Format, Sources, Framework: A Three-Fold Redesign of a Survey of Early Christianity

Grant:

Faculty Development Fund (FDF)

Academic Year:

2022 - 2023 (June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2023)

Funding Requested:

$6,000.00

Project Dates:

Thu, 06/01/2023 - Wed, 07/31/2024

Applicant(s):

emuehlbe

Overview of the Project:

This grant would support the redesign of a historical survey of early Christianity on three fronts. The instructor and two graduate students involved will explore potential changes to the traditional lecture format and select a model to run in Winter 2024; they will generate a broader range of historical sources for students to work with in the course than has been used in the past, part of which will comprise the development of assorted research dossiers to support a mid-term group project; and they will consult with other instructors of the survey on its framework, specifically to break away from the traditional chronological presentation of material. The work will take place over two summers: Summer 2023, when the consultation, planning, and research for the initial iteration of the redesigned course in Winter 2024 will take place, and Summer 2024, when evaluation of the new course and new adjustments will be made.

Final Report Fields

Project Objectives:

There were three objectives in the original grant: explore alternatives to the traditional lecture format; assemble primary-source dossiers for students to work with (a hurdle because all of the texts needed to be in translation and also about a topic that was not easily Google-able); consider alternatives to the standard chronological-progressive presentation of the survey of the history of early Christianity.

Project Achievements:

The main work of the project involved assembling the dossiers: they both took longer and we needed more of them than planned, so the students involved worked almost exclusively on this part of the grant. The two of them made 15 viable dossiers in the Summer of 2023, and then one of the two students was the GSI for the course in its first iteration in Winter 2024.

That student continued on working in Summer of 2024, and revised the dossiers we had used for student group research projects, added new ones, and created a guide to the dossiers and the assignments they support for the next GSI who will teach with the class in Winter 2025.

The goals I had for finding alternative ways of presenting the material and ordering it took a back seat to this much larger task. I did change the order that I had used in surveys of this field in the

Continuation:

The paid work of students on the grant, no, but the project of creating new dossiers for students in my survey to use for their projects will definitely continue.

Dissemination:

I am happy to share what I have learned with any of my colleagues. In part, I took this on because several of my colleagues in History have done History Lab-style classes with students, and they are productive, but they are difficult to accomplish for pre-modern subjects because of the small number of students who read the original languages. The dossiers (assembled primary sources in English translation) are an attempt to approximate a History Lab experience in the middle of a upper-level lecture course.

Advice to your Colleagues:

Having confident, resourceful students to work with made all the difference!

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