Amazons:
Goals and Requirements

Goals:

• What is an Amazon?  Our central goal is to come to terms with the phenomenon of Amazons: How we define them, how the image of the Amazon has changed over the millennia, how Amazons appear in popular cultures (in several different centuries), what historical evidence there is – and the wider phenomena of all-women societies or women warriors.  (I may have left out a few things; we will use this semester to fill in the blanks.)
• Because Amazons – however you define them – have been such a compelling idea in Western culture, reams and reams of material have been written about them.  Most of this is only tenuously linked with any real source information – in this field, misinformation is more accessible and often more compelling than what is attested by any actual evidence.  Our second goal is to learn the real sources for evidence about Amazons, and learn how to use them effectively.
• Amazons have so many manifestations because the idea of Amazons serves different purposes for different cultures, and for different people within a culture.  Our third goal is to interpret the different representations of Amazons we find in popular cultures (ancient and modern), to illuminate the role of the mythic Amazon within that culture.
• The Internet is rife with misinformation, although there are many people with an interest in Amazons who truly want to learn what is fact, what is fiction, and what it all means.  Our fourth goal is to write a web page that explains what we learn about Amazons over the course of the semester, so that others can follow our path.
• This is a research-based course.  In the first part of the course, we will learn the nuts and bolts of how to do research in history, archeology, art history and literature; and we will look at theoretical perspectives from these fields that help in interpreting the information we uncover.  We will also share our resources with each other: as a team, with all of our different talents, we are a lot more effective than as individuals.  Our fifth goal is to hone our research abilities through individual effort combined with teamwork.  

Requirements:

• Attendance is mandatory.  You are allowed three cuts during the semester, for whatever reason.  After that, 1 point per absence will be deducted from your final grade.
• Three short reports on articles, chapters, or ancient authors (20%).  These are 1-2 paragraph reports that will be published on our web site, as part of an author information page and annotated bibliography.
• Quizzes (15%): We will have weekly short answer, multiple choice, or matching quizzes.  This is to reward you for learning the names, dates and places you need to know in order to process the more complex parts of the course.
• Midterm and final exams (30%, 15% each): Factual and essay questions.
• Project work (25%): A research project for our class web page. 
• Class preparation (10%): Judged by your class contributions, your work on a few preparation exercises to be turned in, how helpful you are to your classmates in critiquing their projects, and so on.

Other information:

• There is no textbook for this course – every book out there is either too lightweight or too specialized for our focus.  Most of the course readings will be from articles available from our web page, or from primary sources available through the Internet.  Some materials will be on library reserve.  By Sept. 1, you will find a list of suggested reading under Important Information, and there is a small reserve section in the library.  Everyone is expected to do outside reading, including some articles for your reports (see Requirements).
• Daily Assignments:  For daily assignments, go to the assignments page.  Note: Quizzes are every Thursday for the first 5-10 minutes of class; don’t be late.
• Schedule:  We will be done with the material I have chosen to present to you by mid to late October.  Then it will be your turn.  You will be undertaking group and/or individual research topics that you will present to the class, both for feedback to help you, and as the material your classmates will learn as part of the course.  Details will follow.
• Your professor: Andrea Deagon, Lakeside Hall 273, 962-3870.  Office hours TR 3:30-5:00; you will probably also find me in my office 12:30-2:00.  I will often be in at other times as well; feel free to drop by, or we can arrange to meet at a convenient time.  I will try to answer email promptly (deagona@uncwil.edu), but I don’t log on at home, so don’t count on reaching me with last-minute questions this way.  Call me if you care enough to look up my home phone – 10 AM to 10 PM.