81958 - Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Medieval World (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students are familiar with the main theoretical, methodological tools of global and intercultural perspectives for the study of the medieval world including religious phenomena and dynamics. They can critically identify the socio-cultural matrix of religions, as well as connections, developments, persistence and transformations of religious phenomena with a critical approach to periodization and can address and solve issues related to the management of cultural and religious pluralism. With a focus on the medieval Mediterranean and the routes to Asia from 1000 to 1500, students will be aware of patterns of religious, commercial and intellectual communication between Latins, Eastern Christians, Arabs and Mongols, with attention to the sociopolitical implications of interaction between groups in complex societies. Through discussion of selected sources and secondary literature on phenomena such as crusades, missions, travel andtrade, they will have acquired knowledge of the actors and spaces involved and the significance of the crossing of cultural and geographical boundaries in the medieval world and developed skills in source criticism and ability to apply appropriate methods of investigation and terminology required by the discipline, giving form, to the results of their research, documenting accurately and completely the information on which they base their conclusions and accounting for the methodologies and tools used. They know how to apply the tools of communication and use of data, also digital, in the field of editing and publishing.

Course contents

The course provides an introduction to cross-cultural approaches to the study of medieval history. With a special focus on the medieval Mediterranean and the routes to Asia between 1000 and 1500, it explores patterns of cultural, religious, and commercial exchange among Latin, East Christian, Islamic, and Mongol societies. Through the study of phenomena, such as evangelisation, travel, commerce, and visual representations of space, the course examines the actors and contexts involved and investigates what it meant to cross cultural and geographical boundaries in the medieval world.

The first week of the course introduces the main theoretical approaches to the study of cross-cultural encounters in the premodern world, with particular attention to the Mongol Empire and the Mediterranean as major spaces of connectivity. The second week focuses on the formation and history of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land Empire in world history, and examines its role in fostering new forms of interaction across Eurasia. The third week is devoted to the circulation of knowledge about the East and visual representations of space. By comparing textual and cartographic evidence, we will explore the diverse representations of the “Orient” produced or circulated in medieval Europe between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries, considering them as key sources for the study of cultural and religious history. During the fourth and fifth weeks, we will focus on first-hand accounts and travel narratives concerning the East in order to analyse patterns of interaction, representation of otherness, and the circulation of goods, peoples, and ideas across linguistic, religious, and cultural boundaries. Throug the discussion of selected case studies drawn from both Eastern and Western sources, we will explore the different ways in which medieval travelers understood and represented alterity, both within and beyond Christianity, and examine how their accounts reflected broader cultural frameworks as well as specific political and religious agenda.

During the final two weeks of the course, depending on the number of enrolled students, several class sessions will be devoted to group discussions of selected primary sources. The instructor will select the sources and provide all the necessary materials. This activity is intended to complement the final part of the course with a hands-on exercise in source analysis, consistent with the methodological framework introduced during the course.

Readings/Bibliography

PROGRAMME FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Attending students are expected to participate regularly in class and contribute actively to class discussions. During the final two weeks of the course, depending on the number of enrolled students, several class sessions will be devoted to student presentations and discussion of primary sources selected by the instructor, according to the schedule that will be circulated at the beginning of the course. Most teaching materials will be made available through the course's dedicated Virtuale platform.

The final oral examination will be based on:

• the materials discussed in class;
• the primary source presented and discussed in class, to be chosen by each student at the beginning of the course (each student will prepare one source);
• the following reading list:

J. H. Bentley, Old World encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), ch. 1, 4.

M. Favereau, "The Mongol Peace and Global Medieval Eurasia", Comparativ 28/4 (2018), pp. 49-70.

D. Abulafia, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean (London: Allen Lane, 2011), Part Three.

E. R. Dursteler, “On Bazaars and Battlefields: Recent Scholarship on Mediterranean Cultural Contacts”, Journal of Early Modern History, 15 (2011): 413-43.

The History of Cartography, ed. by J. Brian Harley and David Woodward (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), Volume 1, ch. 17, 18.

S. Phillips, “The Outer World of the European Middle Ages,” in Implicit Understandings. Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting on the Encounters between Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era, ed. Stuart B. Schwartz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 23-63.

A. Gow, “Gog and Magog on Mappaemundi and early printed maps: Orientalizing ethnography in the apocalyptic tradition”, Journal of Early Modern history, 2 (1998), 61-88.

J. Le Goff, “The Medieval West and the Indian Ocean: An Oneiric Horizon”, in Medieval Ethnographies: European Perceptions of the World Beyond, ed. J.P. Rubiés (Farnham: Asghate, 2009), 155-173.

K. Phillips, Before Orientalism: Asian Peoples and Cultures in European Travel Writing (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), Introduction, ch. 2, ch. 3.

Medieval Ethnographies: European Perceptions of the World Beyond, ed. J.P. Rubiés (Farnham: Asghate, 2009), Introduction and ch. 2.

 

PROGRAMME FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS OF THE INTEGRATED COURSE SPAZI E INCONTRI TRA CULTURE NEL MEDIOEVO, 12 CFU

Students who cannot attend classwork must read FOUR chapters/articles and ONE book from this list (to be agreed with the teacher in advance):

CHAPTERS/ARTICLES:

J. H. Bentley, Old World encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times (New York: Oxford Universiyt Press, 1993), ch. 1, 4.

M. Favereau, "The Mongol Peace and Global Medieval Eurasia", Comparativ 28/4 (2018), pp. 49-70.

E. R. Dursteler, “On Bazaars and Battlefields: Recent Scholarship on Mediterranean Cultural Contacts”, Journal of Early Modern History, 15 (2011): 413-43.

The History of Cartography, ed. by J. Brian Harley and David Woodward (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), Volume 1, ch. 17, 18.

S. Phillips, “The Outer World of the European Middle Ages,” in Implicit Understandings. Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting on the Encounters between Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era, ed. Stuart B. Schwartz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 23-46.

A. Gow, “Gog and Magog on Mappaemundi and early printed maps: Orientalizing ethnography in the apocalyptic tradition”, Journal of Early Modern history, 2 (1998), 1-28.

J. Le Goff, “The Medieval West and the Indian Ocean: An Oneiric Horizon”, in Medieval Ethnographies: European Perceptions of the World Beyond, ed. J.P. Rubiés (Farnham: Asghate, 2009), 155-173.

K. Phillips, Before Orientalism: Asian Peoples and Cultures in European Travel Writing (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), Introduction, ch. 2, ch. 3.

BOOKS:

1. K. Phillips, Before Orientalism: Asian Peoples and Cultures in European Travel Writing (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014).
2. P. Jackson, The Mongols and the Islamic world: from conquest to conversion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017)
3. P. Jackson, The Mongols and the West (Harlow: Penguin, 2005).
4. M. Favereau, The Horde. How the Mongols Changed the World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2022).

 

PROGRAMME FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS OF THE SINGLE COURSE CROSSCULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD, 6 CFU

Students who cannot attend classwork must read TWO books from this list (to be agreed with the teacher in advance:  

BOOKS:

1. K. Phillips, Before Orientalism: Asian Peoples and Cultures in European Travel Writing (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014).
2. P. Jackson, The Mongols and the Islamic world: from conquest to conversion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017)
3. P. Jackson, The Mongols and the West (Harlow: Penguin, 2005).
4. M. Favereau, The Horde. How the Mongols Changed the World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2022).

Teaching methods

The course combines lectures and class discussions with a practical exercise in the analysis of primary sources, carried out during the final two weeks of the course.

Assessment methods

Please note: Students are consider attending students if they participate in at least 75% of the classes. Students who will miss more than 4 classes will have to take the exam as non-attending students.

The course will be taught in English. Only GLOC students are required to take the final exam in English. Students from different curricula can choose whether to take the exam in English or Italian.

It is required that students attend the course regularly and prepare the group discussion of one primary source, assigned by the professor. The preparation of the reading materials will be evaluated on the basis of an oral exam.

For the preparation of the source presentation, limited, explicitly declared, and non-substantial use of artificial intelligence is permitted for supporting activities, such as summarisation and rephrasing. Substantial use of artificial intelligence to complete any part of the assessment is not permitted.

The grade of the oral examination will be based on:

- knowledge of the reading materials
- critical thinking skills
- command of the subject-specific terminology;
- Methodological rigour in the analysis of the primary source discussed in class.

Non-attending students will be evaluated on the basis of an oral examination. They will be asked questions designed to assess their knowledge of the assigned readings. The questions will also evaluate their command of subject-specific terminology, critical thinking skills, and ability to reorganize the acquired information.

The grade of the oral exam will be based on:

- command of the course content;
- ability to synthesise and analyse themes and concepts;
- ability to express ideas clearly and appropriately, using terminology suited to the subject matter.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

In-depth knowledge of the reading materials, with good analytical and critical skills and command of the specific language will qualify for a good/excellent mark.

Acceptable and more mechanical knowledge of the reading materials, and/or not always appropriate use of the language will lead to a sufficient/fair mark.

Fragmentary knowledge of the reading materials, weak critical skills, and/or insufficient command of the specific language and will lead to a failure or to a pass mark.

Please note: During the academic year, 8/10 exam sessions are scheduled between January and December.

Teaching tools

Frontal lectures and class discussions will be supported by Power Point presentations aimed to show visual and textual materials. The power point presentations will be made available to attending students via the Virtuale platform.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Irene Bueno