Kurse

Mobility in the Pre-Modern Baltic Sea Region

Lecturers:

Dr Inka Timosaari (Stockholm University)

Prof. Dr. phil. Cordelia Heß (University of Greifswald)

Mobility in its various forms and scales is a fundamental aspect of human history. Already in pre-modern times, the Baltic Sea functioned as a route for travel and enabled the exchange of both goods and ideas. Mobility was thus a major factor of cultural contact – in most cases voluntary, in others forced. In many cases, the impact of this cultural exchange is still visible today. This course discusses different forms of mobility in the pre-modern Baltic Sea Region and examines the ways they can be assessed with the help of material that is still extant in the form of archives, collections, literature, or monuments. Students will learn to work with primary sources that were produced in the Baltic Sea region in pre-modern times.

After the completion of the module, the students are expected to:

1. Assess different forms of mobility in the pre-modern Baltic Sea region, and explain its development, motives, and outcomes from a historical perspective.

2. Compare and critically discuss differences in historiographical traditions around the Baltic Sea concerning the significance of cultural contacts in pre-modern times.

3. Demonstrate competence in understanding, interpreting, and analysing primary source material related to the course contents.

The module is arranged completely online and in English. Please register for lecture and seminar courses together. The students will be expected to meet individually in working groups. Lectures will be accessible online at any time.

(For participants from the University of Greifswald: please use the following links to access the seminar and lecture course)

Mobility in the Pre-Modern Baltic Sea Region 

(Stockholm University)

Mobility in its various forms and scales is a fundamental aspect of human history. Already in pre-modern times, the Baltic Sea functioned as a route for travel and enabled the exchange of both goods and ideas. Mobility was thus a major factor of cultural contact – in most cases voluntary, in others forced. In many cases, the impact of this cultural exchange is still visible today. This course discusses different forms of mobility in the pre-modern Baltic Sea Region and examines the ways they can be assessed with the help of material that is still extant in the form of archives, collections, literature, or monuments. Students will learn to work with primary sources that were produced in the Baltic Sea region in pre-modern times.

(For participants from the University of Greifswald: please use the following links to access the lecture course and the seminar)

The students from the partner universities are welcomed to join online courses in English provided by the Nordic History chair, University of Greifswald

Lecture course: The Christianization of the North (bilingual) (Cordelia Heß, Prof. Dr. phil.)

In the period between 700 and 1200, Christianity gradually became the dominant religion in Scandinavia and Finland. The lecture series will provide a basic timeline for this phenomenon, highlight actors and processes, discuss theoretical approaches to conversion and identity formation and investigate different expressions of cultural and religious identity. Additional focus will be on the written and material sources which tell us about the period between the Viking Age and the Christian Middle Ages.

Most of the sessions will be uploaded and can be accessed asynchronously, they will be accompanied by short exercises. Some sessions will be live and give the opportunity to discuss the topics.

Additional offer

Seminar: Conversion of the Vikings (Cordelia Heß, Prof. Dr. phil.)

This seminar works best together with the lecture "Christianization of the North", in which substantial background knowledge is provided for reading and understanding of the texts and sources in this seminar. In the seminar, Latin historiographic and hagiographic sources as well as Old Norse sagas will be read and discussed.

Seminar: The Nordic paradox: Gender equality and antifeminism in Scandinavia (Cordelia Heß, Prof. Dr. phil.)

The Nordic countries rank amongst the top 5 in the Gender Equality Index. But women in these countries experience a comparatively higher degree of domestic violence, sexual harassment and abuse than in other European countries. This seminar will discuss historical and contemporary reasons and explanations for this phenomenon. Teaching and research literature will be primarily in English.

Seminar: Baltic Sea region history Creating Imagined Communities: Collective Memory between the Christianisation and the Nationalism in the Baltic Sea region (Gustavs Strenga, Dr.)

For enrollment or any questions: baltic-e-learning@uni-greifswald.de or vitali.byl@uni-greifswald.de

Imaginatio borealis: Ideas of the North from the Middle Ages until today

The term "North" (lat: boreas) initially only denotes one direction of the sky or wind. Since ancient times, this term has also been associated with certain ideas or imaginations of a specifically northern area. The understanding of exactly where this space is to be located and what constitutes it - that is, what defines “the North” and distinguishes it from other regions - has changed over the years.

The course addresses the question of what ideas about the North looked like in different eras and contexts and what they still look like today. The lectures provide an overview of the conceptualizations of the North from the Middle Ages to the present, they are supplemented by guest lecturers. The seminars mainly consist of project work in groups that examine individual case studies independently and present work results.

Religious Mobility in the Pre-Modern Baltic Sea Region

The course was dedicated to religiously motivated mobility in the premodern Baltic Sea region: crusades, pilgrimages and preaching tours. The recorded lecture videos served as an introduction to individual phenomena of premodern mobility, presented the basics of modern and contemporary theories about migration. The lectures were prepared by researchers of this phenomenon from Greifswald, Stockholm, Tampere and St. Petersburg.

The students had the choice between five subject areas, on which they could work in groups on a project basis. The results were then presented in various forms (text or video) and a criteria-driven peer review enabled the students to examine the work of the other groups in-depth and provide extensive feedback.