Thoughts About the Summer Reading Courses

For the past two summers, I have been given the privilege of developing History "readings" courses. In these courses, students are required to read an ambitious number of books and complete writing assignments unique to each one.  In many ways, this approach provides an early introduction to the Graduate seminar method. They are also taught much like an honors class would be taught, and the requirements are demanding.   I have tried to offer classes which continue a theme from the previous year or introduce the coming fall semester's offerings in some way.  In the Fall 2011 term, the Medieval course will roll around again.  With this in mind, my goal is to develop a course in the history within the mythology of King Arthur. I don't want this to be only a history of the myth, but a look at the HISTORY of Arthur. Who was he (and when was he) underneath all of the Malory glamour? I have several books in mind that we might use, and there seems to already be some positive interest in the course. We'll see . . .