New MOOC of the University of Barcelona about the history of the Mediterranean as a region of exchanges
“The Mediterranean has always been a complex and hard to understand character that goes further than regular measures”. With these words, French historian Fernand Braudel (1902-1985) describes the complex relationships that have been established around the Mediterranean Sea throughout the history. In order to contribute to understand the Mediterranean as a region of exchanges, on 14 December, the Department of Modern History of the University of Barcelona sets up a new course entitled The Mediterranean: a region of exchanges (from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment). It is a two-month massive open online course (MOOC) addressed to any person interested in the topic. Enrolment can be done through this link.
“The Mediterranean has always been a complex and hard to understand character that goes further than regular measures”. With these words, French historian Fernand Braudel (1902-1985) describes the complex relationships that have been established around the Mediterranean Sea throughout the history. In order to contribute to understand the Mediterranean as a region of exchanges, on 14 December, the Department of Modern History of the University of Barcelona sets up a new course entitled The Mediterranean: a region of exchanges (from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment). It is a two-month massive open online course (MOOC) addressed to any person interested in the topic. Enrolment can be done through this link.
Syllabus is centred on analysing life in the Mediterranean between 15th and 19th centuries; it emphasizes Western shores, particularly the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Italian Peninsula. “The goal is to analyse the Mediterranean as a region shaped by interconnected routes and the circulation of people, objects, ideas and practices as a result of mobility and interaction between cultures”, points out Mariela Fargas, tenured lecturer at the University of Barcelona and coordinator of the course. “This connection among territories —she adds— is a clear precedent for present globalization, with different political, cultural and economic projects moving across Mediterranean shores and towards the territories that were discovered, for example the American continent”.
The course is divided into eight modules that describe geopolitical history, wars, conflicts, power fights —with special attention to the conflict between the imperial project of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire— and oceanic expansion. Modules also focus on art through artists and travellersʼ views of the Mediterranean and on other common aspects like communication via port network, food, beliefs and lifestyle adopted by people at that time.
Local and international teaching staff
Every module includes a video that introduces students to each topic. Videos were recorded in different Barcelonaʼs emblematic buildings, such as the Palau Requesens (headquarters of the Royal Academy of Good Letters), the Museum of History of Catalonia, the Palau Moja and the Catalonian Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Saint George, as well as in other Catalan cities, like Valls. A video interview to an expert complements the information given in each module.
After analysing materials provided in each module, students must do a test and complete an assignment proving knowledge acquired throughout the course. Moreover, students have at their disposal some forums, which aremoderated by teaching staff, where they can pose any question and discuss any topic they may consider interesting.
Teaching staff is composed by researchers of the Study group for the history of the western Mediterranean (GEHMO) of the University of Barcelona, which also collaborates in the inter-university masterʼs degree in History and Identities in the Western Mediterranean (Fifteenth-Nineteenth Centuries). Experts from Verona University and the University of Naples also participate in the course.