ARCH30530 Early Medieval Ireland and Beyond: Social Identity and Belonging AD 400-1100

Academic Year 2019/2020

What was it like to be a person in early medieval Ireland, and in northwest Europe, AD 400-1100? Who did you think you were, and to what communities did you feel you belonged? How did you use buildings, landscapes and things to create and re-negotiate your social identities of ethnicity, kinship, gender, age and social status? What was it like to be a king in early medieval Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, or a chieftain in Viking Age Scandinavia, and how did you use performance, and material possessions to signal power, status and ancestry? What was it like to be a man, woman or child in a homestead in early medieval Ireland, and how did you experience the world? What was it like to be a young woman working at making a meal, or a craftsperson working in a Viking town, or a trader sailing your boat along the European sea lanes? What was it like to be an early medieval Irish monk on an island in the Atlantic, facing out into the abyss of hell across the ocean? This module will explore peoples' lives - from birth, through life experiences, to death and their ideas of the afterlife - in the early Middle Ages in Ireland and beyond. We will use evidence from archaeological excavations of houses, dress and costume, burial archaeology, historical sources, and archaeological sciences to explore how alike and different these people were from us, and what this tells us about our own humanity.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will:

-be familiar with different aspects of social identity in early medieval Ireland and Europe, particularly ethnicity, kinship, gender and social status.

-have a developed sense of the potential and challenges in using archaeological evidence for buildings, landscapes and material culture in the investigation and interpretation of early medieval social identities in Ireland and beyond.

-be able to reflect on, discuss, and develop their own ideas on how people in the past used, and in the present use, material culture to establish, negotiate and perform social identities of gender, status, ethnicity, religion, amongst others

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

16

Seminar (or Webinar)

8

Specified Learning Activities

26

Autonomous Student Learning

50

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, workshops and practical tasks relating to early medieval societies, including

Active/task-based learning; peer and group discussion; lectures; critical writing; reflective learning; enquiry & problem-based learning; debates. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Examination: Exam on chosen topic 2 hour End of Trimester Exam No Graded No

50

Project: Project on selected aspect of early medieval social identity Week 9 n/a Graded No

50


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

UCD School of Archaeology use standard feedback sheets for all modules. Your feedback is provided on this form - the form also contains feed forward details - this will help you think about how you could improve your approach in future assignments

Name Role
Dr Neil Carlin Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Ms Angela McAteer Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Brendan O'Neill Lecturer / Co-Lecturer