Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include:  

• Defining features of medieval civilisation, including medieval social structure, gender relations, feudal relations, manorialism and medieval religion 
• Significant historical developments in the period, such as: 
• the transition between the late antique and the early medieval period 
• the Carolingian Empire 
• the Viking incursions 
• the Crusading movement 
• centralised government in the twelfth century 
• the twelfth-century renaissance 
• urbanisation and the growth of urban government, urban institutions (such as hospitals), and urban identity 
• developments in medieval religion: monasticism, the centralised papacy, pilgrimage and the cult of the saints, the mendicant orders, and heresy 
• cross-cultural interactions and exchanges (for example, with Muslim Iberia) the upheavals of the late Middle Ages, including the Black Death  
• the transition from the late Middle Ages to the ‘early modern’ religious, social and political landscape which emerges in Europe in the sixteenth century [This module will not be included in states where HIST105 is offered.] 
• Significant individuals from the period and the sources for their lives 
• Consideration of significant historiographical issues such as the debates surrounding periodisation of the Middle Ages, and the emergence of ‘modernity’ in the early modern period  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This 10-credit-point unit has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. It may be taught in attendance mode across a semester or intensive mode (Short-term International Study Experience). To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as lectures, tutorials, reading, reflection, discussion, film screenings, skills workshops, and assignments etc. 

In both on-campus and Intensive mode, this unit draws on Inquiry-based learning models to explore the unit content. The Intensive model combines Inquiry-based Learning with Field-based learning strategies.  

A. On-campus mode 

When taught in on-campus mode, learning and teaching in this unit will take place through face-to-face classes, through the online Canvas environment and through independent study.  

1. Students will develop an understanding of the content of the unit by means of interactive lectures and tutorials, in which key themes of the unit will be presented and analysed.  
2. Students will develop analytical skills that will enable them to produce sound historical analyses in their lectures and tutorials. Tutorials will focus on the structured analysis of current research on selected topics, and through this weekly analysis and discussion, students will practise the critical reading skills that will form the basis for the unit’s major research task.  

When taught in Intensive mode, as a two-week Short-term International Study Experience, learning and teaching in this unit will be primarily designed around site visits, but will also include learning through the online Canvas environment and through independent study. 

1. Students will develop an understanding of the content of the unit by means of structured site visits; there will be tailored learning opportunities before, during and at times after the visits. Sites visited will include, as examples, locations illustrating the transition from late Antique to the Early Medieval period, the nature of medieval religious experience and practice, the aims and ambitions of the papacy, urban identity and urban institutions, or the revival of interest in antiquity in the Early Modern period. The unit’s Canvas site will enhance student learning in particular by providing access to resources such as videos and interactive maps for the sites visited. 
2. Students will develop analytical skills that will enable them to produce sound historical analyses by analysing current research that relates to their site visits. Research analyses may for example be presented on-site. These analyses will give students the opportunity to practise the critical reading skills that will form the basis for the unit’s major research task, which will also focus on themes presented in their site visits.