This course follows the transformations of English identity from the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410 CE to about the middle of the 14th century. We will look at the history of institutions, such as the Monarchy or Parliament, aspects of daily life in different strata of society, gender, education, religion, literary culture, and art and architecture. We will work with a variety of primary sources, including chronicles, law codes, charters, chivalric romances, and biographies. The course will include a game/simulation component (“Reacting To The Past”) on the Black Death in England, in which students will assume roles of various 14th-century characters and work their way through different debates relating to this catastrophic event.
Students will gain an understanding of the development of medieval England: state formation, politics and diplomacy, socio-economic history, religious history, development of various literary and artistic forms. More generally, students will learn to ask relevant questions about medieval history, will become familiar with the different ways in which medieval history has been used and abused in the modern and contemporary periods, and will practice working with primary source material in a responsible manner. In preparing for class and completing the required assignments students will improve their critical reading, research, presentation, and academic writing skills.
Required books (available in digital format @ GaTech library)
Leyser, Henrietta, A Short History of the Anglo-Saxons, 2019.
Clanchy, M.T., England and Its Rulers: 1066-1307, 2014.
Attendance and participation in class discussion. NB: this is a discussion-based course with weekly reading assignments of considerable complexity. You will NOT do well in this course by skimming the assigned daily readings 30 mins before class. Assigned primary source readings must be done prior to each class; this is essential to meaningful participation in class discussion. Participation rubric is available on canvas. – 20%
Reading quizzes – 30%
Reacting To The Past – 30% (20% speaking/participation; 10% 1-2 short papers/speeches)
Final project – 20% (each stage of the final project will be factored into this grade – topic selection, annotated bibliography, outline, final product).
Attendance is mandatory and will be recorded. Students are allowed one unexcused absence and one make-up quiz. Beyond that, there will be a 3% deduction from the final grade for every unexcused absence. Assignment/test/participation make-up opportunities will be granted ONLY for excused absences. (excused absence=documented illness or documented emergency; some examples of absences that will not be excused: travel outside of Institute programs, errands, work-/internship-/interview-related absences).
Students are expected to abide by the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code . Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. According to our Academic Honor Code, plagiarism is the “submission of material that is wholly or substantially identical to that created or published by another person or persons, without adequate credit notations indicating the authorship.” Use of AI-generated content without proper attribution will be treated as plagiarism. The penalty for plagiarism will be a “0” grade for the assignment/test in question. A repeat offense will result in a failing grade for the course. All cases of plagiarism will be reported to the Office of Student Integrity (see process here).
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Social Sciences area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I understand human experiences and connections?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:
- Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human behavior, and how historical, economic, political, social, or geographic relationships develop, persist, or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Intercultural Competence
- Perspective-Taking
- Persuasion