IN THIS CHAPTER we

Current Perceptions of Medieval Studies

Collegiate instructors at every level have observed developments in educational scholarship that propose intriguing, fascinating, and (dare we say it?) innovative ideas for restructuring the traditional classroom experience. Many of these ideas have proven effective in a research setting with externally funded tools and dedicated support staff; in settings where students are opting-in to activities outside of their credit-bearing classes; or as a siloed instructional plan that engages students with a particular text in a new way. However, it is more uncommon to find a methodology or curricular framework that can be practically, meaningfully implemented into day-to-day teaching. Whether due to the requisite faculty research burden, the sisyphean struggle to conquer administrative tasks, or simply lack of experience, many collegiate history instructors have a difficult time implementing new teaching strategies into their courses, even those strategies that already have a track record of success in a school setting. The project-based strategies presented here will provide evidence-based, sensible ideas that the authors hope our colleagues will consider adapting to their own medieval history classrooms.

The underlying contextual basis for these strategies and ideas is understanding undergraduate students’ perception of the field of medieval studies and their prior experience with it. For an overwhelming majority of students, an undergraduate medieval survey may be their only exposure to the Middle Ages in their collegiate careers, even if they attend a four-year institution. For students at a two-year institution, often the only option in the course catalogue is the first half of a Western Civilizations course sequence. In the state of Texas, for example, there are 142 regionally accredited institutions that offer history courses. Seventy-one of those are community colleges. Between the 2015–2016 and 2019–2020 academic years, only one community college listed a course with significant medieval history content, not including those with Western Civilizations. Twenty-one institutions did not even offer Western Civilizations.