MAS4004 – Transformation in The Viking and Norse Middle Ages c.750-1350, II
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The course has its roots in the interdisciplinary research project Transformations in the Viking and Norse Middle Ages c. 750-1350 at the Centre for Viking and Medieval Studies. The project aims to identify and analyse the cultural transformations that took place in Scandinavia and the North Atlantic territories in the period from c. 750-1350. The religious, cultural, political and economic fields are to be examined with reference to synchronic and diachronic variations in mentality, view of the world, power structures, economic structures, social organisations, and literary and artistic production. The project is structured around four sub-projects: 1) Myths, cults and landscapes, 2) Imagery and its applications, 3) The written word, 4) the local community. It is an objective that the research underway shall manifest itself in the teaching and that Master’s Degree students shall be given the opportunity to write Master’s dissertations in connection with the project. More detailed specification of the content is dependent upon the students’ interests within the framework of the project and upon the researchers who go into the course at any time with their research-related teaching. This specification is undertaken just before the start of the course. The course will, therefore, be build up as an interaction between the student’s interest and the ongoing activity of the research project during the semester of question.
Learning outcome
Students are to acquire a profound knowledge of the culture of the Viking Period and Middle Ages in the light of the concept of transformation. They are to be given insight into what it means to do research in the humanities; they are to develop a capacity for analysis and independent thinking when it comes to the relationship to primary sources and secondary literature. They are to be socialised into a research community and thus provided with a foundation on which to build in their work on their own Master’s Degree dissertation.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Admission to a Master program
Recommended previous knowledge
This course builds on previous knowledge equivalent to a Bachelor’s Degree in West-European Medieval Studies or another Bachelor’s Degree with a major within a discipline that covers the Viking Period or Nordic Middle Ages. The course can be taken as a continuation of MAS4003, but the latter is not an official requirement.
Teaching
The teaching will to a great extent be group teaching in the form of seminars and individual tutorials. In addition students are to follow the activities taking place under the auspices of the research project: seminars, conferences and guest lectures. Students must write an individual semester paper of roughly 10 pages with 2300 keystrokes, excluding spaces. The subject of the assignment is to be agreed between the student and teacher in co-operation. Work on the assignment is to take place throughout the semester; the preparatory work and draft are to be presented at seminars, and the students are to respond to one another’s work.
Examination
At the end of the semester the assignment is to be submitted and assessed as a piece of examination work. The evaluation is graded with alphabetic marks. In the event of illness, documented by a medical certificate, one may apply for deferment of the date on which the assignment is to be submitted.
Other
This course is first and foremost incorporated in the specialised course of study for the Master’s Degree in Nordic Viking and Medieval Culture, but is also open to students from other Master’s Degree courses with themes from the Viking Period and European Middle Ages.
The course can not be incorporated in the former system.
A selection of monographs, articles and source studies with an extent of roughly 900 pages. Individual adjustments must be made from time to time, all according to what it has been decided to concentrate on.
The teaching will be provided by researchers/teachers who are engaged in the research project.
Changes may occur.
If you are handicapped or functionally disabled in a way that is essentially disadvantegous when taking the examination, you can apply for a special arrangement of your examination.