Moodle@Warwick

Introductory description
This module, taught in translation, introduces students to the breadth and variety of ancient
thought – investigating the ways in which the ancient Greeks and Romans articulated their thinking
and their beliefs, about themselves and the worlds around them. This module surveys the cultural
and intellectual contours of the ancient Graeco-Roman world from the presocratics through to late
antiquity, and investigates not just the origins and development of philosophical thinking, but also
developments in scientific investigation. It offers an overview of the cultural and intellectual
horizons of major advances in intellectual self-examination, across politics, ethics, aesthetics, and
literary criticism, and Graeco-Roman value-systems, including in relation to gender, class, and
race. It does not simply survey familiar names and ideas in ancient philosophy (e.g. Plato and
Aristotle; Stoicism and Epicureanism) but also facilitates discussion of a variety of contributions to
ancient self-reflection across a much wider range of ancient sources.
As well as expanding awareness of the range of materials that classicists study, the module will
explore critically the range of methodologies and approaches used in the interpretation of this
material, and the assessment of its own conceptual self-consciousness, and allow students to test
out these skills in their own responses. For instance, what is it about presocratic thought that is so
innovative and distinctive, and how might it be understood in context, both in the development of
ancient attitudes to writing and to culture and religion? What range of materials might we use,
beyond Plato and Aristotle, to investigate the intellectual obsessions of Classical Athens? How
might Plato’s and Aristotle’s attitudes to ethics, politics, and poetics be more broadly situated?
How might the origins and developments of Roman thought be understood, and through what
range of sources? How, in particular, might a distinctive Roman philosophical poetics be
articulated, and what might that mean, with what consequences for ourselves as well as for our
understanding of ancient Rome? How might the origins and developments of ancient medicine be
understood, in context and beyond?
No previous knowledge is assumed, and this module is designed to inspire students, to broaden
their intellectual horizons, and to provide them with a basis on which to choose their honours
pathways after year 1. Each weekly 2-hr lecture will introduce a series of texts, themes and
approaches, and two seminars will investigate two case studies in greater depth (one Greek, one
Roman).

Social Design by definition is design with and for a community. It understands design as an ethically driven philosophy and practice seeking to make improvements to the lived experiences of people, communities, and the environment. It is underpinned by the principles of co-design/ co-creation, working in partnership to identify, investigate and resolve design problems.

You will learn a range of approaches to participatory design, social action and entrepreneurship through investigating philosophies, methodologies, and case studies. Through this they will develop a toolkit of techniques and their appropriateness to specific situations. Key to this is being able to understand a social context as a complex interaction of people, artefacts, systems, and economies.

During the module, you will develop a relationship with a specific community context and over a period will develop collaborative research into the environment and factors which are shaping that community and propose co-design approaches to address the needs arising from that research.