Why study pre-modern anything?

 CNU's Medieval and Renaissance Studies program is a small, interdisciplinary minor that students tend to discover kind of late in their university careers. There's often a class here, a class there, and then students realize they've met most of the requirements  -- AND that they're really enjoying their classes in History, Theater, Philosophy, and Art History, among others. In order to promote our minor at the start of this year, I've been thinking about why I have enjoyed learning and teaching about the pre-modern world for decades.

I also started looking around at other programs online to see if their websites talk about why we study the Middle Ages, or early Modern Period, or even the ancient world, and I've seen several references to the broader -- and important -- academic and transferrable skills students learn when they study in the humanities or engage in interdisciplinary studies: critical thinking, cultural awareness, the ability to research and write, understanding global systems and "the deep roots of today's intertwined global cultures," to borrow a phrase from Harvard's "Masterpieces of World Literature" course. 

Frescoes in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (photo S. Rowley©)

In today's post, I would like to add a few ideas: that studying the pre-modern is fascinating and fun. Pre-modern studies offer students new perspectives and increase self-awareness. Of course, pre-modern studies can and does lead to jobs, in history, literature, philosophy, archaeology, museums, theater, non-profits, public service, and education, etc.. I'm all for jobs, and for transferrable skills, but there is something to be said for acquiring a depth and breadth of knowledge regarding human cultures. Studying pre-modern cultures also allows us to explore the history of innovation, technology, agriculture and animal husbandry, etc., along with literature, history, philosophy, art, and languages.

Prior to university, many students don't have the opportunity to take seriously deep dives into the past, when power, religions, and inter-cultural relations were different from today. A touchstone for some changes that occurred between 1250-1350 is Janet L. Abu-Lughod's Before European Hegemony (1991), for example. Abu-Lughod's work has inspired many scholars, and helped change the way we understand our world as well as the the spheres of influence and interactions in it.

The world we live in is constantly changing. New questions, approaches, and technologies have led to a range of new discoveries in recent decades, including the Staffordshire Hoard in England. To go back even further, archaeologists have recently concluded that women were big game hunters in ancient Peru. You can read about more recent discoveries at History.com, too, if you're interested! 

Another website demonstrating developments in our knowledge is "The People of 1381," a innovative project that's using a combination of big data and archival research to study the people involved in the Peasant's Revolt in England. These are the kinds of projects and discoveries that remind us that our attitudes and ideas in the present are constantly creating knowledge and changing how we think about the past. As Geraldine Heng points out in "Race in the European Middle Ages," 

"When I was a graduate student, I was taught (believe it or not) that women hardly featured or mattered in European medieval literature: this was a literature written by men, about men, and for men. 

Fast forward a couple of decades, and we see women everywhere in medieval literature and history: we see that they mattered, a lot. And not just women: college courses today highlight medieval sexuality and sexual identity; the politics of physical disability and disease; ecology and the environment; Jews, Muslims, and colonized peoples; peasants and social class—an ever-expanding list."=

Undergraduate students can also bring their own questions, approaches, experiences and ideas to the study of the past. I'm thrilled to be teaching early literature in my "Literary Foundations" course, and getting involved with my students who are going to be reading about and researching Robin Hood, the "merry men" and Maid Marian in in our section of the Second Year Writing Seminar. There have already been some surprises and interesting discussions about the ways in which the world has changed, and what we can learn from reading about and discussing the past.

North Window, Notre Dame, Paris
(before the fire) S. Rowley©

 

Finally, I'd like to plug an upcoming event at the Torggler Center in support of a wonderful exhibit: The Possiblities of Paper. There will be a panel at 6pm on 13 September, in the Torggler auditorium. I'm excited to hear Roberto Benavidez talk about his piñatas inspired by the medieval painter, Hieronymous Bosch!

References: 

Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony : The World System A.d. 1250-1350. Oxford University Press, 1989, rpt. 2013.

Heng, G. “Race in the European Middle Ages.” The H-Net Book Channel, https://networks.h-net.org/node/109065/pages/1348052/teaching-essay-race-european-middle-ages