Time and Location

M 7:20-9:20 PM
CBD 310

Description

Late Antiquity is a field of research that witnessed an explosion of interest in the last few years. The relations between the Late Roman Empire and its neighbors across the frontier have by now become a key component of the study of Late Anquity, as the historical model associated with the so-called “ethnogenesis controversy” attempts to explain the change from the classical world to medieval conditions as the effect of ethnic identification supplanting Hellenistic forms of public discourse. Culturally specific dynamics of ethnicity, arising from proto-historical northern Europe, are seen as the engines of change. Recent critiques of the approach, however, see both its methodology and historiographic assumptions as problematic. The goal of this course is not to clarify the current debate, but to set out the questions of evidence and interpretation for students interested in medieval history, and to draw the attention of non-medievalists to this historiographic debate over interpretative models for one of the major revolutions in western history.

As this is a graduate level course, I assume that everyone enrolled has a basic familiarity with the resources available in the library and is willing to use foreign language sources when appropriate. I also assume that everyone knows the mechanics of researching and writing a scholarly paper. By this, I mean the proper use and acknowledgment of sources as well as the fundamentals of compositions, (English) grammar, and spelling.

The format of this course will be reading- and discussion-oriented. In lieu of written examinations, I will require a brief (3-5 page) essay on the readings each week, due in class on the day that they are to be discussed. You are also to complete a substantial research paper on a relevant topic. After we finish with the core set of required readings, I will expect you to locate and read sources on your own, then come to class prepared to discuss them. I have found this to be the most effective way to learn about a topic which is best examined through case studies. Requirements for the course include attendance at class meetings, participation in class discussion, and the timely completion of all assignments.

Assignments

There will be ten review essays. Each essay should be between three and five typed pages and all of them are worth 50 percent of your overall grade. Within the first month of the course, you must consult with me on selection of topic and bibliography for your research paper. That paper is worth 40  percent of your overall grade. Finally, the presentation of your paper in the final colloquium is worth another 10 percent.

In writing papers, be certain to give proper credit whenever you use words, phrases, ideas, arguments, and conclusions drawn from someone else’s work.  Failure to give credit by quoting and/or footnoting is plagiarism and is unacceptable. Please review the University’s honesty policy.

Required Text

• Walter Goffart, Barbarian Tides.The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
• Michael Kulikowski, Rome’s Gothic Wars from the Third Century to Alaric. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• C. R. Whittaker, Rome and its Frontiers: the Dynamics of Empire. London/New York: Routledge, 2004; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• Chris Wickham, Framing the Early Middle Ages. Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• Herwig Wolfram, The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1997; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis. Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, ed. by Florin Curta. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• On Barbarian Identity. Critical Approaches to Ethnicity in the Early Middle Ages, ed. by Andrew Gillett. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002; on two-hour reserve in Library West
• From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms, ed. by Thomas F. X. Noble. London/New York: Routledge, 2006.