Universität Wien

090051 SE Dress to Impress! Clothing and Fashion in Late Antiquity (2026S)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 9 - Altertumswissenschaften
Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung
Moodle

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Details

max. 15 Teilnehmer*innen
Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

  • Mittwoch 04.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 11.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 18.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 25.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 15.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 22.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 29.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 06.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 13.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 20.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 27.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 03.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 10.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 17.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Mittwoch 24.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

As the old saying goes, vestis virum facit – the clothes make the man. Understanding how and why people dress a certain way can provide an invaluable window into understanding the society in which they live, as well as their place within it. In this course we will examine the clothing practices of the late antique Mediterranean. We will study what people wore, how they wore it, and how clothing contributed to the formation of individual and group identity. Dress was one of the most important markers of status and identity in this period, signalling a person’s gender, social status, wealth, ethnicity, religion, and occupation. Analysing clothing also offers us the opportunity to think about the production of materials (such as cotton, silk, or gold), the trade that moved them around the Mediterranean, and the people and practices that turned those materials into garments and accessories. By the end of the course, students will be able to answer the following questions:

• What kinds of garments did late antique people wear and how had dress developed from the Roman period?
• How and by whom was clothing made?
• How did clothing help to indicate and shape the identities of different groups, such as priests, soldiers, or emperors?
• What kinds of social ideas were embedded in clothing practices? E.g. veiling the head, using protective amulets, or wearing make up?
• How and why did clothing differ between the rich and the poor?

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Students must be assessed positively in each of these activities to pass the course. Missing up to 2 classes in permitted.

• Regular, active participation in class discussions (20%)
• In-class oral presentation (40%)
• Written seminar paper (40%)

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

Students must be positively assessed in the three assessment criteria outlined above. More information about the fulfillment of these requirements will be provided in class.

Prüfungsstoff

Clear, careful, and thoughtful analysis of the selected topic in the form of an oral presentation delivered in class, and a development of those ideas into a written seminar paper.

Literatur

General reading list (specific reading will be assigned for each class)

Harlow, M (2004). Female Dress, Third – Sixth Century: The Messages in the Media. Antiquité Tardive, 12, pp.203-215.
Harlow, M. (2004). Clothes maketh the man: power dressing and elite masculinity in the later Roman world. In: L. Brubaker and J. M. H. Smith eds., Gender in the Early Medieval World, East and West, 300-900. Cambridge, pp.44-69.
Krawiec, R. (2009). “Garments of Salvation”: Representations of Monastic Clothing in Late Antiquity. Journal of Early Christian Studies 17.1, pp.125-150.
Parani, M. (2007). Defining Personal Space: Dress and Accessories in Late Antiquity. In: L. Lavan, E. Swift and T. Putzeys eds., Objects in Context, Objects in Use. Material Spatiality in Late Antiquity. Leiden: Brill, pp.497-529.
Pennick Morgan, F. (2018). Dress and Personal Appearance in Late Antiquity: The Clothing of the Middle and Lower Classes. Leiden: Brill.
Pritchard, F. (2006). Clothing culture: dress in Egypt in the first millennium AD: clothing from Egypt in the collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery. Manchester: University of Manchester Press.
Schrenk, S. (2004). Textilien des Mittelmeerraumes aus spätantiker bis frühislamischer Zeit. Riggisberg: Abbegg-Stiftung.
Stauffer, A., Hill, M., Evans, H. C., and Walker, D. (1995). Textiles of Late Antiquity. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Thomas, T. K. ed. (2016). Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Anrechenbar: im Fachbereich Spätantike und frühchristliche Archäologie:
im BA: M14;
im MA: PM3, PM4, PM5;

Letzte Änderung: Mo 27.07.2026 09:26