Dr. Courtney Luckhardt, Humanities Teacher Awardee for the University of Southern Mississippi, presents her public lecture:
In order to make the history of the European Middle Ages relevant, it’s important for both students and the wider public to understand the way that the history of pre-modern period is used by modern people. Dr. Luckhardt teaches not only on the history of the Middle Ages itself (500-1500 CE), but also on “medievalism,” which is the use of ideas about the Middle Ages to serve contemporary needs. For instance, ideas about the glory of the Middle Ages have been used by white supremacists to reduce the real and complex history of the period to the supposed “white” origins of civilization. In order to bust myths about the so-called “Dark Ages”, we must re-examine our ideas about the past in light of cutting-edge scholarship, which can help us to shake off antiquated ideas that reflect neither pre-modern historical realities, nor who we are now in the 21st century.
