History of Culture in the European Middle Ages 3700-CS1-2-HKES-OG

The lectures outline the history of the culture of the European – primarily Latin – Middle Ages, showing its unity and diversity, lastingness and change, on the example of the most important phenomena of political history, social history, religion, science, art, literature.
The lectures teach students an interdisciplinary approach to issues of Mediaeval culture, how to notice features which prove both the unity and diversity of Mediaeval culture, to understand Mediaeval civilization processes. They help develop an attitude of respect for the culture of past ages and the ability to make conscious judgments.

The students are required to put in:
- 60 hours of participation in the lectures ("contact" hours)
- 90 hours of their own work (preparing for the exam, work necessary to achieve the planned effects of learning).

Type of course

general courses

Course coordinators

Paweł Stępień

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course students will be able to:
- present the course, causes, and consequences of the most important processes of Mediaeval culture (based on the knowledge obtained from the lectures, required reading, and selected supplementary reading)
- analyse and interpret trends of Mediaeval culture using examples from that culture, selected by themselves or analysed during the lectures, e.g. works of art, architecture, literature, theology, philosophy, etc. (based on the knowledge obtained from the lectures, required reading, and selected supplementary reading), where:
a) in their analysis, they will identify features proving that an occurrence was distinctive within Mediaeval culture as well as features proving it was typical of Mediaeval culture
b) in their interpretation, they will decipher the symbolic meanings of the occurrence in accordance with the symbolic tradition of Mediaeval culture
c) on the example of the interpreted occurrence, they will indicate the continuity or differences between Mediaeval culture and today’s culture
d) they will make a judgment of the occurrence based on proper argumentation.

Knowledge: students completing the course will be familiar with and understand:
K_W02, K_W06, K_W07, K_W08, K_W09, K_W10, K_W12, K_W13, K_W14, K_W15,

- the basic terminology of literary studies and cultural studies;
- the links between humanities disciplines and the unique relations between different disciplines connected with cultural studies; they will acquire the basics of an interdisciplinary approach in cultural studies;
-issues related to the reception of antiquity;
- the culture and language of a selected region of the Mediterranean area;
- the most important creators of European culture;
- classical philosophy authors and their ideas;
- the latest achievements in developing interdisciplinary research methods in cultural studies and possible new directions of this research;
- the basic methods of interpreting a literary text and a textual historical source
- the latest achievements in developing interdisciplinary research methods in cultural studies and possible new directions of this research;
- the basic methods of interpreting a literary text and a textual historical source
- the basic analysis methods typical of cultural anthropology, including the most important theories and traditions of different schools that emerged during the discipline’s development;

Skills: students completing the course will be able to
K_U01, K_U02, K_U05, K_U06, K_U07, K_U08, K_U11, K_U13

- retrieve and interpret information using different sources, including Latin and Neo-Latin sources, literary and historical texts, anthropological sources;
- interpret literary texts referencing the heritage of antiquity
- acquire research skills enabling them to formulate and resolve research problems of cultural studies; to this aim, they will be able to perform basic analyses with the help of interdisciplinary research methods and tools;
- resolve research problems and produce studies on research topics while applying the main theoretical approaches and paradigms from knowledge on culture, including cultural anthropology, philology, history and the semiotics of culture;
- take part in discussions on cultural studies topics, including presenting logical argumentation and drawing critical conclusions
- present the results of their own analysis of a simple research problem in written and oral form
- autonomously identify the main theses of an oral presentation / written text in Polish and in a selected language of the Mediterranean area;
- produce a written and oral presentation taking into account the different needs of their prospective audience, using basic digital tools and internet resources useful for this purpose;

Social competences: students completing the course will be ready to
K_K02,K_K03, K_K04, K_K05, K_K07, K_K08, K_K10

- be aware of the dynamic development of culture and the emergence of new research methods and paradigms;
- work in a group, both as a moderator and a member performing a given task;
- carry out the work plan of their contribution to a class, according to the teacher’s guidelines;
- be aware of the importance of ancient heritage in European culture;
- understand the main challenges related to research on culture and inter-civilizational relations;
- understand the importance of preserving the richness, integrity and awareness of Europe’s cultural heritage, including the individual traditions of the Mediterranean area
- take part actively in discussions in Polish and a selected Mediterranean language, respecting the views of their partners

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3700-CS1-2-HKES-OG in USOSweb