Submission of Written Assignments

Submission of Tutorial Paper and Research Essay: The Tutorial Paper, Feedback Exercise, and Research Essay are to be submitted through TurnItIn via the iLearn unit webs.

Policies on Written Assessment: Extensions, Late/Early Submission, Length

Extensions can only be granted in exceptional cases and may only be sought by consulting your tutor and before the assignment is due.

Late assignment policy (Department of Ancient History)

Barring genuine emergencies, extensions will not be granted without a valid and documented reason (e.g. medical certificate), and must be arranged in advance with your tutor. Late submissions will be penalised by 2% for each day (including weekends) the assignment task is late. No assignments will be accepted after assignments have been corrected and feedback has been provided.

Length policy: Essays exceeding or falling short of the specified word lengths will attract a penalty: divergences of more than 10% will attract a penalty of 10%.

Assignment tasks handed in early will be marked and returned with other papers (i.e. not before the due date).

For Disruption of Studies Policy see under Policies and Procedures.

Expectations of the student, and Satisfactory Completion of the Unit

Following are the components which you are required to undertake in order to complete the unit satisfactorily:

Classwork:

- Lectures: 13 weeks of lectures (two hours each week)

- Tutorials: 10 tutorial meetings, which require preparation (close reading of texts and consideration of suggested issues)

Preparatory readings:

- Lecture Readings: self-guided readings from the unit Reader (AHIS120 Readings: Late Antiquity – A Florilegium) to prepare for each of the unit modules

- Textbook: self-guided readings (McEvedy, The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History)

- Tutorial Readings from the unit Reader (AHIS120 Readings: Late Antiquity – A Florilegium) to prepare before tutorials

Maintaining a Research Journal: as part of the Second Essay and as essential preparations for the Examination (details on iLearn site).

Assessment: 5 assessment items (Tutorial Participation, Tutorial Paper, Feedback Exercise, Research Essay, Examination)

Text Books

Required texts and materials: It is essential to buy these two items from the Coop Bookstore on campus:

(1) AHIS120 Readings: Late Antiquity: A Florilegium (this is essential for all tutorials, and for the lecture

program)

• The Reader contains two sets of readings:
  • Lecture Readings: this section contains one book chapter relating to each of the 5 modules of the unit (late Roman empire, Sasanian Iran, Byzantium, early medieval western Europe, and Islam). The modules are set out in the “Lecture and Tutorial Program” below. You should read the relevant Lecture Reading before the beginning of each module, to provide background to the lectures.
  • Tutorial Readings: this section contains the ancient texts we will discuss in tutorials, together with short introductory essays.  The introductory essays and texts for each tutorial should be read, together with the reading guides in the relevant “Weekly Tasks” on the iLecture site, before each tutorial. You should prepare notes on the texts for discussion.

(2) Colin McEvedy, The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History (Harmondsworth, 1992)

• Using McEvedy, The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History: This book is intended as a basic reference for the unit. It provides a very brief survey of the history of the period covered by this unit (and beyond). Neither the narrative nor the maps are infallible – they should never be taken as the final authority on any given topic – but the great virtue of this book is its inclusive vision, consistently embracing the Middle East and Africa north of the Sahara as well as western and central Europe. It therefore lets us see the developments of Iran and Rome, and the Islamic caliphates, Byzantine empire, and medieval western kingdoms, in relation to each other.  You should read through pp. 2 to 47 (i.e. the “Introduction” and the coverage of AD 362-AD 888) by yourself as early in the semester as you can, and get into the habit of referring to it regularly throughout the semester, when preparing for lectures and tutorials. Regard it as your pocket compass to help orient you across the scope of time and space of this unit.

Online iLearn Site

This unit has an online presence. Login is via: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/ Students are required to have regular access to a computer and the internet. Mobile devices alone are not sufficient.

For technical support go to: http://mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/informatics/help

For student quick guides on the use of iLearn go to: http://mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/guides.htm

All lectures will be recorded on Echo360, and PowerPoint slides posted (after lectures) on the iLearn site.

Lecture, Tutorial, and Assessment Schedule

(A more detailed program of lectures will be posted on the iLearn site)

The following changes have been made since the last offering of this unit (in 2014):

- new assessment item (Feedback Exercise)

- new Learning Skills tutorial: Research Exercise (Week 8 )

- new historical tutorial: The Diplomatic World (Week 12 ) and associated materials in unit Reader

- inclusion of Essay-Writing Support materials in unit Reader

- new lecture topics and guest-lecturers: Week 5 (The Silk Road - Dr Gunner Mikkelsen); Week 6 (The ‘New Rome’: Byzantium - Dr Meaghan McEvoy); Week 12 (The House of Wisdom - Katherine Jacka); Week 13 (The Global Middle Ages - Dr Clare Monagle).