Aims

This module will approach key themes in the medieval history of Europe and the Middle East through the motif of communication. By investigating the context and content of medieval communication, we will be able explore a range of social, political and religious relationships: within families and communities, between rulers and ruled, between past and present, and between the temporal and spiritual worlds. While much of the communication discussed will be accessed through primary source texts, there will be an important place in the module for visual material (art, buildings, objects), and for sources that span the textual/physical divide (such as descriptions of ritual). The module will also seek to unpick notions of the medieval world as static, unchanging, and monocultural, by looking at the movement of ideas and people, emphasizing networks of knowledge and cross-cultural connections.

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics that may be covered include:

•       communication and legitimacy: coins, proclamations, inscriptions, monuments
•       communication as performance: poetry, drama, sermons
•       communication and identity: foundation myths and tales of the ancestors
•       communication and religion: prayer, ritual, commemoration
•       communication and travel: trade routes, pilgrimage, migration
•       communication and knowledge: translation, education, language, advice books
•       communication, family, community: reputation, law, wills, letters

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

SEMINARS encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral presentation, interpersonal communication, problem-solving skills, research skills and adaptability.

LECTURES enable students to gain a wider sense of historical argument and debate and how such debates operate, which also allows them to develop comparisons between different historiographical debates. ONLINE LECTURE MATERIALS follow up on the weekly lectures and link to the seminars; they are designed to provide focused case studies of specific primary texts, images or objects.

WORKSHOP: Staff will set out the requirements and expectations of the first assessment with students, and give students the opportunity to receive feedback on the formative essay bibliography and plan.

SURGERY TIME: Staff will make themselves available to see students individually or in groups on issues concerning them, although we expect this will focus on preparation for assessments. This is addition to standard office hours.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

1. Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining the student’s progress.
2. Summative assessment tests knowledge outcomes and develops skills in research and reading.
3. Formative assessment will take the form of an annotated bibliography and short plan for the first essay, which will be discussed in the workshop.
3. The summative work will take the form of two essays; titles will be provided to students on Canvas. The second essay receives a higher weighting to reflect the fact that students will have greater familiarity with the module material, and will have benefitted from feedback on the first essay to improve their skills and approach for the second.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. Where an exam is present, an alternative form of assessment will be set and where coursework is present, an alternative deadline will be set. details of the alternative assessment will be provided by the module leader.