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| Campus | Bryn Mawr |
| Semester | Spring 2025 |
| Registration ID | GSEMB608001 |
| Course Title | Material Geologies |
| Credit | 1.00 |
| Department | Classical Studies |
| Instructor | Hearth,Selby Walker,Alicia |
| Times and Days | W 02:00pm-04:00pm
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| Room Location | |
| Additional Course Info | Class Number: 1003 This course mobilizes a humanistically informed approach to the study of geological materials, with a focus on late antique and medieval understandings of stones, minerals, metals, and land formation(s). Readings will encompass current perspectives on the diverse epistemologies of geology in the pre-modern world, from the magical and medicinal properties of gems, to the relation of stone and earth to concepts of empire, to mythologies of landscape and geomorphology. Students will explore primary textual sources such as ancient and medieval magical treatises, travel literature, and lapidaries, including works by Pliny the Elder, Procopius, Paul the Silentiary, and Michael Psellos. The course will also foreground visual and material culture, introducing students to both conventional and innovative methodologies and theoretical frameworks for exploring human understandings of the natural world from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will work with Bryn Mawrs outstanding collection of geological samples and will learn fundamentals of mineral identification and crystallography. Final projects are expected to build from students primary research interests and disciplinary investments. Course enrollment is limited to graduate students in the departments of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology; Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies; and History of Art. |
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