HISTORY 101

History 475.01: Special Topics: Travel and Transformation:
Merchants and Pilgrims as Agents of Change in the Ancient and Medieval World
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Spring 2008 Dr. Linda Jones Hall MW, 2:40-4:30 Kent Hall 312
Office 204 Kent Hall Phone 240-895-4434 or ext. 4434
Office hours: M 10:40-11:30; W 1:20-2:20 or by appointment
Email ljhall@smcm.edu
webpage http://www.smcm.edu//ljhall/ljhall.html

This course will trace the influence of travelers in the ancient and medieval worlds. The narratives of these pilgrims and merchants will be studied in depth for the extent of contact and interaction between known and unknown worlds. Students will read the accounts of such travellers in the eastern Mediterranean primarily, from the era of classical Greece and Rome to the time of medieval Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Required Texts
CASSON = Casson, Lionel. Travel in the Ancient World, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1994. ISBN 9780801848087.

COLEMAN = Coleman, Simon, and John Elsner. Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995, pbk. ISBN 0674667662

PAUSANIAS = Pausanias. Guide to Greece. Vol. 1: Central Greece. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140442251.

WILKINSON = Wilkinson, John. Egeria's Travels, 1999, 3rd rev. edn, Jerusalem and Warminster: Aris and Phillips. ISBN 9780856687105.

HODGES = Hodges, Richard, and David Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the Origins of Europe, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983, ISBN-13: 978-0801492624.

TUDELA = Benjamin of Tudela, Marcus Nathan Adler, trans., The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Dodo Press, 2007. ISBN: 140654776X.

LEE= Ibn Battuta. Samuel Lee, trans., The Travels of Ibn Battuta: in the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354, Dover Books, 2004, ISBN: 0486437655

DUNN = Ibn Battuta. The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century. Translated by Ross Dunn. University of California Press, 2004 edn, ISBN-10: 0520243854.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Regular attendance is expected. Read the assignments in advance in order to participate fully in class discussion. As we will discuss the primary sources in detail, bring those texts to class as indicated on the syllabus. Organize your time in such a way that you can meet the deadlines for your assignments.

STANDARD REFERENCE WORKS
See the Oxford Classical Dictionary (1 vol., 3rd ed.) [OCD], the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (3 vols.) [ODB], the Encyclopedia of Islam, and the Encyclopedia Judaica for articles that indicate current trends in historiography and refer to important bibliography. These reference works are available in the Reference section of the SMCM library. See also these books at the beginning for useful abbreviations.

JOURNAL ARTICLES
Journals at SMCM (on the second floor of the library near the stairs at the rear of that floor) include Archaeology, Arethusa, Classical Journal, Classical Quarterly, Classical Review, Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, and others. Current issues are on the display racks. Back issues are bound and are on the shelf by the call number which you can find either from the current issue or from the catalog.
Also the library “subscribes” to online journals and search engines, many of which print ariticles: PROJECT MUSE http://muse.jhu.edu/
JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/
LIBRARY DATABASES LINK http://www.smcm.edu/library/databases.cfm
TOCS-IN is an excellent search tool for recent bibliography of journal articles (some will print) http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/amphoras/tocfind
ILL request forms for getting books and articles from SMCM Interlibrary Loan http://www.smcm.edu/library/illpolic.htm

GRADING
WEEKLY ORAL PRESENTATIONS =150points
HANDOUT WITH BIBILOGRAPHY & OUTLINE = 100 points
PRESENTATION OF PAPER TOPIC = 60 points
ATTENDANCE AND DISCUSSION = 90 points
FIRST TEST = 150 points
FINAL EXAM = 150 points
FINAL PAPER = 300 points

Ultimately, the student’s grade is based on the professor’s assessment of the student’s work.
94-100 = A, 93-90 = A-, 87-89 = B+, 84-86 = B, 80-83 = B-, 77-79 = C+, 74-76 = C,
70-73 = C-, 67-69 = D+, 64-66 = D, 63-60 = D-, below 60 = F

Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense.
Definition of Plagiarism from To The Point and the College Catalog:
Plagiarism is the act of appropriating and using the words, ideas, symbols, images, or other works of original expression of others as one's own without giving credit to the person who created the work. If students have any questions regarding the definition of plagiarism, they should consult their instructor for general principles regarding the use of others' work. Among sources commonly used for documenting use of others' work are the style manuals published by the American Psychological Association, the Council of Biology Editors, the Modern Language Association, and Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers. The final authority concerning methods of documentation is the course instructor. Specific instances of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following:

a) Word-for-word copying of sentences or paragraphs from one or more sources that are the work or data of other persons (including books, articles, theses, unpublished works, working papers, seminar and conference papers, lecture notes or tapes, graphs, images, charts, data, electronically based materials, etc.), without clearly identifying their origin by appropriate referencing.
b) Closely paraphrasing ideas or information (in whatever form) without appropriate acknowledgement by reference to the original work or works.
c) Presenting material obtained from the Internet as if it were the student's own work.
d) Minor alterations such as adding, subtracting, or rearranging words, or paraphrasing sections of a source without appropriate acknowledgement of the original work or works.
3. Falsification
Falsification involves misrepresentation in an academic exercise.
Misrepresentation includes, but is not limited to:
a) Falsely attributing data or judgments to scholarly sources.
b) Falsely reporting the results of calculations or the output of computer programs, or materials from other electronic sources.
c) Presenting copied, falsified, or improperly obtained data as if it were the result of laboratory work, field trips, or other investigatory work.
4. Resubmission of work
No student may turn in work for evaluation in more than one course without the permission of the instructors of both courses.

Penalties for plagiarism can include, but are not limited to, a zero on the work in question, an F in the course, and referral to the Office of the Provost. ALL sources which you use (books, articles, internet) must be cited properly.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Students will make weekly presentations on assigned topics. These topics will include, but not be restricted to, discussions of assigned readings, both primary sources and secondary analyses. Students will also present reports on relevant journal articles and book chapters, as assigned. A schedule will be established for these presentations.

BIBILOGRAPHY AND OUTLINE
Students will turn in a bibliography of ten items. Each item should consist of the correct bibliographical citation for the book or journal article (which could be from a print or electronic format) and must go beyond the assigned readings. This bibliography is for the final paper. Students will also turn in a five point outline with an introductory thesis statement that explains the main argument of the final paper.

PRESENTATION OF THE PAPER TOPIC
Students will make a fifteen-minute presentation to the class of the main points of their paper topic. This presentation will include giving each member of the class a handout which should list the proposed title, the student’s name, an outline of five points (either phrase or sentence outline), and five bibliographical entries the student plans to use in his/her final paper. The fifteen minute presentation includes time for class interaction and questions.

TEST AND EXAM
There will be a mid-term test and a final exam. These will be designed to assess the student’s comprehension of assigned readings from both the ancient and modern authors. Since the paper topics will be individualized, these tests will focus in a more general way on the student’s understanding of issues and arguments of the common readings for the course.

FINAL PAPER
This paper should be 15 pages in length, including bibliography and notes. YOU MUST USE 5 PRIMARY SOURCE QUOTATIONS!!!. As this is also a research paper, you should also cite such secondary sources as books and journal articles. Refer to Turabian for proper format for all aspects of writing.

Week 3 Classical pagan pilgrimage
Mon Jan 28 PAUSANIAS “Corinth and the Argolid” (127-223)
Wed. Jan 30 PAUSANIAS “Achaia” (225-306) [Eleusis]

Week 4 Travel in Roman Times
Mon. Feb 4 CASSON, Chaps 6-11, pp. 115-196 [Ostia]
Wed. Feb 6 CASSON, Chaps 12-17, pp. 197-291

Week 7 Economic interchange between the East and West
Mon Feb 25 FIRST TEST
Wed Feb 27 HODGES, Chaps 1-4. pp 1-101

Week 8 Economic interchange between the East and West, continued
Mon. Mar 3 HODGES, Chaps 5-8. pp 102-176
Wed Mar 5 Jewish pilgrimage and trade
COLEMAN, Chap 2, pp. 34-51; TUDELA, Introduction and pp. 1-53

Week 9 Islamic travel
Mon. Mar 17 COLEMAN, Chap 3, pp. 52-77; DUNN, ix-xvi, 1-12; LEE, Dedication, Preface
Wed. Mar 19 The Near East, DUNN, Chaps 1-4, pp. 1-80; LEE, pp. 1-31

Week 10 Islamic travel, continued
Mon. Mar 24 Persia and Iraq, DUNN, Chaps 5-6, pp. 81-136; LEE, pp. 31-68
Wed Mar 26 Anatolia and the Steppe, DUNN, Chaps 7-8, pp. 137-182; LEE, pp. 69-100

Week 11 Islamic travel, continued
Mon Mar 31 India, etc, DUNN, Chaps 9-10, pp. 183-240; LEE, pp. 100-206
Wed Apr 2 China and Home, DUNN, Chaps 11-14, pp 266- 320; LEE, pp 207-243

Week 12 Concluding discussions
Mon Apr 7 Medieval Pilgrimage, COLEMAN, Chap 5, pp. 104-135; Timothy E. Gregory, “The Survival of Paganism in Christian Greece: A Critical Essay,” American Journal of Philology 107 (1986) 229-242; Speros Vryonis, Jr., “The Panegyris of the Byzantine Saint: A Study in the Nature of a Medieval Institution, its Origin and Fate,” in S. Hackel, ed., The Byzantine Saint (London: Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1981), pp.196-222
Wed Apr 9 COLEMAN, Comparative Pigrimage, COLEMAN, Chaps 6-7, and Epilogue, pp 136-220.

Weeks 15-16 Mon—Tues, April 28-29 SMP presentations
Wed April 30 Reading Day
Exams Thurs—Tues, May 1-6
Exam for this class Thursday May 1, 9:00-11:15 in regular classroom
Emphasis on material since midterm exam

Roman Roads in Judaea II: the Jaffa-Jerusalem roads by Moshe Fischer, Benjamin Isaac, Israel Roll (BAR international series 628, Oxford, 1996)this book treats of all the travellers who took these roads, including Felix Fabri