My First MOOC

I recently completed my Masters degree, and after spending a total of five years at university, I’ve become slightly addicted to learning. As I have found myself with quite a bit of spare time, I decided to try something completely new to me, so I signed up for my first online course, or MOOC. I must admit, I was slightly concerned about it, that it wouldn’t be engaging, that the content wouldn’t be challenging enough, or that it simply wouldn’t be that interesting. It turns out that I was very, very wrong.

Known as MOOCs (massive online open courses), these kind of courses have surged in popularity in recent years, and there are plenty to choose from, with a range of websites offering them. I decided to go with Futurelearn, as the majority of courses are from UK-based universities and institutions. As a history lover (and an Archaeology graduate), I also wanted a course that was relevant to me and that would be at the right level, rather than just an introduction, or too specific. There were plenty to choose from, and I decided to sign up for more than one, mainly because I couldn’t choose between them! 

The first course I ended up completing was the University of Liverpool’s ‘Superpowers of the Ancient World: The Near East’. It was spread across around three hours each week, and in total lasted four weeks, although I tended to spend a little more time each week with all the extra bits of research. 

There were a number of key themes that were discussed over the four weeks, and different civilisations, including the Egyptian, Mitannian and Hittite superpowers. Ideas that were discussed included travel, trade, warfare and diplomacy, and there was a great deal of historic context as well as current discussion of international relations, looking at modern parallels. One of the great things was the use of objects from the university’s Garstang Museum, and the input of experts discussing how the objects were used and what they can tell us about the past.

Each week was split into sections, each taking around 15-20 minutes. These included videos and articles, as well as activities. The course also had quizzes each week, to test your knowledge. For some courses, the activities and quizzes contribute to a final grade, and you have to complete at least 50% of the course to be able to buy a statement of participation. I do think the price (just under £30), is a little high, but when you consider the course is completely free, it is not a bad deal at all!

The course employed a number of different online tools really successfully, such as Google Maps, an interactive timeline, and my personal favourite, the ‘Padlet’ photo wall. This particular exercise involved selecting an image from Burton’s photographs of Tutankhamun’s tomb from the 1922 excavation. It was a really engaging tool, that looked fantastic and was very easy to use, and read other peoples’ contributions at the same time. One of the biggest features of the course was the comment section, and you are encouraged to take part in discussions and post questions to other users, as well as reply to their comments. This was a really useful tool, although it was quite difficult to read all of the comments and be able to fully engage with debates that people were having. Having since used another website that uses forums, however, I do prefer the simplicity of the comments.

Ancient Egypt (and a large dose of Time Team) was what got me interested in Archaeology when I was a child, but unfortunately I didn’t end up studying it at all during my Archaeology degree. This course, therefore, was perfect. 

I really do believe that anyone, as long as they have an interest in archaeology or ancient history, would find the course engaging and be able to learn a great deal. The course is, I believe, being run again in the new year, so make sure to sign up to Futurelearn’s newsletter if you are interested in taking part.

I have, at the time of writing, managed to sign up for five courses on Futurelearn, and I am underway with another Egypt course on Courseara. Another great thing is that the conversation is ongoing, with a really active Facebook group that people still use to post their thoughts on articles and objects in museums around the world. The idea of community is central to these online courses, and is what makes them so great. Having educators that are engaging, who answer your questions and encourage debate is key to this, and was very successfully done by the team on this course. It is safe to say that I am an online course convert, and will be continuing with them for many years to come.

If you have any recommendations for other online courses, or your own experience with them, please feel free to share them!

Jess

Cleeve Abbey, Somerset

This summer I'm living in Somerset, somewhere that I have never lived before. That means that I am able to explore an area of the country that is new to me. And that means a whole new group of historic properties to explore! Yes, that is exactly what a typical 23 year old looks forward to at the weekend.

One of the first places I visited this summer was Cleeve Abbey, an English Heritage property in the Somerset countryside.

Cleeve is a Cisterican abbey founded in the late 12th century, a relatively late foundation. Built originally in a simple style, more elaborate rooms were added over time, just as they were at other Cistercian abbeys around the country. After the Dissolution, the abbey was turned into a private house and later became a farm. But now, it is one of only a handful of English Heritage sites in Somerset.

Below are a selection of photographs from my visit. What will be very clear is how fantastic the level of preservation of wall painting is in various parts of the monastery. The First Refectory is undergoing a conservation project to protect the 13th century tiled pavement due to deterioration in recent years. Unfortunately this meant that I couldn't see it at the time but at least it is a great excuse for a return visit! The highlights of my visit had to be the Refectory (with its absolutely gorgeous roof) and the Painted Chamber.

Painting on the ceiling of the Chapter House

This series of images show the Dormitory. The dormitory is on the first floor and is amazingly preserved. Although the roof was replaced in the 17th or 18th century, it is fairly similar to how it would have originally been in the 13th century. One of the highlights of this room is the tiled window seats, of which there are several. It was certainly a surprise to see these as they are such a personal touch that survive to this day.

Downstairs is a series of rooms, including the Parlour, the Slype and Warming Room (pictured below). The Warming Room now has a modern concrete groin-vaulted ceiling, which actually gives a great idea of how light these rooms may have been at the time. Again these rooms are fairly well preserved, and although there are some clear signs of later alterations, they have survived well for rooms that were used for keeping animals in more recent centuries.

Above these rooms is the Refectory Hall, the communal dining hall. The focal point is the carved roof. There has been conservation work done here, but unfortunately, I have not been able to source any information on the dates for any of the pieces.  As you can see from one of the photographs, 1953 must have been a time of considerable change to the roof. This room would have had a large painting of the Crucifixion flanked by figures of the Virgin Mary and St John, but the painting decayed until by 1950 there was little trace of it.

What have remarkably survived are little pieces of graffiti in the gallery between the Refectory and the Painted Chamber. I have adjusted the photos to make these slightly clearer as they are now protected by a glass panel. It is not known who painted them, but it is believed that they do date from the medieval period. I love the idea of a monk doodling a little self portrait on a rainy day!

The Painted Chamber was probably the office or counting house for an abbot or his secretariat. Whilst the room can no longer be entered, the magnificent 15th century wall painting can still be viewed through a small window off the Gallery. The painting shows a double arched bridge over a river, with a man standing on the centre of the bridge praying. He is flanked by a lion and a horned dragon, and a pair of angels. To the left is the figure of St Catherine, and the right, St Margaret. It has recently been identified as the legend of the man crossing a bridge from the Gesto Romanorum, a 13th century collection of anecdotes. 

Below is an image showing a painted basin in the sacristy, that would have been used for washing the chalice used during the mass. This is another well preserved room that can not be entered due to the tiled floor that still largely remains. The sacristy would have been used for storing plates, candles, altar cloths, books and vestments used during services in the church. In comparison to other parts of the monastery, little remains of the church itself, with only parts of the south aisle and south transept remaining. Thanks to concrete edgings left by the Ministry of Public Building and Works in the 1960s, one can get a good sense of the size of the church, and its layout. 

The Gatehouse is the first, and last, thing you see of the monastery, as it is still used as the entry to the site today. Whilst it was built in the 13th century, it had extensive remodelling in the 16th century. It has certainly seen a large amount of wobbling (that's a technical term) over the centuries, and there are a number of buttresses from different years.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Cleeve Abbey and was incredibly surprised by the preservation of a large amount of the site, with some of the finest examples of monastic architecture and decoration in the country. It should also be noted how friendly and welcoming the Property Steward was, even letting us eat our lunch in the education room because it had started to rain! On the day of our visit, there could not have been more than a dozen people visiting, and for a long time we were the only people there. Whilst Cleeve Abbey is quite a distance from more popular destinations in Somerset, I would definitely say that it was worth the trip, and I hope that visitor numbers pick up now that it is the summer holidays. If you do go, just remember to either take a picnic or plan for a pub lunch (there are a couple of very reasonably priced pubs in the area, so it is definitely an option).

If you do make a visit to Cleeve, please do let me know what you think. And if you have any recommendations for a medievalist like me, I would love to hear them.

Jess

If you would like any more information about Cleeve Abbey, then just take a look at the English Heritage website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cleeve-abbey/. A lot of the information about the history of the site was from the guidebook of the Abbey by English Heritage.

My Blogging Inspiration

Hello again,



Look at me, on my second blog post already! 


I mentioned previously that my inspiration for starting a blog came from more than just procrastination, and I wanted to take the time to explain that a bit further.

In my studies, I've had to look into the way that heritage professionals and the public use different online platforms to engage with heritage, and each other, and blogging is all a part of that. You could, as a result, say that my desire to start blogging came from a purely academic interest, in seeing what all the fuss was about, but that's not really true. 

For a long time, I've wanted to a part of this online community. Sharing my thoughts with people I would never usually have the opportunity to interact with. It's what I love so much about other social media sites (what can I say, I love a bit of Twitter), and I thought that it was about time I made the transition.

If you are interested in the use of blogging in archaeology, I highly recommend that you read a recent piece of research by Sara Perry: 'Changing the Way Archaeologists Work: blogging and the development of expertise'. Using her experiences of blogging in academic courses, she articulates brilliantly the creative draw of blogging, but also how it can act as an intellectual tool for archaeology, narrowing the gap between archaeological theory and practice. I have had the great opportunity of being taught by Sara, and she has certainly been the one of the main inspirations for me catching the blogging bug!

I personally believe that one of the most exciting things about blogging is that you never know what you are going to discover or what you might decide to talk about next. I love that I am able to tackle different topics but also bring my own personality into the writing and share my opinions with you all. I don't know the particular direction this blog will go, and that's the best thing about it. 

So I hope that you will visit again and find out what the next blog post will be! (No, seriously, I really don't know what to talk about next. Any ideas would be most welcome.)


Thanks for stopping by,


Jess



The article mentioned is this post can be found at: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue39/9/ and cited as: Perry, S. (2015). Changing the Way Archaeologists Work: blogging and the development of expertise, Internet Archaeology 39. http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.39.9