Test revision

So I'm just putting this here to provide a space for those who would like to make use of a communal discussion to help them think about the unit and revise for the test on Monday.

God the Geometer, Codex Vindobonensis 2554

Details, in case you missed them, are:

• The test takes place in the lecture slot on Monday 21 May.
• It is expected to take about an hour, but you can take up to two if required. 
• It will follow an essay format.
• It will take the form of a statement you must discuss with reference to primary sources.
• Select primary sources will be provided.
• A mock test is available on Blackboard
• The marking criteria are listed in the Unit Guide
  
• There is no exam in the exam period.
• There is no tutorial in week 12 after the test.
• Please submit outstanding essay hard copies to the SOPHIS essay box (Menzies W604).

It's been a blast, so thanks everyone. And good luck on Monday!
Kathleen

Clarification

Clarification I:
There are no classes on campus for ATS1316 in week 8. Your posts on the Crusades and Crusade Historians post, below, constitute your 'virtual tutorial' for this week.

Clarification II:
Blogs by presenters in week 9 will go live on Wednesday. Everyone needs to read and comment on these, even if they are not presenting.

Clarification III:
For presenters in weeks 9-11:

Topic	St Francis (wk 9)	Crusades (wk 10)	Black Death (wk 11)
Blog Post to Kathleen	5pm Tue. 24th April	5pm Tue. 1st May	5pm Tue. 8th May
Presentation	Mon. 30th April	Mon. 7th May	Mon. 14th May
Essay Due	Fri. 11 May	Fri. 18 May	Fri. 25 May

Library Tutorial Week

Hi everyone,

A reminder that our week 6 tutorial will take place in the Mattheson library in the ground floor Training Room 1 (a library floor plan is here). It's compulsory to attend this class and complete a worksheet based on what you learn. The aim is to give you the skills you will need to research your essay and reference it properly using the expected footnote style. It's a very important week for setting you up to study history in general as well as specifically to prepare for your essay in this unit. To get ready for next week, first use Monash's Search system to try and identify any book about Charlemagne that was published in the last 10 years and is available in the Mattheson library. Then try to find a journal article about Carolingian law written in the same period. Write down all the publication details you can find for these two items. Try to articulate what strategies you used to find the two items, and any difficulties you encountered. Come prepared with your results and any post any questions or problems that want solving below. In addition...

Love and Devotion is on at the State Library of Victoria

if this is your first year at Uni: Try to define these terms for yourself:

• reference
• citation
• primary source
• footnote
• plagiarism
• secondary source
• bibliography

if none of this is new to you: Think about your experience of researching and writing an essay. What are your top tips for finding relevant books and other sources? What problems have you encountered when referencing essays? What useful feedback from tutors have you gained? Be ready to share your expertise with the rest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

And since there is no required reading, here are some links you might want to peruse to keep you thinking medieval!

• For those of you fascinated by the difference between the East and West in the medieval period, you might want to look at the exhibition currently showing at the State Library of Victoria, Love and Devotion, which is a lavish display of Persian manuscripts from the 11th century onwards. It looks at Eastern literature on its own terms, and in relationship to contemporary and modern Western society. It's free and it's on until the 1st of July.
• For those interested in the weird and wonderful world of religious relics, you might be interested in this review of Treasures of Heaven, a recent exhibition of reliquaries (i.e. containers for relics) that was held at the British Museum in 2011.

You can watch the official introduction to the Treasures of Heaven exhibition here:

Historical Argument Exercise Due

Don't forget your Historical Argument Exercise is due on Friday (30th March) by 5pm.

• The task is described in the Unit Guide
• It is worth 15%
• The word limit is 800 words
• The assignment should be submitted online via Blackboard
• find Blackboard via the my.monash link to the right
• AND please hand in a hard copy to me in week 6 tutorials

 Any general questions about this assignment? Please post below.

[Update: here is the link to information about formatting
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/OffCampus/Improve/9.1.html]

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!