Egyptomania! Past and Present Syllabus and Reading Guide Instructor: Dr. Emily Cole E-mail: ec124@nyu.edu Office: TBD Office hours: Thursday 2-5 Time: Thursday 11-1:30 Place: TBD From early explorers, Napoleon s expedition, and curious tourists to the modern pop recreation by Katy Perry and the Assassin s Creed videogame franchise, the land and cultures of Egypt have held a fascination for millennia. The backdrop of the Nile and its seemingly timeless monuments have provided a source of inspiration and mystery since the Greeks and Romans encountered Egyptian culture in the 6 th and 7 th centuries. But why do we remain so intrigued by this culture? What are the sources of this interest? And what can be learned about modern historical practice and prejudice from the phenomenon known as Egyptomania? This course will introduce students to issues that relate to how we interpret, write, and portray historical facts over time. We will read original historical sources that span the range from Ancient pharaonic Egypt through to the present day. Students will be asked to consider how contemporary issues of cultural appropriation, media portrayal, and stereotype are reflected in the obsession that has surrounded Egyptian culture, from Classical authors discussing the Egyptian queen Cleopatra to modern Egyptian scholars arguing for the repatriation of Egyptian objects. We will explore what Egyptomania means for our modern understanding of history and its place in society. By the end of this course, students will be able: To understand the roots of Egyptomania and its defining features To discuss social concepts related to studying past cultures To evaluate modern approaches in scholarship of past cultures To articulate their ideas in a concise manner in short written work To interact and respond to their peers in a group-learning situation To write a thoughtful and articulate paper on a comparative topic of their choosing - 1 -
Grading Attendance and Participation 20% Weekly Reading Responses 20% Response Papers (x2) 10% Term Paper - Topic - Outline - Presentation of Topic - Final Paper 50% 2% 10% 13% 25% Attendance: Attendance will be taken each class. Students are expected to be on time and ready for discussion. Absences will be counted for any students without a valid medical excuse. If you will have to miss class for some reason, please tell me at the beginning of the semester. Participation: The format of this class is a seminar, which means that discussion of the readings and your thoughts are crucial to getting the most out of the course. Students will be expected to listen to and respond to their peers in a thoughtful and clear way. Contributions may include thoughts on the assigned readings, topics related to the class, or questions regarding the theories that are presented. Simply agreeing with your fellow student does not constitute a reasonable addition unless it is qualified or somehow adds to the discussion. Laptop Policy: Students are not permitted to have their laptops in class except for when class assignments require it. Students who have learning requirements should come and discuss their situation with me. Readings and Weekly Responses: All required course readings will be available on the class website. There will be between 40-80 pages of reading a week that must be completed before class. With difficult articles or materials, a reading guide will be provided. Good notetaking practices are necessary. These include identifying the main argument made by the author, questioning the evidence he or she uses to support the argument, and noting down your own questions that come up as you do the reading. In order to ensure that the readings are clear and are being completed on time, students will be required to submit a weekly reading report to the course website. The reports will be short responses that will highlight the argument or content of the reading, the main points raised by the author(s), and difficulties encountered within the text. Responses will be due by 5pm on the day prior to class. Response Papers: Students will have to complete two response papers during the semester, which will each be worth 5% of their grade. These papers will be 3-4 pages in length and examine an example of Egyptian revival from the 18-19 th centuries and 20 th -21 st centuries, respectively. Specifics of the assignment will be provided in class. - 2 -
Term Paper: The long paper (10-12 pages) will be developed over the course of the semester and will involve identifying a topic of cultural revival and investigating its significance in contemporary society. Students are encouraged to come to office hours to discuss the paper topic early in the quarter so that issues can be avoided later on. Each stage of the paper writing will be graded in order to keep you on track to finish by the end of the semester. A handout with a full breakdown of the paper requirements and deadlines will be provided in the first week of classes. Extra Credit: New York has some great examples of Egyptian revival architecture and décor. As an extra credit assignment worth up to 3% on top of your grade, you can submit a report on one example of this architecture to the course website. To get the credit, you must visit the location and take a selfie there. Post the picture to the course website along with a few paragraphs of description (at least 8-10 sentences) of how it is reviving Egyptian architecture, when it was built or made, and how it fits into the history of New York. References are not required, but you are welcome to include them. Calendar of Due Dates Due Date Assignment February 22 nd (Week 5) Response paper 1 March 8 th (Week 7) Paper topic March 22 nd (Week 8) Response paper 2 April 5 th (Week 10) Paper outline May 3 rd (Week 14) Paper presentation May 11 th (Exam week) Final paper - 3 -
Grading Scale: Final grades are non-negotiable. Please come and discuss any problems with me as they occur rather than at the end of the course. Grade Points Achievement Level A 94-100 A- 90-93 Student has an excellent knowledge of the history of Egyptomania. He or she has contributed regularly in class with well-thought out and relevant comments or questions. Student has written an excellent and articulate research paper with a strong thesis and evidence to support the argument. B+ 87-89 B 84-86 Student has a good knowledge of the history of Egyptomania. He or she has contributed regularly in class with well-thought out and relevant comments or questions. Student has written a good and articulate research paper with a thesis and evidence to support the argument. B- 80-83 C+ 77-79 C 74-76 C- 70-73 D+ 67-69 D 64-66 Student has a satisfactory knowledge of the history of Egyptomania. He or she has contributed regularly in class with some relevant comments or questions. Student has written a decent paper research paper with a thesis and some evidence to support the argument. Student has some knowledge of the history of Egyptomania. He or she has contributed in class with comments or questions. Student has written a research paper but it lacks a thesis or the evidence required to support that thesis. D- 60-63 F 0-59 Student has failed to complete the requirements for this class. Academic Policies: If you are ill or unable to make it to class for any reason, please email as far in advance as possible. Any missed assignment must have a written medical excuse in order to be made up, otherwise a zero grade will be given. Late assignments will be marked down by one letter category (A A-) per day they are late up to a total of 7 days at which point an F grade will be given. This policy is also non-negotiable. Cheating and/or plagiarism will result in an F grade for the entire course and will be reported to university officials as outlined by the university (https://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/policies-andguidelines/academic-integrity-for-students-at-nyu.html). Student Accommodations: Students with disabilities have the legal right to access disability-based support services designed to facilitate successful completion of their academic program. They are responsible for making use of what Disabilities Resources for Students are available (https://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/students-with-disabilities.html), and I will gladly accommodate whatever is suggested by that office. Please be sure to talk to me at the beginning of the semester if you are going to make use of these services. Cover Images: Foire du Caire (1828), Paris and Katy Perry, Dark Horse - 4 -
Reading Guide ***All readings subject to change at instructor s discretion*** Week 1 (January 25 th ): Introduction What is Egyptomania? I Egyptian Antiquity Week 2 (February 1 st ): Short Introduction to Egypt and Egyptian History - Allen, James P. 2003. The Egyptian Concept of the World. In Mysterious Lands, edited by David B. O'Connor and Stephen Quirke. London: UCL Press, Institute of Archaeology, 23-30. - Assmann, Jan. 1995. Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. New German Critique, 65: 125-133. - O'Connor, David B. 1990. A Short History of Ancient Egypt. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. - What is a research paper and what will it require? Week 3 (February 8 th ): Egyptian Concepts of Race, Ethnicity, and History - The Tale of Sinuhe, trans. Richard B. Parkinson 1997. The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 BC. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 21-53. - O'Connor, David B. 2003. Egypt's Views of 'Others'. In 'Never had the like occurred': Egypt's view of its past, edited by W. John Tait. London: University College London, 155-185. - Uphill, E. P. 2003. The Egyptian View of World History. In 'Never had the like occurred': Egypt's view of its past, edited by W. John Tait. London: University College London, 15-29. - Bommas, Martin. 2016. From Ancient Egypt to the Mississippi Delta: A Comparative Approach to Cultural Memory and Forgetting. In Envisioning the Past through Memories: How Memory Shaped Ancient Near Eastern Societies, edited by Davide Nadali. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 163-182. - Visit to Bobst Library and introduction to reference sources - 5 -
Week 4 (February 15 th ): Greek Historians and Egypt II Chronological Development of Egyptomania - Johnson, William A. 2017. The Essential Herodotus: Translation, Introduction, and Annotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 67-92. - Manetho in Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, I, 14-16 and 24-31. - Fritze, Ronald H. 2016. Classical Egyptomania: The Greeks and Romans, in Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy. London: Reaktion Books, 71-107. - Hartog, François. 2002. The Greeks as Egyptologists. In Greeks and Barbarians, edited by Thomas Harrison. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 211-228. - Coming up with a paper topic: brainstorming, reference hunting, and refining Week 5 (February 22 nd ): Cleopatra and the Legacy of Rome - Plutarch, Lives, VII (Julius Caesar), pp. 555-561, and IX (Mark Anthony), pp. 191-211. - Cleopatra in contemporary cinema - Iversen, Erik. 1993. The Myth of Egypt and its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 38-56. - Thompson, Jason. 2015. Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology 1. From Antiquity to 1881. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 15-42. - Working with primary source material: close readings and analysis Assignment: - Response paper 1 due. Please bring a printed copy of your paper to class. - 6 -
Week 6 (March 1 st ): Lost to the West, Found in the East: Medieval Knowledge of Egypt - Horapollo, Hieroglyphica (selections) - El-Daly, Okasha. 2005. Egyptology: The Missing Millennium - Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings. London: UCL Press, 1-30. o Review: http://www.egyptologyforum.org/reviews/missing1000.html [Accessed 2017-10-06] - Thompson, Jason. 2015. Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology 1. From Antiquity to 1881. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 43-55. - Westerfeld, Jennifer. Forthcoming. Fantastic Images: Reading Hieroglyphs in Christian Late Antiquity. - What is a thesis sentence? What is an argument? Creating a research question. Week 7 (March 8 th ): Renaissance Rediscovery of Classical Viewpoints and Early Travelers - Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra (selections) - Iversen, Erik. 1993. The Myth of Egypt and its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 57-87. - Thompson, Jason. 2015. Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology 1. From Antiquity to 1881. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 57-74. Assignments: - Term paper topic due. Please bring a printed copy to class. No Class March 15 th Spring Break - 7 -
Week 8 (March 22 nd ): Napoleon s Expedition and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs - Jean-François Champollion, Lettre à M. Dacier relative à l'alphabet des hiéroglyphes phonétiques (1822) and Précis du système hiéroglyphique des anciens Égyptiens (1824) in translation - Fritze, Ronald H. 2016. Napoleon s Expedition to Egypt and the Birth of Modern Egyptomania, in Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy. London: Reaktion Books, 157-180. - Thompson, Jason. 2015. Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology 1. From Antiquity to 1881. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 109-127. - Drafting an outline Assignment: - Response paper 2 due. Please bring a printed copy of your paper to class. III Themes of Egyptomania Week 9 (March 29 th ): Orientalism: Art and Architecture of the 19 th -20 th Centuries - Selection of art historical sources and 18 th -19 th century travel diaries - Said, Edward W. 1979. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. - Towner, John. 1985. The Grand Tour: A Key Phase in the History of Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 12 (3): 297-333. - Choosing appropriate sources the pitfalls of online research - 8 -
Week 10 (April 5 th ): Mysticism and the Occult: Alchemy, Rosicrucian, and Masonic Orders - The Emerald Tablet translated - Fritze, Ronald H. 2016. Occult Egyptomania, in Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy. London: Reaktion Books, 245-264. - Hornung, Erik. 1999. The Secret Lore of Egypt: its Impact on the West. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1-18, 34-42, 64-73, and 116-127. Assignment: - Term paper detailed outline due. Please bring a printed copy to class. Week 11 (April 12 th ): Mummies: King Tutankhamun as Social Phenomenon - Old King Tut by Leo Fitzpatrick, Roger Lewis, and Lucien Denni (1923) - The Mummy (1932), The Mummy (1999); Saturday Night Live (April 22, 1978) King Tut by Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons - Brier, Bob. 2013. Tutankhamun, Superstar, in Egyptomania: Our three thousand year obsession with the land of the pharaohs. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 161-178. - Fritze, Ronald H. 2016. The Rise of Mass Egyptomania: Tutankhamun, Tutmania and the Curse of the Mummy, in Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy. London: Reaktion Books, 157-180. - McAlister, Melani. 2005. King Tut, Commodity Nationalism, and the Politics of Oil, 1973-1979 in Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945. 2 nd Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 125-154. - Writing effective topic sentences, transitions, and road-mapping your argument Week 12 (April 19 th ): Museums and Collecting: Visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Brier, Bob. 2013. New York Gets Its Obelisk, in Egyptomania: Our three thousand year obsession with the land of the pharaohs. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 111-150. - 9 -
Week 13 (April 26 th ): 21 st Century Responsible History: Who does the past belong to? - Vogue Spring 2004, Christian Dior [https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring- 2004-couture/christian-dior] - Dark Horse by Katy Perry (2014), Gods of Egypt (2016) - Selection of newspaper articles about canceled Egypt-themed party at the University of Michigan from August 2017 (Michigan Daily, New York Post, etc.) - Colla, Elliott. 2007. Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity. Durham: Duke University Press, 72-120. - Reid, Donald Malcolm. 2002. Whose Pharaohs?: Archaeology, museums, and Egyptian national identity from Napoleon to World War I. Berkeley: University of California Press, 139-171. - Editing Strategies - How to give an effective presentation of your research Week 14 (May 3 rd ): Paper Presentations IV Conclusion and Paper Review Assignment: - Create a 5 minute presentation with 5 slides of your paper topic Term paper due: May 11 th Exam Week (May 7 th -11 th ) - 10 -