The class will cover the Medieval Period in Europe, beginning in the late 5th century CE through to the 15th century.

In this six week class, learners will: watch live videos, view slideshow presentations, take quizzes, join in group discussions, and be assigned activities and worksheets. They will also have one project to complete prior to the end of the course. A list of project suggestions will be distributed during week two. For the group discussions, each week I will also be posting a list of discussion topics relating to each lesson. The students will be expected to post a reply to one of the main topics plus a reply to their fellow classmate’s posts. 

The topic structure of the class will be as follows:

Week 1: Alchemy and Mysteries in Practice and Literature in Medieval Europe - this topic will touch upon medieval mysticism, the “philosopher’s stone,” Paracelsus, the elements, and how the Medieval Church viewed these practices.

Week 2: Science in Antiquity – in this lecture we will be looking at the ideas of science in the Ancient. Topics included in this portion of the class will be: ancient botany, the four humors, Hippocrates, and the use of magical practices to solve scientific problems. We will be very Mediterranean centered with these topics.

Week 3: Natural Philosophy – the precursor of natural science. These early scientific ideas began in the Ancient World with Aristotle and we see the theories in motion and nature in the Middle Ages. 

Week 4: Anatomy, Surgery, and Physicians of the Middle Ages – this lecture delves into medical discoveries during the Middle Ages and the people who made those findings. We will also look at related art pieces to have a better view of how the human body was believed to work. 

Week 5: Mathematics, Architecture, and Astronomy – we will be looking at architectural marvels from the time period, mathematics, and the study of astronomy in Eastern and Western Europe.

Week 6: The Scientific Revolution of the Early Modern Period – this will be our wrap up for the end of the course. The Early Modern Period begins around 1500 CE and we will be looking at how medieval ideas transitioned into this next period in history.