Each of the seven focus areas concentrates on a different topic relevant for all ancient cultures and representative of the basic forms and structures of these cultures: norms, elites, cultural models, and principles of coexistence. When conceived of as a whole, these areas form the basis of all ancient cultures. These fundamental features usually remain unquestioned or even hidden in the very cultures in which they occur, however, so that one might speak of cultural axioms which have yet to be revealed and interpreted. This is the collective purpose of the focus areas.
The fellows of the GSDW come from various disciplines represented among the seven faculties of the LMU Munich and are at different stages of their research. This facilitates a lively exchange of ideas between scholars of diverse academic fields who have had diverse academic experiences. At the same time, the fellows are brought together by their shared awareness of the temporal and hermeneutic distance between their object of study and modern science. It is the primary aim of the School to understand this distance and its use.
Throughout human history, people, places, and things have been viewed and characterized as beautiful. Magazine covers, movies, and other present-day media reflect, determine, and criticize what 21st century people consider beautiful. Concurrently, museums display statues, reliefs, and other relics from antiquity that modern eyes view as representative of ancient conceptions of beauty.
Yet beauty is more than merely an issue of aesthetics. It has and continues to be a discursive… mehr
The term “elite” designates distinct groups which wield –or at least represent– the political, religious, economic, or symbolic power in a given ancient society. Analysing the “constructions” of these elites suggests itself alone in consideration of the fact that the majority of extant monuments, artwork, and texts reflect the interest of these groups.
The examination of the construction of elites can include, amongst other aspects,
i) the construction of elites in… mehr
Norms, i.e. value-orientated bodies of rules, are omnipresent in all cultures of the ancient world, and are therefore a relevant concept for all disciplines engaged in the study of the ancient world. The analysis of norms can include, amongst other things,
i) the self-perception and self-representation of social/cultural groups;ii) the importance of norms as guidelines for decisions and behaviour;iii) the function of norms in stabilising or changing a… mehr
The study of social organisation (i.e. forms of coexistence) in ancient societies necessarily involves the examination of laws, norms, or other regulating structures (cf. the Constructions of Norms group above). The analytical scope must, however, be extended to include such phenomena as rituals, sacred and political rules, aesthetic categories, and even forms of settlements (in which public, semi-public, and private spaces are demarcated and defined by the infrastructure of the… mehr
Functioning communication tends to be viewed empirically. Societies can survive disturbances (whether internal dissent or an external threat) only if they develop mechanisms for confronting them. Such mechanisms, which vary according to the severity and nature of the disturbance and the organisation of the society in which it occurs, may include religious practices (e.g. expiation rituals) or systems of norms (e.g. laws and taboos) which stigmatise dissenters. In this way,… mehr
“Exchange”, i.e. a transfer of material or non-material objects between two or more partners on the basis of reciprocity, belongs to the fundamental characteristics of ancient cultures. It can take place on various levels, as an exchange i) of commodities, ii) of techniques, and iii) of ideas. These categoriesc can overlap, and – although this may not have been the primary intention – an exchange of commodities might also include the… mehr
Ancient cultures are characterised by an exceptionally strong identification with their past(s), and how a given culture relates to its past informs the construction of norms, elites, and aesthetics as much as it does the organisation of coexistence or exchange and the specific mechanisms for coping with dissent. Analysing how a society interprets and uses its past is therefore central for understanding that society.
The presence of the past in… mehr
