Building Bridges to the Past: Personal Reflections on Understanding Audience, Welcoming Inquiry, and Establishing Contexts

Some contemporary teachers of medieval studies have observed that, given the changing role of religious belief in our increasingly secular Western society, any widely shared body of knowledge among undergraduate students about Christian ethos and history is becoming less and less of a given and that, furthermore, this lack of familiarity with Christian tradition poses significant challenges to our work in the classroom to promote curiosity about and exploration of a medieval past deeply rooted in that tradition. The comments here, from a participant in a roundtable discussion entitled, “Teaching Medieval Studies in the Increasingly Secular Classroom,” that featured educators from range of types of institutions in the U.S., first offer his perspective on and assessment of these challenges, as professor in an English Department at a small liberal arts college, then note the possibilities for building new interest in the field, and lastly suggest approaches to these challenges based on pedagogy, practices, and teaching strategies that will enhance our understanding of the new audiences in our classrooms, welcome inquiry from them as new learners and curious ‘outsiders,’ and help them establish the rich contexts and matrices that will be of benefit as they delve more deeply into some of the more unfamiliar aspects of medieval studies.