This is blog for students of History 102g - Medieval Civilization
History 102g, Medieval Civilization Discussion Section Syllabus
Fridays 9am, 12pm
TAs: Stacey Lutkoski & Ericka Swensson
Email: staceybl@usc.edu, emswensson@yahoo.com
Office: Shrine Offices
Welcome to the discussion section for History 102g. Discussion sections will examine and elaborate on the material presented through the lectures and readings. These classes will help us work through difficult concepts and problematize historical issues. As stated in the course syllabus, the discussion sections are worth 20% of your total course grade. Half of your discussion section grade will be determined by performance in the section itself. In order to receive full credit you need to be present at every class with the readings in hand, be an active participant, and demonstrate a familiarity with the sources.
Cell phone calls, tardiness, inappropriate use of laptops, and other disruptive behavior will not be tolerated and will adversely affect your grade.
Attendance is mandatory. Consult the course syllabus for more information on the attendance policy and penalties.
The second half of your discussion section grade will depend upon your performance in our class blog. Please email Ericka if you have not yet been added to the blog. This is your responsibility, and we will not be held responsible for your negligence. Each week we will post an assignment by Monday evening. You must post a thoughtful paragraph response on the blog by Thursday at 8pm. Late postings will not be accepted. We encourage you to use the blog not only as a place to express your ideas but also as a discussion forum by responding to your classmates’ postings. Your post should neither be a “fact” oriented question/ comment nor a question concerning the content of the works themselves, i.e.: a question that requires outside sources to answer. Rather, your response statement should deal exclusively with the contents of the texts themselves. Also, make sure that you cite the page(s) used for your question or comment.
This syllabus is subject to change. We will communicate with you outside of class primarily through email, and it is your responsibility to check your account regularly for pertinent information. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact either one of us.
Any student requiring academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained by DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to us as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30am-5:00pm Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
12 comments:
The Confessions,Life of Anthony, and The Life of Martin have momved my perspective to the other side of the spectrum. I once believed that the Middle Ages were a time of sorrow, misery, and darkness.I have now travelled throughout Gaul, Alexandria, Milan, Rome, and heard voices that have permitted me to walk in their world for a few moments. Looking through the lens of a historians' filter, I'm beginning (I use the word in it's most liberal sense)to understand what life was like during their time. Today's lecture helped me look at the text differently and I have gone back to examine passages on page 23,chapter 23-"The demons are all hostile to all Christians, but they especially hate those who are monks and virgins of Christ"+ pg 52 "He said that it was sacrelegiuos even to think that there was a time when He was not, since God, the Word of God who is eternal,is coeternal with the father, for he was born from the Father who exists forever." My question for Friday's session is - Was this Anthansius's attempt to discredit the teaching of Aruis and the Ariomaniacs? I believe this text was used as propaganda to deflect the criticisms/liturgy of the Arians.Rick
Hello Rick-
Good blog post, but I think we might have already established in class that Athanasius is indeed attempting to discredit the Arians. Is there another way to phrase this question so that we can delve deeper into this issue?
On Friday during discussion we brainstormed a lot of terms we believed to be related to Medieval Civilization. However, I was reminded that some terms on it like chivalry, Crusades, and King Arthur, are on a very wide time spectrum. I feel like so much of what we believe medieval to be are influenced by fantasy stories of knights and ladies; stories that are formulaic as a general image of what medieval means. But I don’t think we can say that this image is any different from that given in the texts. If we just look at the text by itself, there is so little information about what the time period is like that it is hard to judge if our own images are included in the time period of the book. In Confessions, there are some clues that hint to what Augustine’s time, like him having money to be educated, or the inference, from what we’ve read, that there are other religions. Maybe what is written in the texts is only a sliver of what I believe medieval to mean. Then again what we think of that time period now is influenced by our own time. It’s hard to be objective about it. Even categorizing these periods into general names is all part of our present modern thinking.
After reading The Life of Anthony, Life of Martin, and Confessions, I feel like all the saints read as if they are of the same pedigree and that they were bred to journey to find Christianity and become bishop. I know that I can’t generalize and say things like “all saints are blank,” but I can’t seem to take what the authors are writing seriously. Especially with Life of Anthony and Life of Martin, how can we believe the writings to be true accounts of these saints and bishops? What if the authors wrote about these two in their own image? So in addition to the possibility that they wrote these books to promote Christianity through these people, maybe they’re promoting themselves too in a way to reassure their status as a vessel of God and teacher of Christianity.
A better question might be - Why does Anthansius need to discredit the teachings of the Arians through this text of Anthony if the benefits and rewards of Christianity are so beneficial as he writes? Also - his audience is for the most part are the newly converted (new monks) or believers.
I believe that the recent readings have failed to corroborate any of my faintly held notions of the Middle Ages and have paved the way for a new era of understanding. Being from the industrialized age, I have understandably adopted the mental stance that my age is more advanced (and perhaps more worthwhile) than any other. I believed the things I know and the emotions I understand are mere off shoots of the modern era. Reading these works, and Augustine in particular I have no choice but to acknowledge the presence of advanced life in the Middle Ages. By having such intimate readings I am able to see that people operated the same then as they do now. This may seem a tad trite but this understanding serves as a paragon of continuity throughout the ages. Without this, I'd be unable to relate. With this I can, for lack of a better term, get it. For the rest of the semester I can only see this understanding thriving and growing.
For Class... How bout we discuss some of the changes evident in Augustine the person from the previous books to the current one? If you don't want to discuss that maybe we can talk about ice cream.
I personally have been blown away by the way religion is perceived in the middle ages (well, at least so far.) I knew people were zealous in their faith, but reading the accounts of such Christian "celebrities" as Antony and Martin, I'm starting to think of religion, or in this case, Christianity, as nothing more than another form of "bread and circuses." What I mean, is that it seems like these stories being described by Anthanasius and Severus are feats of bravery, heroics, and sacrafice. However, these characterstics are backed on the foundation of a series of highly unlikely events. So, the purpose of these stories seems to, in part, entertain the people hearing about them, while at the same time pressing a type of moral code on civilization.
The Confessions of St. Augustine are much different, as it seems more sincere in its discussion of the trials and tennets of Christianity.
My thoughts of the Middle Ages have always been something relating with knights and princesses and peasants and so forth; I was always a huge fan of any book that had to do with Kings and scandal and any of that sort of thing. But with the books that we have been reading so far, it has been giving me a different perspective on the Middle Ages and what I thought they were. This mainly has to do with the fact that, to me at least, practically everything that is being talked about has to do with religion. While reading the Confessions, it has been really hard for me to concentrate on what Augustine is saying because for me all I hear is God this, God that, and since I personally have some issues regarding religion and God and such, it is really hard for me to read this book.
I feel that religion is a HUGE factor of their lives, which of course I knew, but I did not quite get this type of perspective into it until now.
Something that I would like to talk about more in class is the upper class and how they see and deal with the same issues as Augustine and the saints. I feel like we really have not seen any of the true upper class yet in our readings.
I believe that the recent readings and discussions have mainly changed my perception of the saints and church. Originally, I believed the saints to be more than human and to have every advantage imaginable in their world, especially literacy. While Augustine, who is well educated and a great writer, and the writers of the saints’ stories show this idea to be true; when I learned that Anthony was uneducated, I was blown away. Moreover, the church seems to be weaker than I originally perceived. Although I realize this is because my Middle Ages comes later, it’s still odd to see an organization that I thought rivaled countries need to compete with extinct pagan religions. However, it does seem Christianity is slowly becoming more powerful as demonstrated by Constantine’s “conversion.” Lastly, the absence of kings, nobility, knights, and serfs and the presence of emperors and slaves seem odd because I imagine the Middle Ages focused around fiefs and castles instead of Roman cities. There are two things, however, that match my view; the Christians generally seem devoutly religious, and religion seems an integral part of life.
As for my question, on page 139 in the Life of Martin the author claims it was the Lord who made the barbarians sue for peace and thus prevented Martin from being killed. My question is how often did early Christians take advantage of chance and call them miracles?
Most of my previous conceptions of the Middle Ages relied on superficial knowledge through brief contact with history class or concepts found in literature. Although some of those surface conceptions were verified, those concerning daily life activities and similar things, once I explored the text I found several things previously unknown to me. Primarily, the variety of religions present in Augustine's time and the zeal with which these religions were practiced. In book four Augustine mentions declining to consult the astrologers (also called mathematicians) about his philosophical questions which shows that astrology was at least a relatively prominent religion, something unknown to before reading Confessions. Convergent with my beginning beliefs was the presence of the Catholic faith Augustine describes on page 80, however the presence of cults and divisions such as the Manichees so brutally depicted in book four had escaped me.
Good blogs so far! But remember to include a question as well.
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