Time and Location
MWF 10:40-11:30 PM
Leigh Hall 104
Description
The popular perception of the Middle Ages is that of a world of violence and filth, when life, as Thomas Hobbes put it, was “nasty, brutish, and short.” Imagine the chaos in that world when a natural disaster like an earthquake, a flood or famine struck. How did people react to natural abnormalities such as earthquakes and floods in the Middle Ages? Why did they experience them as disasters? How did they explain them? In recent years, a growing concern with climate change and epidemics have drawn the attention of historians to catastrophic events in history, the ways in which societies coped with such events, and the long-term consequences they had on social and religious life. This course is an exploration of such topics related to disasters, catastrophes, and calamities. The course is meant to be an interdisciplinary tour of the medieval world–both East and West. The goal is to examine a series of natural and man-made disasters and the various reactions to them, in order to open up the discussion for comparison and analysis. Primary sources will be the main focus of this seminar. You will be reading a variety of sources, from chronicles to eye-witness accounts. Those readings will offer not only a basis for class discussions, but also the research material onto which the secondary literature is to be grafted. The latter is meant to help you develop the research skill necessary for your own projects. At the beginning of the course, you are expected to identify a topic from the list below around which you will then build your project. You will then go through various stages of writing a research paper, and at the end of the course you will have the opportunity to present its results to your peers in a formal colloquium.
Required texts
All readings are available in pdf format on Canvas (http://elearning.ufl.edu/). Students are required to check the course page on Canvas regularly for updates.
Assignments and grading policies
There is no attendance policy, but you are responsible for attending all lectures and reading the required texts. Class participation and preparation constitutes 35 percent of your final grade. Participation refers not only to regular attendance (despite the absence of a specific attendance policy), but also to your contribution to class discussions, to short response papers, and a variety of other assignments over the course of the semester (e.g., quizzes). Be aware that thorough preparation for, and active participation in weekly discussions is crucial for the success of this seminar. Plan in advance at least two blocks of time (minimally 5 hours a week outside of class) when you can do the required reading and weekly writing assignments. This is definitely not a class for which you can prepare in an hour or two on Sunday night!
The final research paper (due Monday, April 25, before 12:00) represents another 35 percent. Although you will be working on this project since Week 3 of the seminar, your research project will be your primary focus especially during the final five weeks of class. Your grade on this 15-20-page long paper will not be based only on the actual paper, but also on your timely completion of several “lead-up assignments” listed in the course weekly topics. Failure to meet the deadlines will result in a grade penalty.
The remaining 30 percent is divided equally between the shorter writing assignments, 15 percent for the primary source analysis, and 15 percent for the book review. The primary source analysis is a “warm-up” exercise for the longer paper you will complete at the end of the course. More specific directions for that paper will be given in due time. Later in the semester you will be selecting a secondary source related to your research topic. You will review critically a book in your field of interest following the guidelines provided.
Grades. The following scale will be used in determining your final grade
| 93-100 | A |
| 92-90 | A- |
| 87-89 | B+ |
| 82-86 | B |
| 80-82 | B- |
| 77-79 | C+ |
| 72-76 | C |
| 70-72 | C- |
| 67-69 | D+ |
| 62-66 | D |
| 60-62 | D- |
| under 60 | F |