A MEDIEVAL PERSPECTIVE ON 21ST CENTURY PROBLEMS
Tuesday, October 18 , 9:30 am – 11:30 am
October 18, 25, November 1, 15 (Tuesdays) 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Attend in person at ISU’s Alumni Center, 1101 N. Main St., Normal (Masks are optional.)
OR
Watch Online via Zoom
*Classes are subject to change based on current CDC and IDPH guidelines, as well as ISU policies and procedures.
FEES:
$35 for Senior Professional members
$45 for non-members
For in person, pricing is per person.
For ZOOM, one registration per household.
Price includes:
• Four 2-hour sessions (one Academy of Seniors class)
$15 single-session option available for in-person (pay at door).
Register online at seniorprofessionals.illinoisstate.edu or call (309) 438-2160.
Seating is limited for in-person viewing.
Zoom participants will receive a Zoom link a week prior to the class(es) for which they’ve signed up and again on the day of each class session.
Class Description:
October 18 – The Medieval Empire and the Politicization of History
The teaching of history has become highly partisan, but politicization has been inherent to its study since the establishment of history as an academic discipline at the new German research universities in the 19th century. Invocations and assessments of the medieval Holy Roman Empire were central to the creation of a unified Germany and its subsequent troubled history.
October 25 – The Creation of the University in the 12th Century
Across human history, the classic truism that knowledge must be shared inspired innumerable institutions devoted to learning, from Plato’s Academy at Athens to Caliph Harun al-Rashid’s School of Wisdom in Baghdad. In the 12th century, a new center of study emerged in medieval Europe—the university. What made the medieval university unique, and why did it appear in the 12th century?
November 1 – The Medieval Precursor of the Nuclear Family
There are numerous reports about the decline in the number of individuals who marry, the decrease in the birthrate and the increase in the age of first marriages as well as the number of children born out of wedlock. These trends may be a reversion to the original pattern of household formation after 1000 in northwestern Europe, where our conception of the family and the term itself originated.
November 15 – Climate and Disease
In 526 CE a dust cloud blotted out the sun. This extreme weather event preceded an outbreak of bubonic plague. Similarly, in the early decades of the 1300s, the world experienced a significant drop in temperature that led to wetter and colder conditions, crop failures, and eventually famine, all years before the Black Death reached Europe via Italian ports. Might there be some connection between our own modern pandemic and climate change?
John Freed, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, ISU (October 18 and November 1)
Katie Jasper, Associate Professor of History and Director of European Studies, ISU (October 25 and November 15)
Original source can be found here.
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