Showing posts with label Oxford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oxford. Show all posts

Monday, 21 May 2012

Need more medieval in your life?

Well that was an awesome semester. Thanks everyone! But don't mourn its passing too soon. The internet is a treasure trove of amazing medieval information. Here I'm just highlighting a few places you could go in particular for podcasts (online audio files) about historical topics, including medieval ones, by famous historians from all over the world.

For example, did you know that the BBC History Magazine has a free online section with audio interviews and brief talks? You can hear the latest one, or browse the archive for whatever topic takes your fancy, from the Crusades to WWII: http://www.historyextra.com/podcast-page

If you want a bit more detail, try the online lectures available [on almost any topic] from the Universities of Oxford (http://itunes.ox.ac.uk/) and Cambridge (http://www.cam.ac.uk/video/itunesu.html).

Did you know that our own Clare Monagle is also a podcasting sensation? Check her out on Radio National talking about the medieval concept of 'political theology': http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/encounter/politics-and-god/3126076

And if you enjoyed the Robert Bartlett series Inside the Medieval Mind, linked earlier in semester, you could follow up by listening to this interview with him about making the series and what he wanted people to learn.

The end of semester doesn't have to be the end of medieval!

Naturally, there are also other Medieval and Renaissance units you can take here at Monash - just check out the Handbook! In semester 2, look for ATS1317 (Renaissance Europe); ATS2603 (Age of Crusades); and ATS2604 (Arthur: History and Myth). In summer 2012 there will be the exciting travel unit ATS2612 (Renaissance in Florence). And in 2013 look our for ATS3288 (Angels & Demons: Rome, the Papacy and the World); ATS2572 (Crisis and renewal in the late Renaissance); ATS2573 (Relics and legends); and ATS2579 (Witches and depravity).

See you then...
Kathleen

P.S. Comments remain open, so those of you still writing your essays, please feel free to post queries about citation, etc., below.

Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Town & Gown

Hi everyone,

In week 5 it's going to be another bumper discussion! Lectures will be introducing us to the rise of two important components of late medieval urban life: communes and universities. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw the foundation of some of the most famous universities in Europe, for example, these two, which in some ways still look as though one might bump into a medieval student around any given corner...

Cambridge streetscape, by Andrew @ Cuba Gallery
Hertford Bridge, Oxford, by Jamie @ Daily Info

And in tutorials we will be discussing universities and education in more detail. In particular, we'll use the story of the two people pictured below as a juicy entrée into issues related to education at the time. Think about Abelard's Historia Calamitatum in light of the questions in the reading guide. What does his story tell us about intellectual and philosophical life and thought in twelfth-century France (apart from some pretty gory things about castration...)? If the extract whets your appetite, or you just want to know Heloise's side of the story (!), look for their letters which are published in various editions and available in the library; or look for the works of Monash's own Professor Constant Mews, who is a world expert on their correspondence.
Abelard & Heloise

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

It's the economy, stupid!*

Hi everyone,

In week 4 we're going to be considering some heavy hitting economic theories about how medieval Europe worked. In particular, we're going to be comparing the theories of these two historians:
 
R.H.C. Davis
Henri Pirenne
Davis' work will form the basis of the Historical Argument Exercise, due in week 5, so come prepared to think about and discuss it in depth to assist in your preparation.

Remember, the first assessment task is also coming up next week. There will be an in-class test in the second lecture hour on Monday 19th March (unless you have already agreed an alternate arrangement with Clare and myself).


And just because I can't leave a whole blog post with no pretty pictures except photos of eminent old men, here's a completely gratuitous picture of Merton College, Oxford, where Davis worked for a time. It has, in my opinion, the most beautiful sounding bells in the world (or maybe they just make me nostalgic). You can hear them here.
Merton College, Oxford (Image by J. Gollner)
* This is a quote from Bill Clinton, nothing personal!