I’m Teaching a Class. Y’all Come!

Roots!

This November I’ll be returning to the first subject I studied on my own in earnest, and teaching a three-session course on Medieval history at the Brooklyn Brainery. I studied the Middle Ages in deep earnest from the ages of 12-17, and it was the goal of becoming a Medieval history professor that I gave up when I left academia (that’s a whole other story). It’s great to be able to share this fascinating topic and all the random awesome tidbits I know with other people.

The three sessions will cover the early, high, and late Middle Ages, with a focus on bringing everyday life into sharp focus with lots of multimedia and some tactile displays. Of course, I’ll also cover the favorites, including the Crusades, the Black Death, Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War, and a lot of the really crazy and stupid myths perpetuated by Victorian “historians” who saw the era through WASP glasses and kind of ruined it for the rest of us. It’ll be a fun, funny, and (hopefully) completely non-threatening — but accurate — look at what really went down between the years 476 and 1453.

The Brainery is a collective of cool people who hold cheap, informal teaching/learning sessions about various subjects out of their space in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The people I’ve talked to there seem very friendly and competent, and the physical space and variety of classes look awesome, so I can’t wait to give it a go myself!

If you live near NYC and can make it to Brooklyn the first three Wednesday evenings in November, you can sign up here. I’ll post the presentations and (hopefully) audio/video of the class  sometime after the course finishes for my out-of-town friends who can’t make it.

I’m really looking forward to teaching this class, and I’d love to see some of y’all come out and support!