Thursday 6 November 2014

Learn about Stonehenge and Neolithic Britain with this new online course.

The most spectacular monument of the Neolithic is now a British icon and a World Heritage Site. Explore 5,000 years of Stonehenge and discover your own response to this enigmatic stone circle.


When was Stonehenge built?
Who built it?
How was it built?
Why was it built?

Answers cannot be promised to all of these, but we can get better at asking the questions and work towards solutions. We can look at how people have responded to Stonehenge. Most of all we can begin to think about what Stonehenge means to us.

What do I learn?
  • •To understand present archaeological thinking about Stonehenge.
  • •To evaluate responses to Stonehenge in art, literature, music, architecture and culture.
  • •To consider your own response to Stonehenge, expressed through two peer-evaluated mini-essays.
What do I need too know?
No entry requirements. This MOOC is open to all.
Course Structure

Chapter 1: The Stonehenge Landscape
 Stonehenge as a landscape of prehistoric sites. A historical context: the Mesolithic, the Neolithic and the building of the Stonehenge.
Chapter 2: Who built Stonehenge?
 Theories: when, by whom, how and why.

Chapter 3: Stonehenge Problems
 Context - the Stonehenge landscape: problems with transportation and erection. Part destruction - why and how?

Chapter 4: Responses to Stonehenge
 An array of responses: Geoffrey of Monmouth (1138); the antiquarian tradition, the temple and astronomic alignments traditions; various amateur theories; the archaeological traditions.
 Stonehenge, Woodhenge: monuments in a landscape
Chapter 5: Cultural Contexts
 Stonehenge in fiction, poetry, music, art and popular culture.
Chapter 6: Stonehenge Today
 Stonehenge as a cultural icon, emblem of Britain, World Heritage site and sacred space.
 Blick Mead as the cradle of Stonehenge.
Chapter 7: Reassessing Stonehenge
 Written activity as an assessment
Chapter 8: Responses to Stonehenge
 Examination of students' responses through their essays. Integration of blog, Wiki, Twitter and eBook as a way of continuing the discussion after the course.

Workload
Approximately two hours per week for watching video lectures, completing quizzes and homework assignments.

Course Instructor: Dr Graeme Davis

A Research Fellow at The University of Buckingham (UK), Dr Graeme Davis is a specialist in mediaeval language and literature, with interests in Stonehenge, the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Iceland, Greenland and the North Atlantic.

Enrol for free here: https://iversity.org/en/courses/Stonehenge

Stonehenge Tour Guide