Social Media of the Ancient World

FLEX: Unearthing Ancient Cities of the UK and Turkey

Josee Dimson

Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(27)

In this three-week course, students will learn how people used to communicate in ancient Europe, and could this be considered early examples of social media?

Class Experience

US Grade 2 - 5

In this class, we will explore how ancient people communicated.  How important is it for humans to communicate or even gossip? Did ancient cultures have social media? If so, what did it look like? What were the messages that they communicated? When does art become social media?

Each week, we will look at different cultures, from Greece to Rome, Egypt and Europe.  We will start with a short introduction on the culture and then examine artefacts such as tablets, wall paintings and printed...

Students will learn about the ancient world and how people communicated, how writing started, how to decipher and understand messages in art, and more!

I am a trained archaeologist, and I excavated at sites such as Mytilene and Kommos in Greece for many field seasons. I have travelled extensively through Europe, and I have taught Greek and Roman art, archaeology and mythology at Concordia University, Montréal.  I held a position at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, where I created and led tours for children on the topics of Greek, Roman and Egyptian archaeology, the Medieval period, dinosaurs and natural history. More recently, I have taught labs on water science and solar energy to Kindergarten and Grade 1 students through Scientists in School. Since July 2021, I have had the pleasure of teaching many archaeology and ancient civilizations classes on Outschool.

Homework Offered
Assessments Offered
Grades Offered

0There is a one-page handout for each lesson.  The files will be posted on the class page before we begin with Week 1.  The learners will also need coloring pencils, pencils, and a ball of Play-Doh (or modelling clay).

Learners younger or older can attend the class.  The material can be altered to suit any age group. Contact me if you have any questions. Play-Doh may contain wheat, which could cause an allergic reaction if ingested in those sensitive to wheat gluten or with Celiac disease. You may replace this item with any or your choice.  Contact me if you have any questions.

I will present the class material through the use of visuals, both from my own private collection and from archaeological excavations and museum collections.  The students will look at the archaeological material and learn how to interpret it, and discover that evidence can lead to different opinions.  I strongly believe that all evidence must be investigated and viewed equally, and I do reinforce this important concept every week.
As an archaeologist, I base my classes on scholarly texts, scientific secondary sources such as textbooks, scholarly journals (Archaeology Magazine, National Geographic, Penn University publications, etc.), and archaeological reports, while keeping it age appropriate.  I also use primary sources, for example Homer, English translations of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Latin texts, etc.  Other visuals than my own are drawn from sites such as Open Licensed Images, Ancient World Image Bank, World History Encyclopedia, the New York Public Library Digital Collection, Unsplash and Public Domain Pictures. All sites allow for free use of images, with credits.
Learners do not need to access any sites during class.

Available times

Pacific

Table of available sections

Meet the teacher

Josee Dimson

Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(27)

Hi! My name is Josée and I am originally from Montréal, Québec, Canada. I have always wanted to study archaeology, travel and go on excavations, and I have been very lucky to be able to fulfill my dreams!  

I have earned a double major in...