Curso online: Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers (3 octubre-16 diciembre 2011)

Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers

Type Online and Distance Learning
Location Online
Dates Mon 3 Oct to Fri 16 Dec 2011
Subject area(s) Archaeology
CATS points 10
Fees From £200.00
Application status Applications being accepted
Course code O11P331AHV
Course contact If you have any questions about this course, please email onlinecourses@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview
Ravagers, despoilers, pagans, heathens - the Vikings are usually regarded as bloodthirsty seafaring pirates, whose impact on Europe was one of fear and terror. Yet these Vikings were also traders, settlers and farmers with a highly developed artistic culture and legal system. This course uses recent findings from archaeology to examine these varied aspects of the Viking world.

Description
Ravagers, despoilers, pagans, heathens - the Vikings are usually regarded as bloodthirsty seafaring pirates, whose impact on Europe was one of fear and terror. As they plundered the British Isles and the north Atlantic, these pagan invaders were seen by their Christian victims as a visitation from God.

Yet the Vikings were also traders, settlers and farmers with a highly developed artistic culture and legal system. Their network of trade routes stretching from Greenland to Byzantium and their settlements, resulted in the creation of the Duchy of Normandy in France, the foundation of the Kingdom of Russia in Kiev and Novgorod as well as the development of Irish towns including Cork, Dublin and Limerick.

This course will use recent findings from archaeology together with documentary records, to examine these varied aspects of the Viking world and to give a detailed and balanced view of this fascinating period.

A wide variety of online resources including Google Maps and Google Earth as well as specific Viking web pages, are used in conjunction with text books and specially designed online interactive media to create an exciting insight into the world of the Vikings.

Programme details

• The origins of the Vikings in Scandinavia
• The beginnings of the Viking age
• Early raids in Europe
• Conquest and settlement in Europe
• Western expansion to Faeroes, Orkney, Shetland and Iceland
• Trade routes to the east from the Baltic to Constantinople
• Further west to Greenland and Vinland
• Pagan religions and the change to Christianity
• Viking art and literature
• The end of the Viking period

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

Staff
Mr David Beard
Role: Tutor


Course aims

This course aims to:
~ illustrate how archaeological evidence is recovered, processed and analysed and how this evidence can be used together with other sources of information to aid our understanding of the world of the Vikings;
~ examine the main factors that led to the Viking expansion, the structure of society in the Viking homelands and the activities of the Vikings as raiders and pirates, traders and settlers consider current opinions on the nature of the impact of the Vikings on medieval Europe;
~ consider current opinions on the nature of the impact of the Vikings on medieval Europe.

Course objectives:
This course will enable participants to:
~ evaluate archaeological evidence and use it together with other types of evidence to construct a detailed picture of the Viking period;
~ describe the main reasons for the Viking expansion and the major developments during the Viking period;
~ communicate their own ideas about the impact of the Vikings on medieval Europe and contribute to current debates about the Viking period.

Certification

This course is accredited and you are expected to take the course for credit. To be awarded credit you must complete written contributions satisfactorily. Successful students will receive credit, awarded by the Board of Studies of Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The award will take the form of 10 units of transferable credit at FHEQ level 4 of the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS). A transcript detailing the credit will be issued to successful students.

Assessment methods

In this course assessment is through two written assignments (totalling about 1000 words).

Level and demands

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

Recommended reading
To participate in the course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following books:

• Forte, O., Oram, R., & Pedersen, F., Viking Empires (Cambridge University Press, 2005) ISBN 0521829925
• Hayward, J., The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings (Penguin Books, London, 1995) ISBN 0140513280

Teaching methods

- Introductory text from website with links to external sites
- Guided reading from set text and case studies
- Debate on a proposed topic (asynchronous discussion)
- Occasional tutorial sheets

Teaching outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to understand:
• the importance of archaeological evidence in understanding the Viking period;
• the nature of pre-Viking Scandinavia and the main factors that caused the Viking expansion;
• the social and political structure of Viking age Scandinavia;
• the role of the Vikings in Europe and northern Atlantic and the pagan religions and the conversion to Christianity;
• current thinking on the nature of the Viking period.

By the end of this course students should be able to:
• evaluate and assess archaeological evidence;
• have an overall understanding of the events that led to the Viking expansion and the impact that the Vikings had on medieval Europe;
• communicate their own ideas on the nature and importance of the Viking period.

Fee options

Programme Fee
Home/EU Fee: £200.00
Non-EU Fee: £285.00

Apply for this course

If you are unsure whether you are eligible to pay `Home/EU` or `Non-EU/overseas` fees, please read the UKCISA guidance notes to help establish your fee status.

You can apply for this course in the following ways:

Apply online
Enrol online to secure your place on this course now
Apply by post
Download a PDF application form PDF document.

Terms and Conditions, Student Contract