Course Syllabus

• Instructor: David M. Perry
• Class Times: MWF 10:30 AM-11:20 AM
• Location: LIB 340
• Office: Lewis Annex 2C
• Office Phone: (708) 524-6052
• Office Hours : MF 12-1
• Email: dperry@dom.edu
• URL: http://domin.dom.edu/faculty/dperry/hist271viking/

Course Description

In this course we will study the Vikings in both their homelands and in the many regions to which they travelled. We will study the many ways in which the Vikings interacted with foreign peoples - as merchants, conquerors, pilgrims, colonists, mercenaries, and yes, as pirates and plunderers. In varying ways, medieval Scandinavians had a profound impact on every region to which they travelled and contact with other societies ultimately transformed the Scandinavian kingdoms. We want to understand both aspects. We will look at the spread of Christianity in the North, the stories of raiding, trading, exploration, and nation-building. Our sources will include poetry, heroic fiction, histories, artifacts, travel narratives, and myriad secondary sources. Not only will we learn a great deal about the Vikings and their impact, we will also work on the tools of studying history.

Required Texts

The following books have been made available for you at the Dominican bookstore. Please buy them.

• Ferguson, The Vikings
• The Viking Age: A Reader
• Sturluson, King Harald's Saga
  
• The Vinland Saga

There will be numerous other readings either posted online or given out in class. You are required to bring all readings due on any given day to class to aid in discussion. For online materials, this means you must print them out. If you fail to bring assigned readings to class, I may count you as absent.

Course Requirements and Assignments

• Tests - 15% each
  • Each of these THREE tests will examine a signifiant percentage of the course material. I will be testing for knowledge, comprehension, and ability to discuss central course themes. They will all be take-home tests completed using the MyDU system.
• Fictional Essay - Society as seen through medieval Norwegian law - 10%
  • This essay will ask you to describe a fictional life as seen through a body of documents that I will provide you. It is a serious assignment, but may well be enjoyable! Due after Spring Break.
• Harald Hardarada - 5% essay on a single source. Practice for the final project.
• Final Project - 25%
  • In this project, you and a group of your peers will prepare a presentation on a topic related to the course theme. I will provide you with a list of topics and some suggestions about your first steps. You will then be required to complete three pieces of an assignment. This is a major part of your grade and will take considerable effort.
    1. Group Presentation - You will have 20 minutes to present your topic to the class in an engaging manner, relying on images, a carefully planned script, selected readings, and anything else you can come up with (dramatizations? Games?) to make it both informative and interesting. Presentations take place during the last week of class. In the past, groups have had trouble being both interesting and keeping to the time limits. You'll need to practice and not just read text on a power-point screen. More information to come.
    2. Self and Group Assessment - You are required to assess both your work and the work of your group. I will give you a form for comments and numerical grading. Participation in this part of the assignment is mandatory. Your group's opinion of your work will have a MAJOR impact on your grade, as will their opinion of your work.
    3. Essay - You will write a essay on your topic that articulates the ARGUMENTS made by your group and its research in a thesis-driven paper. More information to come.
• Participation and Attendance - 15%
  • Participation is more than just showing up, but it starts with just showing up. You cannot participate if you are not here and will be required to make up any work for each class you miss.
    • Here's the policy.
      1. You can miss TWO classes. I don't want notes or excuses. Excused or unexcused, you can miss two. You have to make up the work, but there's no penalty.
      2. As soon as those two are used up, you must have written documentation or you will lose 5 points off your final grade. No matter how you used up your two, once they are gone, they are gone forever.
  • But participation is about more than just showing up. It's about doing the reading, being prepared to talk about it, volunteering your input, being involved in your group work, preparing for the debates and other discussions, and being an asset to the class as a whole. Your participation is a significant percentage of your grade. Earn it. Take initiative. Do not expect to speak only when directly called upon and pass this section of the class.
  • I will frequently ask you for candid, confidential, assessments of your contributions. These will provide written documentation of your efforts.
  • Finally, being late consistently may be counted as being absent. It will certainly lower your participation grade.

The Grade

• Test #1 - 15%
• Test #2 - 15%
• Test #3 - 15%
• Essay - 15%
• Final Paper - 30%
• Participation and Attendance - 10%

Course Policies

1. Follow all Dominican University policies in regards to Academic Honesty. If you are unsure about whether something is plagiarism or cheating, ask first. People caught cheating will be subjected to the fullest penalties allowable by Dominican.
   • You may never, ever, put someone else's words in your paper and not indicate that they are a quoation (with "") and cite the origins. Failure to comply may result in failing the entire class.
2. Assignments turned in via the MyDU system must be read-able by MS Word. If you email me an assignment, do not assume that it is turned in until I confirm receipt.
3. Students must bring readings to class on the day they are assigned. Print out online materials. If we don't talk about something in class, you need to bring it to the next class too unless told otherwise.
4. Writing assignments and examinations are due at the beginning of class. DO NOT EVER SKIP CLASS TO TRY AND FINISH YOUR PAPER. Printing errors and lost data are a fact of the computer age. If you wait until the last minute and encounter technical difficulties, your paper may still be counted as late.
5. For every day a paper or project is late, you lose one full grade per day (A to B, B to C, etc.). Do not test this system. Turn your work in on time. Stapled. With your name on every page. Typed. Double-spaced. In a 12-point font. With room on the margins for comments. Printed on only one side of the paper (for ease of comments). Please! I know this seems like a hassle, but it makes grading them and reading them easier. Be merciful to my eyesight.