IIHSA 2023 Dublin Day School

'Multisensory Approaches to the Ancient World'

Our senses are at the core of human experience; they help us ‘make sense’ of the world. As sensing is not just a physiological process but is culturally conditioned, how can we investigate ancient sensory perception? To what extent can artefacts, buildings, landscapes, and texts be used to better understand life in the past? Join us at the dayschool of the IIHSA to explore the smells, tastes, sights, sounds and textures of antiquity through a range of case studies and approaches by contributors from Irish universities. 

Location: University College Dublin (in person) and online (register below via Eventbrite)

Programme:

1 - 1.15: Welcome

1.15 - 1.45:  Jo Day (UCD Classics) ‘Making Sense of the Past’

1.45 - 2.15: William Desmond (NUIM Classics) ‘The Feeling Soul: Aristotle’s Theory of the Senses’

2.15 - 2.45: Bridget Martin (UCD Classics) ‘Sensing the Dead in Dreams in Ancient Greece’

2.45 - 3.15 Coffee Break

 3.15 - 3.45: Lauren Brown (UCD Archaeology) ‘Understanding the manufacture of Bronze Age metalwork in south-eastern Europe from workshop debris’

3.45 - 4.15: Franceso Ripanti (TCD Classics) ‘A Multisensory Journey: Therapeutic Sense-making of the Archaeological Landscape of Vignale, Italy’

4.15 - 4.45: Alan Peatfield (UCD Archaeology) ‘Grab and Stab! Discovering Practical Combat Techniques from Bronze Age Images’