Course
Requirements and Grading Criteria
Students
will be required to (1) actively participate in class discussions,
(2) write a 5 - 7 page paper in response to the movie The Seventh Seal,
(3) deliver one 7 - 9-minute oral presentation with a visual component
on a medieval person (see below) and (4) complete a final exam at the
end of the term. Each of these four requirements will contribute
25% to your term grade. Regular attendance is required; more than
three absences will negatively affect your grade. Each absence
beyond the three granted will lower your class participation grade
one partial letter grade (e.g., 4 absences will lower a B+ class
participation grade to a B). There
will be no make-ups for any of the exams or projects without a
documented medical excuse.
Course Objectives
1.
Develop an appreciation of medieval European civilization with
various media.
2. Engage in critical thinking exercises directed at images and
primary source texts.
3. Improve writing skills through informal in-class writing assignments
and a paper.
4. Hone speaking skills through the preparation and delivery of
an oral presentation (supported by visuals) on a medieval person
(please see list below).
Academic
Dishonesty
All
students should read Academic
Integrity and Plagiarism: A Student Guide. Please familiarize
yourself with the policies of MSU
regarding plagiarism and other kinds of academic dishonesty under
the heading "I. Violations/A. Academic Dishonesty"
at:
http://www.montclair.edu/pages/deanstudents/regulations1.html
Course
Outline
Week
One: Introduction
Friday
We
will read the syllabus, discussing the course's scope, objectives
and requirements.
Week
Two: The Birth of Christianity
Tuesday
Lecture
Friday
Video
and Discussion: From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians,
part II (Sprague videotape
#2863, part II)
Week Three: The
Christianization of the Roman Empire
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
8-29.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 5-23 and 193. Also, reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 30-37.
Week Four: The
Roman Empire Transformed: The Waning West and Ascending East
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
30-49 and 68-81.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 23-50. Also, reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 38-47.
All
students must have chosen a topic for their oral presentation
by today.
Week
Five: The Reordering of Europe
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
50-67.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 51-74 and 194-197.
Handouts:
(1) Tips for Better Writing, (2) Oral Presentation
Advice & (3) Oral Presentation Evaluation Form
Video:
"Medieval Manuscripts" (30 minutes)
Week
Six: The Rise of Islam
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
81-96.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 75-85 and 194-197. Also,
reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 48-51.
Week
Seven: The Carolingian World
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
97-147.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 88-167 and 198-205. Also, reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 52-55.
GeoQuest: Interactive and Presentation
Maps of the Early Medieval World
Week
Eight: Crusade and Collision
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
215-239.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 180-190; 226-227; and 272-293. Also, reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 232-257.
Week
Nine: Political Centralization
and Creative Expression
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
147-214 and 266-320.
Friday
Video
and Discussion: Cathedral (Sprague
videotape #6087). Read Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 216-223 and 232-233. Also, reflect
on and bring to class Medieval Panorama, pages 92-157.
Week
Ten: Crisis and Consolidation
Tuesday
Lecture: For
background, read Medieval Europe: A Short History, pages
321-383.
Friday
Discussion:
Read and bring to class Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook,
pages 319-351 and 356-366.
Week
Eleven: Movie: The Seventh
Seal (Sprague
videotape #329B)
Tuesday
Movie (Part
I): Read (1) the Book of Revelation (end of the New Testament)
and (2) pages 216-243 in John Aberth's A Knight at the Movies:
Medieval History on Film (call # PN1995.9.M52 A24 and on 2-hour
reserve)
Friday
Movie
(Part II) and Discussion
Week
Twelve: Toward
a New Synthesis
& Oral Presentations
Tuesday
Video and Discussion:
Renaissance, part 6: The World Reborn (Sprague video
#2722, part 6)
Friday
NO CLASS IN OBSERVANCE OF THANKSGIVING
Week
Thirteen: Oral Presentations
Tuesday
1. Constantine (emperor; ca. 280 - 337)
2. Augustine of Hippo (North African bishop and saint; 354-430)
3. "King Arthur" (legendary English king; ca. 500)
4. Justinian (Byzantine emperor; 483 - 565)
5. Theodora (Byzantine empress; ca. 497 - 548)
6. Gregory I (aka Gregory the Great) (pope and saint; ca. 540 - 604)
7. Cyril and Methodius (Greek saints and missionaries to the Slavs; died 869 and 884, respectively)
Friday
1. Charlemagne (Franco-German king and emperor: ca. 742-814)
2. William the Conqueror (English king; ca. 1027 - 1087)
3. Peter Abelard (French scholar, teacher and monk; 1079 - 1142)
4. Hildegard of Bingen (German abbess and mystic; 1098 - 1179)
5. Thomas Becket (English archbishop and saint; ca. 1118 - 1170)
6. Eleanor of Aquitaine (French and English queen; ca. 1122 - 1204)
7. Anna Comnena (Byzantine princess; ca. 1083 - 1148)
The Seventh Seal paper is due in class today.
Week Fourteen:
Oral Presentations
Tuesday
1. Richard the Lionhearted (English king; 1157-1199)
2. Innocent III (pope; ca. 1160 - 1216)
3. St. Francis of Assisi (Italian friar and saint; ca. 1180 - 1226)
4. Albigensians (AKA Cathars) (French heretics destroyed ca. 1230)
5. Louis IX (French king and saint; 1214 - 1270)
6. William Wallace (Scottish national hero; ca. 1270 - 1305)
7. Alexander Nevsky (Russian prince; 1220-1263)
Friday
1. Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) (Jewish scholar, physician and philosopher; 1135-1204)
2. Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (Muslim philosopher; 1126-1198)
3. Knights Templar (religious military order; ca. 1120 - 1312)
4. Dante Alighieri (Italian poet; 1265 - 1321)
5. Geoffrey Chaucer (English poet; ca. 1340 - 1400)
6. Catherine of Siena (Italian nun, mystic and saint; 1347 - 1380)
7. Joan of Arc (French saint; ca. 1412 - 1431)
Week Fifteen:
Oral Presentations and Review
Tuesday
1. Christine de Pizan (French writer; c. 1365-1430)
2. Johann Gutenberg (German inventor and printer; ca. 1397 - 1468)
3. Christopher Columbus (Italian explorer; 1451-1506)
4. Leonardo da Vinci (Italian Renaissance man; 1452 - 1519)
5. Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian author and statesman; 1469 - 1527)
6. Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish astronomer; 1473-1543)
7. Martin Luther (German scholar and monk; 1483 - 1546)
Wednesday
Review and Course Evaluations
Final Exam
Tuesday, December 20, 8:00 - 10:00 AM
The
Seventh Seal Paper
Ingmar
Bergman's 1957 classic The Seventh Seal is a powerful vision
of a society beset by the Black Death. Based in 14th-century Sweden,
the movie provides modern audiences with an opportunity to imagine
what life was like during this terrifying time from a distant
age. Where does the film succeed in giving us insight into medieval
civilization - and its foundation text, the Bible (more specifically,
the Book of Revelation)? And, in its attempt to reach modern secularized
audiences, where does it fail to remain true to medieval society?
In other words, what does it leave out that helps explain how
medieval Europeans not only endured but also overcame the devastation
to quickly develop one of the most creative societies on historical
record? Write with focus, spending time on particular scenes to
support your critical analysis of this important film. And be
sure to draw on and use the two accompanying texts, which should
inform your answer.
Your
Paper Will:
1. Be 5 - 7 typewritten pages long.
2. Be written in a font that is between 11 and 12 points.
3. Be double-spaced.
4. Have one-inch margins on all four sides of each page.
5. Be submitted to me in class on Friday,
December 2nd .
Oral
Presentations
Each oral presentation should
be between 7 and 9 minutes long. Topics will be assigned on a
first-come, first-served basis. Each student needs to have chosen
a topic by September 30th. The
presentation needs to incorporate visuals (handouts, slides, PowerPoint
presentation, etc.). Please
be aware of the new Student
Technology Resource Room that is available to you at Sprague;
it can prove to be an invaluable resource for this assignment.
And when it comes time to present, please
notify me two weeks before
the date of your presentation should you need special equipment.
The time constraints imposed by these reports make it imperative
that you are ready to give the report on the day scheduled. If
you are absent on the day you are scheduled to make your presentation,
you will receive an F for the assignment.
©Copyright
2003-2005 Dawn Marie Hayes. Last updated August 22, 2005.
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