Course topic: THE GESTURE OF WRITING IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE PRESENT DAYS

The course focuses on the act of writing, understood both physically-that is, the set of acts ranging from the preparation of writing tools and supports, to the laying of the mark on the writing surface-and culturally and symbolically. What does writing mean to us? Why did humanity conceive of writing? What needs does this practice respond to? How have our attitudes toward writing evolved over the course of human history? What role does writing play in our daily lives now, and what role can we imagine it might play in the future?

We will address these basic questions by exploring a particular time and place in European history, the Middle Ages of north-central Europe. We will explore the act, motivations, and effects of writing by analyzing some written and visual documentation processed primarily within the Old and Middle English, Old and Middle High German, Protonordic, and Old Icelandic linguistic-cultural related areas. Of these areas, we will analyze parchment manuscripts, runic inscriptions, miniatures, frescoes, and other artifacts, as well as prose and verse texts from these linguistic-cultural areas that offer information about the practice of writing.

The course is structured in frontal and laboratory teaching modes. The frontal teaching hours (TOT. 22) include, in addition to the lecturer's explanations, discussions and exercises. They are aimed at the rapid acquisition of knowledge and skills fundamental to the course topic. Laboratory hours (TOT. 18) are structured as a teaching environment suitable for students to develop individual and group projects. They will be divided into three packages: a 6-hour workshop on writing between analog and digital, a 10-hour introductory workshop on medieval writing (with actual construction of one's own writing instrument, personal packaging of inks according to medieval craft methods, packaging of one's own “manuscript”), and a concluding workshop on dream drawing on writing (2 hours) The objective of the 18 workshop hours is to use the knowledge and skills acquired in the frontal part to creatively develop a personal or group project that is useful for the educational and professional continuation of individual students. 

Course topic: THE GESTURE OF WRITING IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE PRESENT DAYS

Section A: General Overview

1. General introduction to the course (syllabus, content, mode of assessment (face-to-face with discussion)

2. Linguistic exploration of terms designating writing in the various ancient and modern languages known to the course participants (exercise)

3. Metaphors and symbols related to writing (exercise)

4. SIGNUM FACERE: making a mark to find meaning. The graphic gesture at the dawn of humanity and early child development (frontal with exercises and discussion)

5. Writing pedagogy: the method of Robert Oliveaux. Dysgraphia as potential and resource (frontal with practice and discussion)

6. Leonardo da Vinci's mirror writing (frontal with tutorial and discussion); left-handedness in a left-to-right writing context (frontal with tutorial and discussion)

Section B: Historical background

7. The evolution of the symbolic system of human scripts (ideogram, pictogram, alphabetic scripts, etc.) (frontal with discussion)

8.  The ancient writing of north-central Europe of Germanic linguistic area: the runes (frontal with discussion)

9. History of Latin writing in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age: types of writing and execution of the graphic gesture (frontal with exercises preparatory to the workshop)

10. Analysis of manuscripts selected from the cultural areas of the course (exercises with self-assessment test): The Wulfila Bible, the Book of Kells, the Lindisfarne Gospel, and others

11. Reading of manuscript texts, drawn from the cultural areas of the course, in which we refer to the act of writing (lecture with exercises and self-assessment test)

Section C: Laboratory pathway

12. Writings in the paintings of the Ducal Palace of Urbino (contest at the Ducal Palace, preparatory to the workshop)

13. Workshop “Writing between analog and digital” (6 hours, divided into 3 teaching units)

14. Workshop “Avviamento alla scrittura medievale” (12 hours, divided into several didactic units)

15. Dream drawing workshop on writing (2 hours, concluding the course)

Upon completion of the course, the student/student will have acquired the following knowledge and skills:

Knowledge and understanding (knowledge and understanding): The student has acquired and consolidated his/her knowledge about the value and functions of the act of writing in the medieval and contemporary cultures of reference for the course and the role of this topic within Germanic Philology; he/she has also consolidated his/her ability to understand the link between the act of writing and the development of personal identity and interpersonal interactions, both in medieval Germanic cultures and in his/her own personal culture of reference.

Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding). The student has practiced the ability to apply critically and creatively on empirical material proposed by the lecturer or students the knowledge acquired and discussed in the theoretical part of the course, transforming this knowledge into personal skills of understanding the complex nature of writing and, by analogy, complex situations related to writing even outside Germanic Philology, in real problems of daily and professional life related to handwriting and/or digital media approachable by analogy to the cases covered by the exercises and workshops in class.

Autonomy of judgment (making judgements). Through the exercises, discussions, and laboratory activities of the course, the student has acquired the awareness and exercised his / her ability to trust his / her own questions, transforming them, through the logical and methodological tools provided in the course, into hypotheses that he / she corroborates through independently formulated judgments. With the same tools, he/she can make judgments about cases and issues raised by others.

Communication skills (communication skills). Through the tutorials and group workshop activities of the course, the student gained confidence and communication competence especially in terms of clarity, assertiveness, empathy and design cooperation. 

Ability to learn (learning skills). Through group exercises, self-assessment tests, and the preparation of a project to be presented in the exam, the student has exercised and consolidated his/her ability to learn independently and expendably both within Germanic Philology and in other fields of theoretical and applied knowledge.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The frontal lecture is supplemented by:

- plenum and subgroup discussions;

- individual or subgroup or plenum exercises;

- visits to the State Archives of Urbino and the Ducal Palace of Urbino;

- workshops;

- contests (between two subgroups)

- self-assessment tests administered (mostly multiple-choice) at various times during the course;

- writing a final report on learning outcomes, compiled following a grid accessible in the blended area of the course.

Innovative teaching methods

See the headings “Educational Objectives,” “Program,” and “Supporting Activities.”

Course books

For all:

Clayton, Ewan. 2015. The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing. London: Atlantic Books.

Piazzoni, A.M. (s.d.) "Paleografia Latina: Dall'Antichità al Rinascimento". Semantic Patways on the Web (sito della Biblioteca Vaticana) https://spotlight.vatlib.it/it/latin-paleography/feature/1-alcune-premesse-importanti

For personal and group study paths see material accessible in the blended area of the course.

Assessment

The assessment is by oral, during which the knowledge and skills of the examinee/student will be tested against the following content:

- ONE CHOICE TOPIC OF THE STUDENT'S/STUDENT'S CHOICE AMONG ALL CONTENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE COURSE (previously agreed with the lecturer);

- A SURPRISE TOPIC FROM EWAN CLAYTON'S BOOK;

- THE CONTENT OF THE FINAL REPORT ON THE PROJECT(S) CARRIED OUT BY THE STUDENT DURING ONE OF THE THREE WORKSHOPS. This report, written and handed in before the exam, is to be completed at the end of the course following a grid available from the end of the course on blended.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Individual study with the possibility of reception.

Non-attending students are allowed to attend occasional in-person lectures of the course upon request.

Course books

In order to provide the opportunity for non-attending students to compensate by self-study what is done during the lectures, the following materials referring to the same contents of the syllabus are given for the purpose of promoting their full understanding:

Clayton, Ewan. 2015. The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing. London: Atlantic Books.

Piazzoni, A.M. (s.d.) "Paleografia Latina: Dall'Antichità al Rinascimento". Semantic Patways on the Web (sito della Biblioteca Vaticana) https://spotlight.vatlib.it/it/latin-paleography/feature/1-alcune-premesse-importanti

For personal and group study paths see material accessible in the blended area of the course.

It is also necessary to prepare on some additional material of about 50-80 pages, to be selected with the lecturer with a view to writing a written paper (See “Assessment Arrangements” item on this site and see document “Course Materials and Guidelines for the Non-Attending Examination” in the appropriate blended area of the course).

Assessment

Oral examination where the examinee's knowledge and skills are ascertained on the following content:

- TWO TOPICS (one chosen by the student, one by the lecturer) TAKEN FROM THE CLAYTON TEXT IN THE PROGRAM;

- A WRITTEN PAPER OF 4-6 PAGES, ON A TOPIC AGREED UPON BY THE STUDENT WITH THE LECTURER, DUE ONE WEEK BEFORE THE EXAM. This paper should be based on the critical reading and elaboration of material agreed with the lecturer, and should be written according to the expository and formal criteria of an academic paper (title, table of contents, introduction, body of the argument, conclusions, bibliography, appendices, if any). See appropriate Blended Guidelines.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.