Project Guidelines
The Basics
- Step 1: Identify an artifact relevant to Augustus or Nero in the online catalog of a reputable museum.
- Step 2: Make a five-minute video introducing the artifact and explaining its historical significance.
- Deadlines:
- A draft script of your video is due after session 13.
- Your final video is due after session after session 15.
The Details
- You should choose an artifact from the online collection of a reputable museum. Two excellent examples are the British Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
- You may choose any kind of artifact you like.
- As long as it is relevant to Augustus and/or Nero, your artifact can be anything: a statue, a coin, a piece of jewelry, a vase, a sarcophagus, whatever you like.
- Check the “Artifact selections” discussion thread on our class site to make sure your prospective artifact has not already been claimed by one of your classmates; and then claim your artifact with a quick post to the same discussion thread.
- Your video may take whatever form you prefer.
- It should be around 5 minutes long (≈750 words).
- The video could be as simple as a slideshow with text or voiceover.
- The most common slide applications allow you to record your voice over slides.
- Or you could go full Ken Burns and produce a video with you as a talking head, a soundtrack, special effects, whatever you like. If you enjoy this kind of creative project, indulge yourself.
- The target audience for your video should be your peers in this class.
- In other words, you should tailor your video to an audience that is smart, curious, and already knowledgeable about the basics of Roman Imperial history.
- Minimum requirements for the content of your video:
- A clear description—with image(s)—of your chosen artifact. What is it? What form does it take?
- Of what material(s) is it made? What are its basic dimensions?
- Current location, i.e., which museum; which gallery/exhibition, if relevant.
- Provenance and/or context of discovery. If your artifact comes from a known archaeological context, what are the details of that context? If its original context is unknown because the item arrived at the museum via the antiquities market and/or a private collection, be sure to say so.
- Date and grounds for dating. Has your artifact been dated on the basis of its context of discovery, or on the basis of its artistic style or form, or on the basis of some other feature? Include as much of the dating information as you can find on the museum website. (n.b., you are not expected to do any additional research on e.g. pottery forms and styles as dating criteria; just cite whatever the museum curators indicate.)
- An explanation of the historical significance of the artifact. Why did you choose it? What makes it interesting? Which theme(s), figure(s), event(s) covered in 21H.336 does your artifact help to illuminate further? Or does your artifact shine a light on something not covered in 21H.336?
- Competition!
- Once everyone’s video has been submitted, you will be invited to view them all and to vote for your favorite.
- The three videos with the most votes will win laus et gloria — praise and glory.
- They will also win extra credit for their producers.
