History 111
History of the Dark Ages
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome #1: In this course students will learn to thoughtfully examine the
European and Mediterranean societies that emerged after the collapse of the late antique
Roman Empire and that achieved full formation in the century following the turn of the
first millennium C.E. The societies studied include the new Germanic, Irish, Latin,
Slavic, and Viking polities of western and northern Europe, the Muslim caliphates of the
southern and eastern Mediterranean, and the renewed Roman Empire of the Greeks
centered at Constantinople. The examination will be historical with an interdisciplinary
inclusion of artistic, musical, literary, legal, religious, and cultural remains. There is an
emphasis on an examination of historical remains (documents, images, et al.) by
presenting at least one per class and inviting the students to respond in conversation about
their significance and occasionally individually through the use of questions of
understanding, interpretation and evaluation polled with iclickers. Mastery of the
narrative history will be demonstrated in conversation at the individual oral midterm and
final examinations, where one quarter of the exam credit is dedicated to mastery of the
narrative of history.
Learning Outcome #2: In this course students will come to understand the major
theories of interpretation for significant historical transformations of the era, including
the rise of a new European culture which was complex in its informing traditions—
imperial politics, classical learning, Christian religion, and Barbarian customs—and
complex in its diverse political, economic, and Christian manifestations. Students are
introduced to major historical schools of interpretation—cultural, intellectual, and
economic. Historical interpretations by two major authors—Christopher Dawson and
Marc Bloch—are offered, as well as other significant historical theories, among them, the
Pirenne thesis of the closing of the Mediterranean by the nascent Arabic empire.
Students will come to understand, through the same major historians, theories of the rise
and success of Arabic-Islamic empire and the renovation of the Roman empire of the
Greeks. Lastly, students will come to understand the major theories around the formation
of European civilization. They will be able to discuss knowledgeably the range of
possibilities around the questions of the definition and origin of Europe. Monographs by
the historians mentioned above are assigned as reading. Students take a daily open book,
5-minute, one-question reading check on their understanding of the reading. Student-led
conversation is part of every class. Students write essays on the monographs in which
they are asked to interpret the authors' theses, their use of evidence, and their arguments,
and to evaluate the authors' theses in light of what they know from the rest of the course
material. Students are asked also to demonstrate understanding in the oral midterms and
finals.
Learning Outcome #3: In this course, students will learn how to collect, analyze, and
present the evidence of primary sources of history, mostly in translation. Primary
documentary evidence, in translations, art, artifacts, and music, will be offered as part of
the lecture of each class. The students' research work will be mainly, but not solely, for a
major lecture—of twenty minutes—that every student will give on a topic of their choice.
The work of research for the lecture will involve guidance in the search for primary and
secondary sources, reporting of sources, and creating a bibliography. Students at the
beginning of the course are given a guide sheet for the research with avenues of research
in the library, through interlibrary loan (Link+ and Illiad), and online. Students are also
presented with a lecture on the cautions of using Wikipedia and the ways of evaluating
online resources. Students then submit a preliminary bibliography on the way to
completing their research. Every bibliography must include a predominance of print
sources. When students make their presentation they must distribute their bibliography to
the class and in Q&A they are responsible for commenting on the uses of their sources.
The same skills of research and gathering of data emphasized for the preparation of a
major lesson are enjoined on the students as they prepare and take part in the daily
leading of discussion of the readings. A student leader is asked to state three major
points from the assigned reading, supply background information that help the class
understand the reading, and then pose a question or series of questions to help initiate the
conversation.
Learning Outcome #4: In this course, students will learn how to interpret evidence
about the social, political, and cultural history under study. They will do this through
daily writing on and discussion of the readings with a focus on critical analysis of the
authors' work of selection and interpretation of evidence; interpretive essays, preparation
and delivery of twenty-minute lesson, and oral one-on-one midterm and final
examinations that revolve around the students' abilities to bring all of the coursework
together into an interpretive whole. The five-minute, open-book daily reading checks
establish a regular communication between the professor and the individual student
whereby I can track their understanding. The work on the lesson that students present
enables the student to demonstrate the depth and sophistication of understanding. The
essays are a primary means of showing the ability to interpret the material. Students must
analyze an assigned author's thesis and methodology, major school of interpretation
(whether cultural, intellectual, or economic), and the success of the thesis. They are also
asked in the second and subsequent essays to compare and contrast historians. The oral
exams complement the work of the essay writing in allowing the student to demonstrate
the same learnings in conversation.
Syllabus, with parenthetical applications of goals. [See syllabus for the remainder
of the information.]
Course Requirements
Grade Evaluation
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