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
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