Medieval Studies

Virtual lais: a trancontinental collaboration in teaching medieval studies
DT KlineA1 and LA McMillinA2
A1 Department of English, University of Alaska Anchorage, Building K, Room 212C, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA E-mail: afdtk@usaa.alaska.edu A2 History Department, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA, USA

Medievalists at institutions in largely rural or geographically removed areas often struggle to find ways to connect their students to the wider intellectual community of scholars interested in the Middle Ages. However, new electronic technologies offer a flexible and promising avenue for intercampus and interdisciplinary collaboration. One such experiment in virtual partnership occurred during the spring 1998 semester when students at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, in Dr Linda McMillin's History 337 (The Middle Ages) were linked via a threaded web-based discussion forum to students at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska, in Dr Dan Kline's English 315 (Survey of Medieval Literature) course. The team-teaching project entailed the careful coordination of shared readings, complementary assignments, and technical resources in an effort to create an interdisciplinary learning community. Using course syllabi, classroom materials, and student work, this article outlines the results of this pedagogical experiment, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the course design, details the pedagogical rewards and technical challenges of the effort, and offers suggestions for others interested in designing linked courses. With fine-tuning brought by more experience, it is believed that such collaborative interdisciplinary ventures offer both students and faculty a much wider range of pedagogical, intellectual, and social possibilities, especially at institutions with limited resources for medieval studies.