Western Civilization: Medieval to Modern Europe
Read:
Kim, Dorothy. “White Supremacists Have Weaponized an Imaginary Viking Past. It’s Time to Reclaim the Real History.” Time Magazine. April 15 2019. https://time.com/5569399/viking-history-white-nationalists/ (Links to an external site.)
Write a short response (250-350 words) to the article. This response should include
A.) A brief summary of the article.
Include:
*(1) a general statement of what the article is about.
Also, mention”
*(2) specific examples of the misuse of the Middle Ages or preconceptions about that time period that the article works to correct and
*(3) what has been done—or could be done, is is being done—to combat this misuse, according to the article.
** This should be one or two paragraphs, but no more than half the paper. Remember, this section is grounded in the article itself.
B.) Now that you’ve read this article, you can see that addressing white supremacists’ use of the Middle Ages is both an urgent need, and also a complicated one. Some historians have responded by diversifying their scholarship, some by changing how and what they teach, and others by writing for broader audiences (including the articles you might have read for this assignment).
*(4) Can you think of another way historians (or role players or students, depending on the article you read) could try to counter a misuse of the Middle Ages? Explain how the actions your propose would address the problem of racist misinterpretations of Medieval history.
Citing Evidence: It is important for you to ground your argument in evidence from the article you choose. Incorporate the source material into your own writing by paraphrasing or quoting.
Because your references should be confined to class readings, you may use parenthetical citation, rather than the Chicago style citation historians prefer. That is, cite as follows: (author or text when there is no author, page number when available) Ex: (Sturtevant) Do not use sources beyond those in the short response folder. Instead of reading more, concentrate on writing a good response.
