation in class, including debates, questions, and discussions (10% of the course’s grade) - to be assessed weekly by each instructor and moderators

Group work:

•  research and design of a collaborative poster (50% of the course’s grade) - to be assessed by each of the groups ‘counsellors.’
•  oral presentation of the poster (10% of the course’s grade) - to be assessed by all instructors

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

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