Preparing for the “Q”:
The exam comprises a list of ca. six to eight questions, from which you will choose to answer three by means of short essays (three hours total, or roughly one hour per essay). It is designed to test knowledge of the texts on the reading list, but more importantly, it is intended to cultivate a broad understanding of central conversations in classical archaeology and art, and to help you find your own voice within them. The exam therefore does not require detailed recollection of the factual content of the assigned texts, rather the ability to use them as potential models for your own research. This requires that you shift from reading as memorization to reading as a means to develop (and eventually answer) research questions; from reading as a student to reading as a scholar. The Q-exam is an opportunity to test how effectively you have made this transition. It should allow you to identify your own strengths and areas for improvement, and it should initiate a conversation with your special committee about A-exams and dissertation projects.
The best, indeed the only way to prepare is to read the texts. You will read the list in its entirety, with the additional help of the Advanced Readings course and reading groups. Again, the point is not to memorize the content of any given book or essay, but to be able to accurately summarize its arguments and impacts on the fields of Classical archaeology and art. Accordingly, as you approach each reading, you should keep a few basic questions in mind:
- What is the key argument?
- What evidence serves the author as the basis for the argument?
- Which methodology does the author employ to interpret the evidence?
- To whom, or to what, is the author responding? (In other words, why is the argument consequential?)
- What influence has the book or essay had upon subsequent scholarship? Does its reception accurately represent its argument, or has it been misunderstood, reinterpreted, etc.?
You will undoubtedly read some texts more closely than others. The amount of attention that you give to each text will depend in part on your pre-existing interests. But you should also let yourself be drawn in by texts in subfields that were not previously of interest, and discover unexpected connections across the different sections of the list. In other words, while the list is set and you should read it in its entirety, it should also inspire you to begin “curating” your own core library of key texts.
“Advanced Readings in Archaeology” and “Themes in Mediterranean Archaeology” may be offered in your first two years, depending on faculty availability and enrollment. These courses afford the opportunity to read a substantial selection of the texts on the reading list. They will also help develop skills for rapidly assimilating key bibliography at the beginning of a research project as a means to define and refine your own positions and hypotheses. Different instructors may adopt different approaches to the courses, but all are encouraged to set at least one timed essay exam as a “dry run” for the Q-exam. The course may also provide an opportunity to begin “curating” your own core list: for example, by writing a short, annotated bibliography based on a subsection of the list, and identifying questions of particular interest to you that draw together multiple texts (and speak across subdisciplines). You should also expect to give presentations on readings (e.g., in the form of critical reviews) and to lead at least one class discussion. Both exercises should help you to start speaking as an expert. In case these courses are not offered in your first two years, consult with your committee and DGS about the best way to prepare for your Q exam, both on your own and working together in a reading group with your peers.
The reading list does not include basic reference texts, but you should become familiar with and make use of references as you read. It is somewhat astonishing (if we may briefly editorialize) how little many students (and, indeed, scholars) know of historical geography. If a reading addresses at length a place (city, region, etc.) that you could not locate on a map, please consult a reference (such as Barrington’s Atlas). Similarly, if a reading addresses at length an institution (or other historical phenomenon) with which you are unfamiliar, please look it up in an encyclopedia (e.g., the Oxford Classical Dictionary or the New Pauly). Entries in Oxford Bibliographies will help you to understand the reception of specific readings and give an overview of other key texts with which they are in dialogue. And so forth. In short, use your preparation for the Q-exam also as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with basic research tools in Classics (and use the Advanced Readings course as an opportunity to ask faculty and peers about their preferred tools).
Outside of the more formal environment of the “Advanced Readings” classroom, it will be helpful for you to set up semi-formal opportunities to study with the rest of your cohort. Regular reading groups, in which you might discuss a set of texts and collectively work through puzzlements, can be very helpful. You should also use the reading list as a tool to situate assigned readings for more specialized courses; and doubtless many texts on the list will be useful sources for papers and other projects undertaken for various seminars.
As you approach the Q-exam, you should find yourself reading secondary literature more quickly, and you should also feel more confident posing questions in seminar, engaging with visiting speakers, etc. Most importantly, you should begin to develop a clear sense of the history and present shape of the fields of classical archaeology and art, the contributions you want to make, and the skills and study that you will need to make them. Thus the Q exam is not an end itself, rather the beginning of a conversation that you will continue with your adviser, special committee, teachers, and peers. Happy reading!; and please feel free to contact the DGS with any concerns, whether about the exam itself, the list, or your own progress.
Defining the Subject
Broodbank, C. 2013. The Making of the Middle Sea. Oxford.
Concannon, C.W., and L. A. Mazurek, eds. 2016. Across the Corrupting Sea: Post-Braudelian Approaches to the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. London/New York, chapters 7 and 8.
Herzfeld, M. 2005. “Practical Mediterraneanism: Excuses for Everything, from Epistemology to Eating.” In Rethinking the Mediterranean, ed. W.V. Harris, ed. Oxford.
Horden, P., and N. Purcell. 2000. The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Oxford.
Morris, I. 2003. “Mediterraneanization.” Mediterranean Historical Review 18: 30-55.
History and Development of Classical Archaeology and Classical Art
Anderson, B. 2015. “‘An Alternative Discourse’: Local Interpreters of Antiquities in the Ottoman Empire.” Journal of Field Archaeology 40: 450-460.
Dyson, S.L. 2006. In Pursuit of Ancient Pasts: A History of Classical Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New Haven.
Platt, V. 2016. “The Matter of Classical Art History.” Daedalus 145(2): 5-14.
Renfrew, C. 1980. “The Great Tradition versus the Great Divide: Archaeology as Anthropology?” American Journal of Archaeology 84: 287-298.
Tartaron, T.F. 2008. Aegean Prehistory as World Archaeology: Recent Trends in the Archaeology of Bronze Age Greece. Journal of Archaeological Research 16: 83-161.
Trigger, B.G. 2006. A History of Archaeological Thought. 2nd edition. Cambridge.
Whitley, J. 2001. The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. Cambridge, pp. 3-76 (“Approaches to Greek Archaeology”).
Theory, Methods, and Approaches
Alcock, S.E., and J.F. Cherry, eds. 2004. Side-by-Side Survey: Comparative Regional Studies in the Mediterranean World. Oxford.
Barrett, C.E. 2016. “Archaeology of Ancient Religions.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, eds. J. Barton et al. Oxford/New York.
Gell, A. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford.
Gosden, C. 2005. “What do Objects Want?” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 12(3), 193-211.
Hamilakis, Y., et al., eds. 2002. Thinking through the Body: Archaeologies of Corporeality. New York, introduction (Hamilakis et al.) and Chap. 6 (Hamilakis).
Hodder, I. 2011. “Human-Thing Entanglement: Towards an Integrated Archaeological Perspective.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 17: 154-177.
Ingold, T. et al. 2007. “Materials Against Materiality; and discussion.” Archaeological Dialogues 14: 1-38.
Johnson, M.H. 2012. “Phenomenological Approaches in Landscape Archaeology.” Annual Review of Anthropology 41: 269-284.
Latour, B. 1999. Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA.
MacKinnon, M. 2007. “Osteological Research in Classical Archaeology.” American Journal of Archaeology 111: 473-504.
Manning, S.W. 2008. “An Edited Past: Aegean Prehistory and Its Texts.” In M.A. Cheetham, E. Legge and C.M. Soussloff, eds., Editing the Image: Strategies in the Production and Reception of the Visual: 33-65. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Meskell, L. 2007. “Archaeologies of Identity.” In T. Insoll, ed., The Archaeology of Identities: A Reader, 23-43. London.
Mullins, P.R. 2011. “The Archaeology of Consumption.” Annual Review of Anthropology 30: 133-144.
Neer, R. 2005. “Connoisseurship and the Stakes of Style.” Critical Inquiry 32: 1-26.
Papadopoulos, J.K., and G. Urton. 2012. “Introduction: The Construction of Value in the Ancient World.” In J.K. Papadopoulos and G. Urton, eds., The Construction of Value in the Ancient World, 1-47. Los Angeles.
Pollard, A.M., and P. Bray. 2007. “A Bicycle Made for Two? The Integration of Scientific Techniques into Archaeological Interpretation.” Annual Review of Anthropology 36: 245-259.
Silliman, S.W. 2015. “A Requiem for Hybridity? The Problem with Frankensteins, Purées and Mules.” Journal of Social Archaeology 15: 277-298.
Stein, G., ed. 2005. The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters: Comparative Perspectives. Santa Fe.
Reception and Ethics
Chippindale, C. and Gill, D.W.J. 2000. “Material Consequences of Contemporary Classical Collecting.” American Journal of Archaeology 104: 463-511.
Hamilakis, Y, and E. Yalouri. 1999. “Sacralizing the Past: The Cults of Archaeology in Modern Greece.” Archaeological Dialogues 6 (1999): 115-135.
Hardwick, L. 2007. “Postcolonial Studies.” In C.W. Kallendorf, ed., A Companion to the Classical Tradition, pp. 312-327. Malden/Oxford.
Rutledge, S. 2012. Ancient Rome as a Museum: Power, Identity and the Culture of Collecting. Oxford.
Warren, K.J. 1999. “A Philosophical Perspective on the Ethics and Resolution of Cultural Properties Issues.” In The Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Whose Culture? Whose Property?, edited by P.M. Messenger, 1-25. Albuquerque.
Zimmerman, L.J., Vitelli, K.D. and Hollowell-Zimmer, J., eds. 2003. Ethical Issues in Archaeology. Walnut Creek, chapters 2 and 6.
Greek and Roman World
Alcock, S. 1993. Graecia Capta: The Landscapes of Roman Greece. Cambridge.
Alcock, S.E., et al. 2005. “Reading the Landscape: Survey Archaeology and the Hellenistic Oikoumene.” In A Companion to the Hellenistic World, edited by A. Erskine, 354-372. Malden, MA.
Allison, P.M. 2004. Pompeian Households: An Analysis of the Material Culture. Los Angeles.
Barrett, C.E. 2015. “Material Culture.” In Oxford Handbook to Ancient Greek Religion, edited by Esther Eidinow and Julia Kindt, 112-130. Oxford.
Bérard, C., ed. 1989. A City of Images. Iconography and Society in Ancient Greece. Princeton, Trans. D. Lyons.
Bresson, A. 2016. The Making of the Ancient Greek Economy. Princeton.
Van Dommelen, P. 2012. “Colonialism and Migration in the Ancient Mediterranean.” Annual Review of Anthropology 41: 393-409.
Dougherty C., and L. Kurke, eds. 2003. The Cultures within Greek Culture: Contact, Conflict, Collaboration. Cambridge, chapters by Antonaccio, Ober.
Elsner, J. 2007. Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text. Princeton.
Fejfer, J. 2008. Roman Portraits in Context. Berlin.
Finley, M.I. 1999. The Ancient Economy. Updated edition. Berkeley/Los Angeles. Also read Foreword by I. Morris.
Graham, E.-J. 2009. “Becoming Persons, Becoming Ancestors: Personhood, Memory and the Corpse in Roman Rituals of Social Remembrance.” Archaeological Dialogues 16(1).
Greene, K. 2006. “Archaeological Data and Economic Interpretation.” In P.F. Bang et al., eds., Ancient Economies, Modern Methodologies: Archaeology, Comparative History, Models, and Institutions, 109-136. Bari.
Hales, S. 2003. The Roman House and Social Identity. Cambridge.
Hales, S., and T. Hodos, eds. 2010. Material Culture and Social Identities in the Ancient World. Cambridge, chaps. 1 (Hodos) and 2 (Antonaccio).
Hartmann, A. 2013. “Cui vetustas fidem faciat: Inscriptions and Other Material Relics of the Past in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.” In Inscriptions and Their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature, edited by P. Liddel and P. Low, 33-64. Oxford.
Himmelmann, N. 1998. Reading Greek Art, Princeton. Trans. H. A. Shapiro.
Hölscher, T. 2004. The Language of Roman Images. Cambridge. Trans. A. Snodgrass, A. Künzl-Snodgrass.
Hoffmann, H. 1979. “In the Wake of Beazley: Prolegomena to an Anthropological Study of Greek Vase-Painting.” Hephaistos 1: 61-70.
Laurence, R. 2007. Roman Pompeii: Space and Society. 2nd edition.
Liebeschuetz, W. 2001. Decline and Fall of the Roman City. Oxford, first part.
Lissarrague, F. 1990. The Aesthetics of the Greek Banquet. Princeton. Trans. A. Szegedy-Maszak.
Malkin, I., 2011. A Small Greek World. Oxford.
Manning, S. 2013. “The Roman World and Climate: Context, Relevance of Climate Change, and Some Issues.” In W.V. Harris, ed., The Ancient Mediterranean Environment between Science and History, 103-172. Leiden/Boston.
Manning, S.W. and Hulin, L. 2005. “Maritime Commerce and Geographies of Mobility in the Late Bronze Age of the Eastern Mediterranean: Problematizations.” In E. Blake and A.B. Knapp, eds., The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory, 270-302. Malden, MA.
Marvin, M. 2008. The Language of the Muses: The Dialogue between Greek and Roman Sculpture. Los Angeles.
McCormick, M., et al. 2012. “Climate Change during and after the Roman Empire: Reconstructing the Past from Scientific and Historical Evidence.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 43(2): 169-220.
Millett, M. 1990. The Romanization of Roman Britain. An Essay in Archaeological Interpretation, Cambridge.
Morris, I. 1987. Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State. Cambridge.
Nevett, L.C. 1999. House and Society in the Ancient Greek World. Cambridge.
Osborne, R. 2007. “Sex, Agency, and History: The Case of Athenian Painted Pottery.” In Art’s Agency and Art History, edited by R. Osborne and J. Tanner, 179-198. Malden, MA.
Osborne, R. 2009. Greece in the Making, 1200–479 B.C. 2nd edition. London, pp. 1-16, 66-152, 331-335.
Van Oyen, A. 2016. How Things Make History: The Roman Empire and Its Terra Sigillata Pottery. Amsterdam.
Petersen, L. 2006. The Freedman in Roman Art and Art History. Cambridge.
Pitts, M. & Versluys, M.J. (eds.). 2015. Globalization and the Roman World. Cambridge, Introduction (Pitts and Versluys), Chap. 4 (Pitts), and Chap. 7 (Versluys).
Platt, V., and M. Squire, eds. 2010. The Art of Art History in Greco-Roman Antiquity (special issue of Arethusa). Arethusa 43.2.
de Polignac, F. 1994. “Mediation, Competition, and Sovereignty: The Evolution of Rural Sanctuaries in Geometric Greece.” In Placing the Gods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece, edited by S. Alcock and R. Osborne, 247-261. Oxford.
Scheidel, W., I. Morris and R. Saller (eds). 2007. The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World. Cambridge, Introduction (Morris et al.), Chap. 12 (Davies), and Chap. 20 (Kehoe).
Settis, S., ed. 2015. Serial/Portable Classics. The Greek Canon and Its Mutations. Milan 2015.
Squire, M. 2009. Image and Text in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. Cambridge.
Trimble, J. 2011. Women and Visual Replication in Roman Imperial Art and Culture. Cambridge.
Trümper, M. 2012. “Gender and Space, ‘Public’ and ‘Private.’” In A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, eds. S.L. James and S. Dillon, 288-303. Malden, MA.
Versluys, M.J. 2014. “Understanding Objects in Motion: An Archaeological Dialogue on Romanization.” Archaeological Dialogues 21: 1-20. Read Versluys’ article together with the following responses.
Wallace-Hadrill, A. 2008. Rome’s Cultural Revolution. Cambridge.
Zanker, P., and B. C. Ewald. 2012. Living with Myths. The Imagery of Roman Sarcophagi. Trans. J. Slater. Oxford.