Module manager: Dr Owen Hodkinson
Email: o.d.hodkinson@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
| CLAS3220 | Classical Receptions in the Brotherton Archives and Special |
This module is approved as a discovery module
Students will undertake detailed study of modern adaptations and translations of ancient Greek and Roman literature, myth, and history, and other literary and dramatic responses to them. All modern works studied have materials relating to them in Special Collections, such as authors’ drafts, correspondence with collaborators, research notes, and costume and set designs for dramatic works. The literature is studied using the approach of Classical Reception Studies, but as well as using traditional, published primary and secondary literature, the module focuses on experiencing how archival and special collections material can be used for literary research. It builds curatorial and archival employability skills into the coursework tasks in the form of both descriptive and reflective writing about selected Special Collections items, culminating in curating a piece for a ‘Virtual Exhibition’. The collections used will vary but may include those of Tony Harrison, Simon Armitage, Elizabeth Cook, Wole Soyinka, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The module allows students to study in depth examples of sophisticated Classical Receptions – modern English translations and adaptations of classical literature, myth and history, and other literary responses to them – employing the unique resources of the Brotherton Archives and Special Collections, such as authorial drafts, research notes, correspondence with collaborators, costume and set designs. The Lectures and Seminars provide a grounding in Classical Reception Studies and the specific modern works studied, giving knowledge of the subject matter and fostering analytical skills that will be applied in the Virtual Exhibition project (Assessment 2). The experience of Special Collections archives, introduced in the Lectures and especially through hands-on Practicals, allows students to gain valuable transferable and employability skills especially in the archives and librarianship, curatorial, and broader heritage sectors as well as for further research: such skills will be integral to both Assessments: a Cataloguing task, and curating an item of a small number of related items for a Virtual Exhibition of Treasures from the Special Collections. Individual Supervisions in Special Collections will provide formative feedback and guidance during students’ research and preparation for the Virtual Exhibition with further hands-on experience of Special Collections items they have selected for the task.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1- Describe a range of materials from Special Collections relating to the modern Reception of Greek and Roman antiquity, using archivists’ professional standards and terminology, and explain how these materials enrich our understanding and appreciation of the published or performed works they led to.
2- Apply an understanding and literary-critical appreciation of modern Classical Reception texts, employing the approaches of Classical Reception Studies.
3- Handle and undertake their own research on archival and other materials from Special Collections, contextualising them with reference to the published or performed works that these materials led to.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4- Curate Special Collections materials in an engaging and informative way using insights from heritage sector (archival, librarianship, and curatorial) professional literature and/or practice to inform their approach to the task.
5- Communicate acquired knowledge and understanding effectively and appropriately.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 4 | 0.3 | 1.2 |
| Lecture | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| Practical | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Seminar | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Private study hours | 181.8 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 18.2 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
There are ongoing opportunities for formative feedback through participation in Seminars, Practicals, and especially one-to-one Supervisions, which are explicitly for the purpose of discussing students’ ideas and work-in-progress for Coursework 2 throughout Semester 2. There will be a Practical session dedicated to preparing each of the two Coursework assessments. Students are also given the opportunity to contact tutors for face-to-face meetings in office hours. Feedback from the first coursework will afford a formal opportunity to monitor student progress.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Written Assignment | 25 |
| Coursework | Portfolio | 75 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 25/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team