5-Week SASA Continuing Education Reading Group : Sexuality and Power in the Ancient World

This reading group will aim to discuss how Queer Theory has enabled a radical re-evaluation of the LGBTQIA+ community alongside other minority groups, through both the study and teaching of Ancient World History. This course will first introduce participants to the main concepts of Queer Theory, in particular the central contradictory approaches of Constructivism vs Essentialism, and Queer Theory’s discussions of the societal power imbalance. Subsequently, this will be applied to the Ancient World, taking the participants through diverse historical objects and literature, from Ancient Egypt tombs, to Ancient Greek pottery, and Near Eastern texts. 

Each session will focus on a specific aspect of Queerness found in the Ancient World, and will be discussed alongside diverse and potentially contradictory modern scholarship, ancient artefacts and literature, and supporting aspects of Queer Theory. While the study of evidence of LGBTQIA+ identities will remain the focus, the sessions will also look at the…