Special Topics Course Proposal Form
ORIGINATING CAMPUS: (xx) Ammerman ( ) Eastern ( ) Grant
Date Submitted to Campus Dean: _____12/06_____
To meet the ideals of Suffolk County Community College, new courses should, if appropriate, consider issues arising from elements of cultural diversity in areas of textbook choice, selection of library and audio-visual materials, and teaching methodology.
CAMPUS DEAN E-MAILS ENTIRE PROPOSAL PACKET TO THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE CHAIR AS A WORD DOCUMENT UPON ITS APPROVAL.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PROCEDURES
1.
Instructor downloads and drafts proposal and syllabus from Special Topics link on the Curriculum Website
2.
Proposer sends the files (proposal and syllabus) electronically to the Academic Chair for distribution and support from Academic Department.
3.
Academic Chair initials the proposal upon approval and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the Campus
Dean.
4.
Upon approval, the Campus Dean initials the proposal and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the College
Curriculum Committee Chair for posting on the Curriculum Website.
5.
The College Curriculum Chair will electronically forward the files (including syllabus) to the College Associate Dean for Curriculum and Assessment.
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Proposed by____Audrey DeLong_____ Date of Proposal____11/06
Department/Discipline______English (Honors)__________________________
Course #____EG 99______
I.
B. Class Size 20
Course Title______Chivalry and the Crusades___
RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENTS
A. *Credit Hours_4_ Contact Hours_3__
Lecture Hours_____ Lab/Studio Hours_____
*See Curriculum Website for Credit/Contact Hours Formula.
II. RELATIONSHIP TO MASTER SCHEDULE
A. **Proposed Semesters Course will run:
Fall__2007___ Winter_(yr.)____ Spring_2008____ Summer_(yr.)____
C.
B.
Course Fees
Lab Fees_____ Course Fees_____
**Projected Termination Date
Fall_(yr.)____ Winter_(yr.)____ Spring_(yr.)____ Summer_(yr.)____
**Special Topics courses may run for only two semesters. Upon the completion of the second semester, the course must be withdrawn from the schedule unless it has been re-approved as a Special Topics course or approved as a permanent course. Under no circumstances may a Special Topics course run for more than four semesters.
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006

Special Topics Course Proposal Form
III. Rationale for Course:
The current tensions between the Western world and the Middle East, scholars agree, have long roots, stretching back as far as the Crusades. Crusader studies, up until the last several years, have been ignored or swept under the rug as ‘the darkest hour of Christendom.’
Only recently have scholars begun to reinvestigate the Crusades as a spectacular, if explosive, contact between the East and the West. One of the results of this contact is the development, in the West, of chivalry—a code of masculine conduct both on and off the battlefield. This course will enable students to explore in depth both the roots and perspectives that might illuminate the current political climate through study of contemporary sources on both sides.
Students will also gain an understanding of the evolution of the rules and tensions (such as honor and loyalty) that, to this day, govern male behavior.
Additionally, students will be learning the methodology of New Historicism: they will do exactly what medievalists do—move from history to historiography to literary analysis.
IV. Description of Course:
This course is for motivated students who want to explore an interdisciplinary approach to literature. The first part of the course will give students a solid grounding in the history of the Crusades, the second will study historiography (the question of how reliable our historical sources are), and the third will concentrate on fictional representations of chivalry in major literary texts of the period. They will be responsible for an oral presentation on an important
Crusade figure or battle or date, will work on a short historiography project comparing the four reliable redactions of Urban II’s speech calling for the First Crusade in 1095, and a literary paper examining one of the works of literature we cover. They will also have a midterm and final examination.
All literature will be in translation.
V. Approvals
Department Approval_______________
Academic Chair
William F. Connors, Jr.
Campus Dean Approval_____________
Campus Dean
Date_______________
2/7/07
Date_______________
9/2006
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

Special Topics Course Proposal Form
I.
II.
Course Number and Title: EG Chivalry and the Crusades
Description of Course:
This course is for motivated students who want to explore an interdisciplinary approach to literature. The first part of the course will give students a solid grounding in the history of the Crusades, the second will study historiography (the question of how reliable our historical sources are), and the third will concentrate on fictional representations of chivalry in major literary texts of the period. In our study of historiography, students will read not only the
Frank’s side of the story, but the Muslim’s perspective as well, through excerpts from
Ma’alouf’s Crusades Through Arab Eyes.They will be responsible for an oral presentation on an important Crusade figure or battle or date, will work on a short historiography project comparing the four reliable redactions of Urban II’s speech calling for the First Crusade in
1095, and a literary paper examining one of the works of literature we cover. They will also have a midterm and final examination.
All literature will be in translation.
III. Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course students will:
 gain an understanding of history of Europe 1095-1291
 consider the agendas that may lurk behind any historical account, ancient or modern
 demonstrate oral competency and research abilities during oral presentation
 appreciate multicultural perspectives
 understand the socio-cultural origins of gendered behavior and its implications on modern masculinity
 utilize an historicist approach to literature
IV. Required Texts and Materials:
Payne, Robert. The Dream and the Tomb. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000.
Peters, Edward. The First Crusade. (2 nd ed). Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1998.
Keen, Maurice. Chivalry. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
The Song of Roland. New York: Penguin Classics, 1957.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Morte Darthur. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2003.
There will also be a coursepack including excerpts from Ma’alouf The Crusades Through Arab Eyes;
Hillenbrandt’s Crusades: Islamic Perspectives; and a translation (done by me) of an anonymous Middle
English Crusade Romance “The Sultan of Babylon” and a few Old French chansons de croisades (also translated by me).
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006

Special Topics Course Proposal Form
V. Assessment of Student Learning:
Midterm:
History Oral Presentation:
20%
10%
VI.
Historiography Project:
Literature Paper:
Final Exam:
Class Participation:
20%
20%
20%
10%
Weekly Outline of Topics and Assignments:
Rough Schedule:
Week One: Introductory stuff, overview of course. Baseline knowledge gathering. A little music, some pictures, and details: What’s a crusade? Who were crusaders? Why is Jerusalem so important? Payne Chapter
1-2 (Constantinople).
Week Two: Anna Comnena responds to the First Crusade. Why ‘we’ went. Does anyone seem to know?
Payne Chapter 3-4, Hillenbrand ch 2 and Ma’alouf ch 1-3. Same event, different perspectives. Who’s right?
Week Three: Historiography problems, illustrated, the discovery of the Holy Lance at Antioch. Selections from The First Crusade Who do we believe? Payne Chapter 5-6. Maalouf 4-5. What allows medievals to believe in miracles? What doubts do contemporary historians evince? Historiography Project assigned.
Week Four: The Third Crusade: Payne, Chapter 7, Maalouf, chapter 10. Hillenbrand chapter three—Jihad and
Just War. Keen Chapter One.
Week Five: CHIVALRY Vegetius and the realities of siege warfare. Introduction of the stirrup and fixed-lance.
Problems in battle. Keen, 2-3. Historiography project due.
Week Six: Charny and Lull—what is ‘right behavior’ for a knight? How does Chaucer’s Knight stack up?
Indulgences, tournaments and the rise of the Military Orders. What is a Military Order? Keen Chapters 4-5
Week Seven: Is cannibalism off limits? The Gesta, the account of Raymond of Aguilers, and Peter Tubedode of the ‘suffering of the crusaders’. Keen ch. 12. What’s off limits to a knight in battle? Can you be a brave knight and cower in a castle? Crusader ‘spur’ castles. Project Introduced.
Week Eight: Fulchre’s Chronicle (In
The First Crusade
) Section “Siege of Antioch”—is this history or literature? Where do historians draw that line?
Week Nine: You guys take the stage: student presentations of major battles/castles. Presentations should involve juicy handouts, maps, timelines, and both sides of the story (responsible historians, not biased!)
“Midterm”.
Week Ten: Literature—the advertising of the New Man. Chanson de geste-Chanson de Roland
—how does
Roland die? Why does Roland have to die? Why don’t the evil pagans get to kill him? Who is a bigger enemy,
Ganelon or the Moorish emir?
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006

Special Topics Course Proposal Form
Week Eleven: Middle English Romance: Sowdone of Babylone. Ferumbras and Floripas—why is it easier for her to convert and be accepted? What do the Europeans think about the Saracen Other? How can the Other convert?
Week Twelve: Chansons de Croisade—popular music of the 12 th century. How is the crusade being ‘sold’ to prospective crusaders and their girlfriends in these songs? Art of the crusades. Payne ch 10.
Week Thirteen: Malory, Grail Quest—who’s who and what’s what? What is the Grail? Where does it go? The extremely convoluted yet inbred family tree of Galahad. Perceval and Bors, their backstories. How do English knights stack up to French varieties?
Week Fourteen: Grail Quest Part Two: Where does Galahad’s purity come from? Is he an achievable ideal?
Why does Lancelot fail? Is there any hope for Lancelot at all? Compare with Conte de Graal. (coursepack)
Kingdom of Heaven pt 1.
Week Fifteen: Kingdom of Heaven (film) —what’s ‘chivalry’ in this film? What has the 21 st
Century done with the ideals of the 12 th
? Final papers due and take home exam due.
9/2006
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY