070294 UE Guided Reading Medieval History - Plague and Climate Change in the Middle Ages (2021W)

This Guided Reading examines pandemic and climate change in the Middle Ages. We will read about the historical and scientific evidence for the First (or "Justinianic") Pandemic (c. 541-543, but ongoing to750) and the Second Pandemic (the "Black Death") (c. 1347-1353, but ongoing to the eighteenth century), and discuss debates over their significance. We will also consider the evidence for hemispheric climate change: the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and the Little Ice Age. How did these exogenous phenomena affect or interact with medieval societies?

The course also emphasizes the teaching of expository and analytical skills used by historians to articulate, defend, and disseminate scholarly findings. We will focus especially on how historians can use scientific methods and data. There will be short written assignments which lead up to the final paper.