Health and Wellbeing in the Ancient World Course - The Open University
Online, United Kingdom
Course
DURATION
6 weeks
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
Key Summary
About: This online course from The Open University examines how Greeks and Romans understood health and well-being through literary and archaeological evidence. You'll study the body by organs and systems to explore ancient theories of structure and function, and investigate mind–body relations, sexuality, aging, and gender. The course runs on FutureLearn with flexible start dates and 100% online study. Keywords: classical studies, ancient medicine, archaeology, social history.
Career Outcomes: Career opportunities include museum curator, collections assistant, heritage officer, archaeological technician, research assistant, teaching, publishing, public history and further postgraduate study (MA/PhD). Skills suit museums, education, cultural tourism, and research roles.
Use literary and archaeological evidence to see how ancient Greeks and Romans approached health, well-being, and societal issues.
Understand Greek and Roman approaches to health and well-being
What did being healthy in ancient Rome or Greece look like? How can we tell what well-being meant in ancient times?
This online course will help you investigate these questions, using both literary and archaeological evidence, to uncover details of real-life in ancient societies.
We will divide the body up into organs and systems, using each to explore ancient theories on the structure and function of the human body.
We will discover what ancient societies thought about topics that we still wrestle with today – from the relationship between mind and body to sexuality, ageing, and gender.
When would you like to start?
Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts.
- Available now
Who will you learn with?
Who developed the course?
The Open University
The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning, with a mission to be open to people, places, methods, and ideas.
What topics will you cover
- What is health? Ancient and modern perspectives on health and disease.
- Medicine, religion, and magic.
- Using online resources.
- Vision: theories of sight, approaches to eye disease, including drugs and surgery.
- Body modifications.
- Diet and digestion.
- Human waste: using evidence from toilets and sewers.
- Conception and birth: theories and practices.
- Ideal bodies and disabled bodies.
- The health of the army: recruiting and treating soldiers.
What will you achieve
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to:
- Develop confidence in exploring a variety of fields that constitute classical studies.
- Explore and become familiar with open-access resources for classical studies.
- Develop the ability to critically analyze primary sources.
- Apply and gain skills in analyzing complex problems based on fragmentary evidence.
- Engage with contemporary interpretations and scholarly debates.
Who is the course for
There are no special requirements for this course, but an interest in the ancient world or classics might be useful.
