IMC 2010: Sessions
Session 928: Teaching the Crusades: Encountering the Other - A Round Table Discussion
Tuesday 13 July 2010, 19.30-20.30
| Sponsor: | Society for the Study of the Crusades & the Latin East / Institute for Historical Research History Lab / Higher Education Academy's Subject Centre for History, Classics & Archaeology |
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| Organisers: | Kimm Curran, History Lab+, Institute of Historical Research, University of London Jason T. Roche, Department of History, National University of Ireland, Galway |
| Moderator/Chair: | Jason T. Roche, Department of History, National University of Ireland, Galway |
| Abstract | A recent report conducted by The Historical Association and funded by the government's Department for Education and Skills found that teachers were 'unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history', and at one school they 'deliberately avoided teaching the crusades…because their balanced treatment of the topic would have directly challenged what was taught in some local mosques'. A session on teaching the crusades was organised at last year's IMC (2009) in direct response to the report's conclusions. It became clear that teachers within higher and further education establishments likewise faced numerous pedagogical challengers when discussing the concept and practice of medieval Holy War. Bringing together an international range of teachers and scholars at various stages of their career and from both the secondary and tertiary sectors, this round table will discuss the challenges faced with and the potential routes to teaching such an 'emotive and controversial' field of history. Participants include Kimm Curran (University of Glasgow), Sini Kangas (University of Helsinki), Graham A. Loud (University of Leeds), Jonathan Phillips (Royal Holloway, University of London), William Purkis (University of Birmingham), and Benjamin Weber (Université de Pau-Pays de l'Adour). |