Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree. All applicants need to verify English language proficiency.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

• describe the democratic institutions and procedures of the ancient and modern world
• in a proficient manner discuss democratic citizenship as a means to inclusion/exclusion and equality/inequality
• define the material culture of democracy
• problematise the relationship between democracy and religion

Content

The course gives deepened knowledge about something usually taken for granted in the Western world: Democracy. But what does democracy really mean? What counted as democracy yesterday, what is democracy today, and how will we understand it tomorrow? Through a comparative perspective, relating the original Greek democracy to that of the modern world, students will approach the concept of democracy through the varied discourses of archaeology and ancient history, political science, history of ideas, philology and sociolinguistics. The course and its fieldwork will work with four overarching themes that are suitable for a comparative analysis: 1. Democratic institutions and procedures of the ancient and modern world; 2. Democratic citizenship as a means to inclusion/exclusion and equality/inequality; 3. The materiality of democracy; 4. Democracy and religion.

Instruction

The course starts with three weeks of study at Uppsala University. The fourth study week is spent in Athens with lectures, seminars and excursions. Attendance is compulsory for this course. The last study week is devoted to the completion of a written examination.

Assessment

Students will be assessed continuously throughout the course through oral and written presentations, and a written exam or home assigment. Course participants who submit the examination after the deadline cannot recieve a grade of Pass with distinction (VG), unless there are extenuating circumstances. Assessment is in English.

Other regulations

The course is aimed at students at the advanced level. The selection is based on the relevance of the course in the student's educational approach in which specific attention is paid to the planned or completed thesis. A written explanation of the manner in which the course is relevant to the applicant shall be sent with the application. The course is partly physically demanding.