Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

Global Middle Ages introduces students to multiple regions of the world in the thousand years between approximately 500CE and 1500CE. “Global” indicates that the module explores interlinking themes and connections on a global scale which linked the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe together in the period. In exploring medieval worlds, students will be introduced to the diversity of cultures around the world and investigate the interconnections of trade, travel, and ideas which linked them together. Regions studied may include Japan and China, England and Europe, Spain, North Africa, the Islamic World and the Byzantine Empire; The Mongol Empire, the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean. In introducing students to this diverse swathe of human history, clarity and focus is maintained by studying the approaches and methodologies through which medieval societies can be understood, from political systems to gender, economics, literature, and disease.
This module aims to broaden students’ knowledge and understanding of the global past, introducing them to histories and regions that may be unfamiliar and they have not had the opportunity to study before, as well as providing them with the opportunity to re-examine the familiar with new methods and approaches. The module introduces students to different methods and disciplinary approaches, and different kinds of evidence across History and Archaeology.

Outline Of Syllabus

Global Middle Ages explores a broad geographical span of cultures and societies each week, investigating these through weekly themes. Examples for each theme will be contributed by staff members from History and Archaeology, covering regions and cultures which may include but are not limited to the Islamic World, Japan, China, India, England, Byzantium, North Africa, the Mongol Empire, Armenia, Spain, and the Mediterranean.

The weekly themes may vary depending on staff availability and student ideas, so the following is an indicative list of themes which may be covered:
The concept of ‘the Middle Ages’ and questions of its global applicability
Governments and Subjects
Economics before Capitalism
Creativity and Learning
Beliefs, Practices, and Organisations
Class and Gender
Sacred Landscapes
Locally and Globally significant sites
Networks, trade and exchange
Medievalism and fiction

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students will develop an understanding of the connections and differences between the cultures and societies of Asia, Europe, and North Africa in the period 500-1500, with regard to their political, economic, religious, cultural, and social histories.

Students will develop an understanding of chronology within the period 500-1500, combined with a grasp of periodisation and historical change across this period.

Students will develop an awareness of the history and development of the concept of the middle ages or medieval world, and its global applicability.

Students will develop competence in examining medieval societies using a range of methodologies and approaches from the historical and archaeological disciplines.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students will develop their skills as comparative historians, examining different cultures across Eurasia and North Africa in terms of similarities, differences, and influences.
Students will enhance their ability to synthesise information from multiple sources on disparate topics, bringing together case studies from their set reading, lectures, and recorded materials to inform their discussions in seminars and arguments in assessed work.

Students will augment their primary disciplinary skills with understanding of the usefulness of cross-disciplinary methodological influence from their studies on this module, whether that be History, Archaeology, Anthropology and Ethnology or literature and linguistics.

Students will work together in seminars to build community, support each other in understanding the module content and to develop resilience in self-organisation and confidence in the discussion of ideas.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures and non-synchronous lecture materials will be provided by experts and will introduce topics and core knowledge and outline knowledge that students are expected to acquire and to think about. In almost every week, the combination of the in-person lecture and the lecture materials will introduce students to the week’s topic in four different world religions. Lecture materials can be viewed at any point in the week, though they should be viewed before that week’s seminar, and can be viewed at any time subsequently.

Seminars are intended to consolidate students’ learning and enhance their understanding, by (1) providing an opportunity to review the week’s lecture and lecture materials and its set reading materials, and to discuss any questions that students have about them, but more importantly (2) providing an opportunity for creative work, in group discussion and debate that engages in comparative history, comparing the different societies/regions that the lecturers have introduced and that the students have read about.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining students' progress. The assessments for this module are designed to test students' knowledge outcomes while helping them develop research and academic writing skills. The three short essays which make up the summative portfolio assessment provide students with the opportunity to explore the breadth of topics and methodologies covered in the module while developing concise academic writing skills. This portfolio forms a means of assessing students’ attainment of the knowledge and skills outcomes as set out in the learning outcomes section.

The formative assessment provides students with the opportunity to work on and submit a draft version of one of their three short essays for the portfolio, and to receive advice and feedback from staff before completing the summative assessment.

General Notes

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