When is the Middle Ages?
Goals for this week (September 14/16, 2020)
By the end of this week, what should students know, be able to do and understand?
Learn about how medievalists think about the periodization (i.e. the temporal limits) of the Middle Ages and why it is considered a historical period worthy (or not) of study.
Learn what a primary source is and some means to address problems of interpretation while reading it
Practice using Perusall to annotate readings and to cultivate discussions
Overview:
This week marks the beginning of the synchronous learning portion of the class. We will come together online for an introduction to the Middle Ages and to think about how it is defined chronologically.
This week will be exploring the idea of Periodization, asking how historical periods are constructed after the fact to represent something meaningful for historians (or other people interested in the past). By understanding how we temporally define the past, we can see the basic axioms we hold about that period.
Spend some time fielding any technical questions
Together we will elucidate what we think the Middle Ages were
We will brainstorm what constitutes the temporal boundaries of the Middle Ages (and any possible subdivisions of them).
Read and annotate a primary source on Perusall together on Wednesday the 16th (and afterwards)
Annotate chapter 2 of Marcus Bull's Thinking Medieval on Perusall before class on the 14th.
Continue reading Marc Bloch's The Historian's Craft on Perusall by the 20th.
Optional Reading on Perusall about periodization (to be done at your leisure and whim).
Online Time
Students need to have installed and successfully logged into Teams by Monday, September 14th, to ensure that they receive any updates to our schedule.
We will be meeting online from 13h00-14h30, Monday September 14, 2020. Join the Microsoft Teams Meeting. I will be online about 15 minutes before class if you want to discuss anything.
the professor will introduce himself, the class, MS Teams
we'll discuss how to define the Middle Ages as a chronological period
students will be divided into small groups to meet one another (and we'll take some time to accomplish this, perhaps?)
we'll return to the class meeting and end this synchronous session with an AMA (Ask-me-anything) session for the final 20 mins.
2. On Wednesday, September 16, I will demonstate on Teams (join here) how to use Perusall to annotate a primary source in the course reader. I'll be working through the process live, speaking about the problems of interepretation, so you can follow along, ask questions, and annotate the text alongside your classmates in real time. If you prefer, you can do this on your own time, since this will be recorded and available for watching at a later time.
Read/Watch/Listen
read through the pages of the Anatomy of a Primary Source exercise
read the Founding Charter of Cluny on Perusall. We will read it together on Wednesday the 16th, and students should make their annotations by September 20th at the latest.
read the assigned chapter of Marc Bloch's The Historican's Craft as preparation for a future discussion and writing exercise (week 6) on Perusall
in preparation for next week's class, read on Perusall, Holmes and Standen's "Towards a Global Middle Ages"– an introduction to an edited volume exploring the idea of the Middle Ages as a global phenomenon.
Do
By September 20th, students will need to take their introduction (initially made on Teams) and turn it into a proper profile on cuPortfolio. It does not need to be sophisticated or super special (though I would appreciate if it was). This assignment is meant to get you used to the platform, which can take a bit of time getting used to.
By September 20th, I will release the rules of an orientation Scavenger hunt, designed for your to earn XP in your assigned houses.
Submit an End of Week Report on Sunday night (each week) to let me know if you have any questions and (this week) to provide a link to your cuPortfolio profile.
Practice
Read the following pages as preparation for the annotation exercise on Perusall.
2. Anatomy of a Primary SourceThe Problem of Primary SourcesCluny's Foundation CharterLast updated