Admission requirements
This is a core course for the MA Book and Digital Media Studies programme. Students from other programmes may be admitted upon prior arrangement with the course coordinator.
Description
This seminar course introduces the manuscript as a significant cultural artefact: a bearer of traditions of reading and writing in the European Middle Ages. Every manuscript is an individual product, distinguished by use of a variety of writing supports, characteristic scribal hands, and a unique combination of texts. Students shall be introduced to the processes which would have been involved in the creation of a medieval manuscript: the conventions of production, common scripts, and the distinctive material features of particular genres of texts. Aside from investigating how manuscripts were produced, the course also looks in detail at how they were used, examining traces (such as notes, drawings and diagrams) left behind by readers and later owners. A number of sessions will be held at the University Library where students will get to work with manuscripts from Leiden's world-leading collection. The course offers, therefore, a unique chance to learn about and interact with handwritten books from the early Middle Ages to the dawn of print.
Course objectives
To develop a critical understanding of how medieval manuscripts were produced and used;
To analyse and employ research methods used to study and describe medieval manuscripts;
To investigate the contribution of the manuscript book to the broader history of communication and media.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar (2 hours per week)
Assessment method
Assessment
Written assignment 1: 30%
Written assignment 2: 70%
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average. To pass the course, students must receive at least a pass grade (6.0) in the second written assignment.
Resit
In the case of a fail students may resit the second written assignment.
Inspection and feedback
How and when a paper review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the paper results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the paper results, an paper review will have to be organised.
Reading list
Clemens, R. and Graham, T. (2007), Introduction to Manuscript Studies (Cornell University Press). This book is used extensively throughout the course and students are advised to purchase their own copy.
A reading list will be provided at the start of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap is mandatory.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal