medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi, Paul,
I realize that this is probably not what you have in mind, but it
might be more engaging and more memorable if you did your own intro to
the course rather than have them do background reading. I have found
that an initial power point lecture telling them explicitly how to
read and understand the content enables them to read and understand
the content in a more compelling way, for them; more work for me in
the beginning, but less later on. I then post it and refer to it when
they have questions. I am sure that you know as well as anyone how to
read and interpret a medieval text and can make it as clear, and more
humorous, than any longer exposition.
Again, probably dumbing things down a little more than you would like,
and also perhaps contributing to the deeper problem and shorter
attention spans, but I get pretty good teaching evaluations!
Anna Graham
MSU
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I'm increasingly finding that a number of my millennial-generation students
> -- who belong more to the culture of the screen than the culture of the
> book -- are finding engagement with a written text (patristic, medieval,
> but also modern) quite difficult. I'm not sure of all the reasons. Some,
> perhaps, are that a short attention span makes it difficult to follow a
> long exposition, that their approach is rather impressionistic and
> kaleidoscopic, that they don't always "hear" an author speaking to them
> from the page, that they lack historical consciousness, that an often thin
> literary culture (no studying Shakespeare from 15 years old any more)
> leaves them with little sense of the weight of words, that today's
> fast-moving culture makes them a bit impatient when they need to be
> reflective.
>
> These are all generalisations, of course, and there are no doubt better
> ones.
>
> I'm just wondering if anyone has had success with some introductory guide
> to reading and interpreting a medieval text. In the past I used Philip
> Sheldrake's *Spirituality and History* with success. I like the
> straight-forward way he presents a lot of hermeneutical theory in very
> accessible form and his case studies. However, my students don't generally
> seem to warm to the book any more. I no doubt need to renew my act.
>
> I need a book or a couple of good articles that offer an
> undergraduate-level introduction to interpretation and the basic skills of
> reading historical texts in a rich and engaged way. Any suggestions greatly
> appreciated. -- Paul
>
> --
> Paul Chandler, O.Carm.
> Holy Spirit Seminary | PO Box 18 (487 Earnshaw Road) | Banyo Qld 4014
> | Australia
> office: (07) 3267 4804 | mobile: 044 882 4996
> [log in to unmask]
>
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Anna Kirkwood Graham, J.D., Ph.D.
Romance and Classical Languages
B480 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
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