Emperor, Caliph, King: Comparing the Byzantines, Abbasids, and Carolingians
COL 347
Spring 2016
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
CHUM 315, HIST 327 |
This seminar investigates a unique "age of empires" in the wider Mediterranean world--the ninth century--during which imperializing political revolutions inspired intense cultural production among the Byzantines in Constantinople, the `Abbasids in Baghdad, and the Carolingians across Europe. Using the cultural artifacts surviving from these "renaissances," we will investigate how political cultures accounted for their own contested identities through myths of rebirth and return: specifically of Greek, Roman, and Persian imperial traditions. The course utilizes a workshop environment that relies on both collaboration and independent research; students will apply skills of analysis, creative thinking, and persuasive communication to presentations, and a (in-translation) source-based research project. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (COL)(HIST-MN)(HIST)(MUST-MN) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Reading assignments for all participants include two books by Chris Wickham (FRAMING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 2007, and THE INHERITANCE OF ROME, 2010), as well as Neville Morley's WRITING ANCIENT HISTORY (1999). The majority of reading assignments will be determined by students themselves in the form of individual research projects selected from bibliographies distributed by the instructor.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Various short writing exercises; three in-class presentations; three in-class presentation responses; one detailed research proposal. |
| Instructor(s): Torgerson,Jesse Wayne Times: ....R.. 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: CFH106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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