Teaching Medieval in a General Education Context (A Roundtable)

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Alison Locke Perchuk

Organizer Affiliation

California State Univ.-Channel Islands

Presider Name

Amy Caldwell

Presider Affiliation

California State Univ.-Channel Islands

Paper Title 1

Art History

Presenter 1 Name

Peter Scott Brown

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of North Florida

Paper Title 2

Medieval English Literature

Presenter 2 Name

Andrea Harbin

Presenter 2 Affiliation

SUNY-Cortland

Paper Title 3

Medievalisms and Popular Culture

Presenter 3 Name

A. Keith Kelly

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Georgia Gwinnett College

Paper Title 4

Astronomy

Presenter 4 Name

Kristine Larsen

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Central Connecticut State Univ.

Paper Title 5

Vernacular Languages

Presenter 5 Name

Marilyn Lawrence

Presenter 5 Affiliation

New York Univ.

Paper Title 6

Religion

Presenter 6 Name

Heidi Marx-Wolf

Presenter 6 Affiliation

Univ. of Manitoba

Paper Title 7

History

Presenter 7 Name

Susan Taylor

Presenter 7 Affiliation

Univ. of Houston-Victoria

Start Date

16-5-2015 3:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 1360

Description

Regardless of our particular discipline, as scholars of the Middle Ages many of us find ourselves faced with the same challenge: our training and our research interests may be highly specialized, but our teaching assignments demand breadth of knowledge and pedagogy. This is particularly true for those of us who teach some or all of our courses in a general education (GE) context. GE courses must be accessible in content and method to non-majors, while in many instances still providing solid disciplinary training to majors. At smaller schools or in smaller majors even upper-division courses may have no prerequisites, potentially inhibiting the sequencing of knowledge and training. Faculty in writing and foreign language programs face a related challenge of determining whether and how to bring medieval content into the classroom. Finally, in an era in which course enrollments matter seemingly more than ever, how can we do all this while also drawing students to courses on a time period that many are inclined to write off as boring and irrelevant?

This roundtable seeks to help us navigate these challenges by bringing together faculty from a range of disciplines and institutions to discuss their experiences in the GE classroom and some of the ways in which they have invigorated their teaching of the Middle Ages to bring benefit to GE and major students alike. We hope to engage participants from the fields of art history, astronomy, English, history, literature, medievalisms and popular culture, vernacular languages, and religion, as well as audience members from a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, and from two-year and four-year institutions, all of whom are interested in sharing experiences, approaches, and strategies with their medievalist colleagues.

Alison L. Perchuk and Amy Caldwell

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May 16th, 3:30 PM

Teaching Medieval in a General Education Context (A Roundtable)

Schneider 1360

Regardless of our particular discipline, as scholars of the Middle Ages many of us find ourselves faced with the same challenge: our training and our research interests may be highly specialized, but our teaching assignments demand breadth of knowledge and pedagogy. This is particularly true for those of us who teach some or all of our courses in a general education (GE) context. GE courses must be accessible in content and method to non-majors, while in many instances still providing solid disciplinary training to majors. At smaller schools or in smaller majors even upper-division courses may have no prerequisites, potentially inhibiting the sequencing of knowledge and training. Faculty in writing and foreign language programs face a related challenge of determining whether and how to bring medieval content into the classroom. Finally, in an era in which course enrollments matter seemingly more than ever, how can we do all this while also drawing students to courses on a time period that many are inclined to write off as boring and irrelevant?

This roundtable seeks to help us navigate these challenges by bringing together faculty from a range of disciplines and institutions to discuss their experiences in the GE classroom and some of the ways in which they have invigorated their teaching of the Middle Ages to bring benefit to GE and major students alike. We hope to engage participants from the fields of art history, astronomy, English, history, literature, medievalisms and popular culture, vernacular languages, and religion, as well as audience members from a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, and from two-year and four-year institutions, all of whom are interested in sharing experiences, approaches, and strategies with their medievalist colleagues.

Alison L. Perchuk and Amy Caldwell