Growing Up Ancient: Childhood, Gender, and Identity in the Ancient World

Catalog description

How were childhood and femininity culturally constructed in the ancient world? How did factors like class, race, religion, and imperialism shape the actual bodies and perceived identities of women and children? This course will explore these questions by incorporating perspectives from archaeology, biological anthropology, and social history. Through analyses of ancient material culture and texts, readings from contemporary scholarship, and hands-on activities, students will draw connections between women and children of the past and present, in diverse cultural contexts. Case studies range from the Wari and Inca to the Roman world, medieval Europe, and Indigenous North America.