MAS4541 – Current issues in medieval studies with focus on history 2
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
In the last decades, the crusades have become an important area of scholarship in medieval studies. This has partly to do with the shift of focus from the warfare and settlements in the Holy Land, to the impact the crusading movement had on the lives and thoughts in the Western world. Crusades have been connected to the formation of a Christian and European identity in a period when Europe both economically and culturally started to expand towards the east.
Little has been done on this subject in Scandinavia, mainly on the Denmark as a frontier society against heathens in the Baltics. Less have been written in the case of Norway and Sweden, but we will discuss the motivations of the crusaders and the uses of crusading ideology on the basis of primary sources.
Learning outcome
The aim of this course is to give an introduction to the current issues in crusading studies and its possible relevance to Scandinavian political culture in the Middle Ages.
Admission
Students must be admitted to the master’s programme Nordic Viking and Medieval Culture, the master’s programme in History, or an international student exchange programme.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
The course builds on previous knowledge equivalent to a bachelor’s degree with a major within a discipline that covers the Viking period or the European Middle Ages.
Teaching
The teaching will to a great extent take the form of seminars and/or individual tutorials. Teaching may be carried out on a regular basis throughout the whole semester or in more intensive blocks, with periods of self study in between. In addition, students are expected to follow activities taking place under the auspices of research projects: seminars, conferences and guest lectures. Students are also supposed to contribute with their own presentations and to respond to each other’s work.
Access to teaching
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
The student’s work will be assessed on the basis of a semester assignment. The subject of the assignment will be agreed between the student and the teacher. The assignment shall comprise 10 pages of approximately 2,300 keystrokes excluding spaces.
Language of examination
You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English. If you would prefer to have the exam text in English, you may apply to the course administrators.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.