070128 PS BA-Proseminar - Social Media and Networks in the Post-Roman World (2021S)

This course will explore the transformation of social life in the post-Roman world of the Mediterranean and surrounding regions from the fifth through to the eighth centuries. The political and social changes of this period had a lasting effect on the broad variety of social networks that defined the lives of individuals. These changes can be seen in the dominant social media of the time, letters, art, poetry, sermons, inscriptions, just to name a few. In this course students will be introduced to the wide variety of evidence for social relations in late antiquity and the early middle ages. Students will be encouraged to view this material through the lens of "social media and networks" in order to facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to historical sources and research.

Students will be introduced to a range of critical and theoretical approaches to historical sources including: critical literary theory, art history, epistolography, and the study of spaces. Students will then apply these concepts in practical source analysis classes.
It is hoped that the course will provide an introduction to the vibrant social world of the period between antiquity and the middle ages and the social institutions that bound it together. By using the framework of “social media,” which has very strong modern connotations, students will be encouraged to look beyond the ideal lives often portrayed by our sources and see the very real human lives that underlie them.

The course will follow a broad chronological approach with the first half dealing with the period of late antiquity from the fifth to the middle of the sixth century, and the second half with the early middle ages up until the end of the eighth century—however some topics may cross this boundary where necessary. Major themes explored will include: ancient and early medieval friendship, politeness and etiquette in writing, religious networks, kinship, group identities such as gender and class, patronage, diplomacy, and the practicalities of communication.

Classes will be divided into three categories: Historical context, theory discussion, source material workshop. Context classes will provide outlines of the periods and themes being discussed so that students have the necessary background knowledge for the course. Theory discussions will examine scholarly approaches to various forms of media: text, visual, spoken, and space. And the source material classes will give students a chance to practice and apply the theoretical concepts introduced in the class with real examples of medieaval social media.

Session Overview:
1. Introductory class
2. Historical context lecture I: the world of late antiquity c. 400-600 CE.
3. Historical context lecture II: the networks and media of Late antiquity.
4. Theory discussion I: How to study and read texts: An introduction to epistolography and critical theory.
5. Source material class I: analysing text media.
6. Theory discussion II: How to study pictures.
7. Source material class II: analysing visual media.
8. Special topic: Saints, the original influencers?
9. Historical context lecture III: The early middle ages c. 600 – 800 CE
10. Historical context lecture IV: Networks and media of the early middle ages.
11. Theory discussion III: examining spoken media, the example of sermons.
12. Source material class III: sermons and spoken media.
13. Theory discussion IV: Space and place.
14. Source material class IV: Examining spaces—the church as total media space.
15. Conclusions and wrap-up session.