ENG24-25 Medieval English Literature in the Classroom

Course Name

Medieval English Literature in the Classroom

University

EC

5/6 EC

Course date

semester 2 (2024 - 2025)

Registration open until

28/10/2024 - 12/01/2025

Location

Leiden/online

Instructor(s)

Thijs Porck (UL) & Marcelle Cole (UU) & Kees Dekker (RUG)

E-mail Contact

Thijs Porck

Course objectives

Completing the course successfully, the student will:

know how to translate current research in the field of medieval English literature and medievalism, specifically with regard to the particular themes studied in the module, into a classroom setting (at either secondary school level or university level);
know about the conditions of that research (methodologies, current debates, the individuals active in the field), and will be familiar with a number of sources that need to be consulted to conduct that research;
gain experience in developing lesson and/or educational material that is based on academic insights into medieval literature;
be able to formulate ideas about integrating medieval literature in modern teaching practice. in an ideal position to prepare and write an MA paper that contributes to current debates in the field.

Course content

Medieval English Literature in the Classroom is suitable for students with an interest in Medieval English literature and medieval studies. It enables ambitious MA students to explore in depth an area in the field of medieval English Studies that may play a vital role in their future careers, as teachers, writers, translators, or researchers. This course will help students develop their own educational material, their abilities to incorporate academic scholarship into their teaching, to reflect critically on their findings, and to develop ideas about integrating medieval literature in modern teaching practice. Each year a different text or set of texts and themes from the Anglo-Saxon period or High Middle Ages will be selected. This course can be fruitfully combined with the MasterLanguage course ‘Language variation and Change’.

Despite its huge influence on modern politics, arts and culture, medieval English literature is rarely taught at secondary schools today. This course explores ways in which current research into medieval English literature can be translated to a classroom context.

This year, the course will focus on the Old English epic poem Beowulf (a world classic), the popular Middle English legends about King Arthur as well as Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Prospective course outline

Session 1. Introduction: Why teach medieval English literature? How to teach history and culture of medieval England with modern adaptations (medievalism)?
Project 1. Beowulf
Session 2. Beowulf
Session 3. Teaching project: Beowulf
Project 2. Arthurian Literature
Session 4. King Arthur
Session 5. Teaching project: King Arthur
Project 3. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Session 6. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Session 7. Teaching project: Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

The course is of interest to students who plan to teach medieval English literature in secondary schools and/or wish to develop educational material that can be used at university level.

A basic knowledge of medieval English language and literature is highly recommended. Students who have not followed one or more preparatory modules must contact the course coordinator (preferably when registering for the course) for an alternative, online means to grasp the basics of Old English or Middle English literature.

Assessment

Format

Lecture, seminar, and individual research

Exam

Three teaching projects (incl. summaries of relevant scholarship) 100%

Written assignment 33.3 %
Teaching project (lesson plan in combination with an expository essay on relevant scholarship) counting for one third of the mark.

written assignment 33.3 %
Teaching project (lesson plan in combination with an expository essay on relevant scholarship) counting for one third of the mark.

Work load

5 ECTS = 140 hours, of which:

Seminars: 7 x 3 = 21 hrs
Preparation and work per week 7 x 8 = 56 hrs
3 Lesson plans + research assignments 3 x 21 = 63 hrs

UvA/VU 6

Uva/VU students who need 6 EC (= 168 hours) may elect to do more homework or an extra assignment. This must be determined with the course teacher(s) in week 1.

6 ECTS (= 168 hours), of which:

Seminars: 7 x 3 = 21 hrs
Preparation and work per week 7 x 8 = 56 hrs
3 Lesson plans + research assignments 3 x 30,33 = 91 hrs

Background Literature and Course Materials

Literature

Set texts will be provided in the Digital Learning Environment.

David W. Marshall, ‘Introduction: The Medievalism of Popular Culture’, in Mass Market Medieval: Essays on the Middle Ages in Popular Culture, ed. David W. Marshall (Jefferson, 2007), 1-12.
L. Risden, ‘Medievalists, Medievalism, and Medievalismists: The Middle Ages, Protean Thinking, and the Opportunistic Teacher-Scholar,’ Studies in Medievalism 18 (2010): 44-54.
Valerie Krishna, The Alliterative Morte Arthure: A New Verse Translation ( 1983).
Sharon Kahn, the Stanzaic Morte: A Verse Translation of Le Morte Arthur
the Harvard’s Geoffrey Chaucer Website https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/
Brewer. 1968. Class-distinction in Chaucer. Speculum. Vol. 43 (1968), 290-305.
Mary Carruthers. 1979. “The Wife of Bath and the Painting of Lions”, PMLA 94 (1979), 209-22.
George Lyman Kittredge. 1912. “Chaucer’s Discussion of Marriage”, Modern Philology IX (1911-12), 1-13.
Set texts will be provided in the Digital Learning Environment.

Further information

Friday 7-2-2025	Leiden/hybrid	14:00-17:00
Friday 14-2-2025	Leiden/hybrid	14:00-17:00
Friday 28-2-2025	online	14:00-17:00
Friday 7-3-2025	online	14:00-17:00
Friday 21-3-2025	online	14:00-17:00
Friday 28-3-2025	online	14:00-17:00
Friday 11-4-2025	online	14:00-17:00

*It is mandatory to attend at least one of the classes in Leiden live.

Recommendations

Students are highly recommended to also take the Masterlanguage course ‘Language Variation and Change’ (semester I) for 5/6 ECTS.

Max. participants

25 students