Arthurnet Discussions
The following are links to discussions about teaching Arthurian Legend from Arthurnet, the scholarly e-list once sponsored by Arthuriana. Each link takes you directly to the first message of a thread in the Arthurnet Archive. Once there, you can often use the navigation bar at the top of each message to go to the next posting in the thread. Sometimes, when that button is not active, we have provided individual links to each message. Right-click each link and open it in a new tab, or open the link and use the BACK key of your browser to return to this page. Discussions are organized chronologically under each of the four categories in the menu.
General Discussions
A posting about pedagogical resources for Arthurian Legend (Dec. 1993)
A question about editions of The Sword in the Stone for a children's lit class and a thread about its publication history, followed by a comment on the earliest version, then a recommended edition, and finally a judgment of White's work (Mar. 1994)
A brief guide to Arthurian web resources (Aug. 1994)
The inaugural message for a moderated discussion, "Teaching Arthuriana" and a chronological list of all the links in the thread, except for an "orphan" thread in the gender issues sub-thread, which generates an offshoot thread on the topic (Sept.-Oct. 1994), with closing remarks by the discussion moderator (Nov. 1994)
A survey for a computer-based educational package entitled The Multimedia Arthurian Romance and a thread of responses (Nov. 1995)
A question about finding maps of England for the Arthurian period, with one answer about ordnance maps and then another about a book on maps. This is followed by a question about how to get ordnance maps, with an answer, an alternate address for ordnance maps of Roman Britain, another source of Roman British maps, a catalogue and phone number, and finally another book recommendation (Nov.-Dec. 1995)
A website for creating blank maps to use for tests (Dec.1996) See also the Pedagogy Page's Maps.
Suggested modern Arthurian novels (Aug.1997)
A librarian's proposal for an Arthurian CD-ROM, with a query for teachers and some advice, followed by a thread on CD-ROMs in general and a follow-up (Aug.-Sept. 1999)
A brief thread on whether to recommend Malory to a novice reader of Arthurian Legend and a continuation in four unthreaded responses: first responses; second response; third response; and fourth responses (Sept. 1999)
An announcement of the newly refurbished Camelot Project web site (August 2013)
A thread that begins when a graduate student asks Bill Schipper why the historicity of Arthur is of such continuing interest and Schipper asks if any scholarship has addressed that question. (September 2013)
The question
Response #1
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Appropriate to Primary Schools
A thread on Arthurian children's books (Jul. 1995)
A thread on Modern Arthuriana for kids (and ideas for a 6th-grade pageant) (Apr. 1996)
A question about creating a cross-curricular unit on Arthurian Legend (math, science, art, etc.) for 5th-graders and some suggestions (Jun.1998)
A thread on Arthurian books for grades 3 to 7 (Jun. 1999)
A question about sources for a 4th-grade Odyssey of the Mind project on Arthur and a suggestion. (Feb. 2000)
A thread on teaching Arthuriana, history and folk traditions to 3-5 year olds (Nov. 2000):
The initial question
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3
Response #4
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Response #6
A long thread on Arthurian children's literature and creating a web page for it. (Jan.- Feb. 2001):
The initial question by Arthuriana editor, Bonnie Wheeler
Response #1; Response #2; Response #3; Response #4
Response #5; Response #6 with a correction; Response #7
Response #8; Response #9; Response #10; Response #11
Response #12; Response #13; Response #14; Response #15
Response #16; Response #17; Response #18; Response #19
A short thread on Arthurian literature for 4-year olds (November 2005):
Question
Response #1
Response #2
A thread in response to a request about materials on Arthurian Legend for homeschooling. (August 2008)
Request
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Appropriate to Secondary Schools
A question about texts to introduce King Arthur to a 15-year-old, followed by a thread of replies and a follow-up thread (Jan.-Feb. 1994)
A request for a representative Arthurian text to teach a one-day high school introduction to Arthurian legend and a thread of suggestions (Jun. 1995)
A comment on Arthur and Robin Hood leads to some thoughts on Lowell's Launfal and on Tennyson, which lead to a short thread on Tennyson's influence and another on the teaching of Lowell and Tennyson in high school, followed by another on what's happened to Tennyson in high school and a follow-up (Jan.-Feb. 1996)
A thread about Arthurian novels for juveniles (ages 5-10) and a continuation (Jan. 1996)
A thread about teaching Arthurian Legend in high school (Mar. 1996) and a follow-up thread (Apr. 1996)
A question about Arthurian films to show high school classes, followed by 4 unthreaded responses: response #1; response #2; response #3; and response #4 (Apr. 1996)
Using Prince Valiant cartoons to teach 7th graders and a warning about copyright (Apr. 1996)
A thread on using Star Wars to teach Arthurian Legend in high school (May 1996)
A posting about the value of Arthurian Legend to adolescents, with book recommendations and a disagreement about one of the recommendations (May 1996)
A question about teaching Tim Powers's Last Call and a response (Nov.1996)
A question about high school projects and two responses (Feb.1998)
Teaching Classic Literature in Middle School (Dec.1998)
Some suggested modern Arthurian stories for high schoolers (Mar. 1999)
Beginning a discussion of the best Arthurian movie to show a high school age class, followed by \ response #1, response #2, and response #3 (May 1999)
A thread on Arthurian books for grades 3 to 7 (Jun. 1999)
A request for advice about teaching Mary Stewart and interesting inner city students in older literature, with three answers and a further reply (Oct. 1999)
An announcement of a new reference book about Arthurian fiction for middle and high schoolers (Jan. 2000) See also Textbooks and Films.
A recommended book for a high school medieval survey (Dec. 2001)
A thread on teaching Arthurian texts in middle school (May 2004):
Initial message
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3
Appropriate to Undergraduate and Graduate Schools
A thread that begins with a question about explaining to students the popularity of Arthur among the medieval French but turns into a discussion of Riothamus and then of texts to teach, including 20th-century stories, with two follow-up threads on modern works, first and second (Oct. 1993)
A thread about teaching Arthurian texts with reference to their historical contexts and a follow-up (Oct. 1993)
Two messages about teaching Twain's Connecticut Yankee in a thread that gets mixed up with messages about modern Arthuriana and films but is continued with further discussion on Twain alone with three follow-ups, first, second, and third (Nov. 1993)
A question about Robertson Davies's The Lyre of Orpheus, which turns into a thread about teaching modern Arthurian texts and films, especially picking up comments from other threads about Mists of Avalon, but then leads to a question about teaching Davies for medieval lit. courses and a response, with an addendum on A.S. Byatt's Possession (Nov. 1993)
A short thread on student reactions to different Arthurian films and a continuation (Nov. 1993)
A couple of messages in a thread about teaching films, especially Excalibur: a criticism of Excalibur, followed by a defense of it as a teaching tool, and finally two comments on the general usefulness of pop culture and of films (Nov. 1993)
A message on teaching "films about medieval life [and films about] modern outcroppings of medieval problems" (Nov. 1993)
A question about starting an Arthurian course in a community college and a thread of responses (Mar. 1994)
A thread on creating an honors seminar on romance (Mar. 1994)
A message about (and including) a syllabus for an upper level Arthurian literature course (Mar. 1994)
A question about making a syllabus for an introductory Romance course with Arthurian and fantasy literature, and a short thread of responses, followed by an isolated recommendation, then two more, and a concluding thread (Mar.-Apr. 1994)
An offshoot of the previous discussion of an introductory course on Romance, a message about finding Arthurian courses and a short thread in response (Apr. 1994)
A question about MOOs and e-courses (in response to a message apparently missing from the archive), and a thread of answers, followed by another lone answer by the author of the original lost posting (Apr. 1994)
A thread that combines the previous two, leading to discussion of e-mail courses, and a follow-up (Apr. 1994)
A long thread on using source studies as a teaching method (Jul. 1994) (Because this thread is so long but the subject headings are often changed in ways that interrupt the Arthurnet navigation system, this is actually a link to a page that lists the messages in chronological order rather than to the various postings themselves. When the thread seems to end, go back to this list to pick up where it left off.)
A message about changes over the years in an Arthurian syllabus (Sept. 1994)
Teaching Arthur, computers, and a question about how people generally teach Arthur, followed by a comment about teaching with hypertext and a follow-up question (Oct. 1994)
A request for a model undergraduate syllabi and a syllabus, part 1 of another syllabus and part 2 (Jan. 1995)
A request for help putting together an Adult Education class on Arthur and a response (Feb. 1995)
Query on teaching Malory and a follow-up (Apr. 1995)
A question about using modern critical theory to teach a college level Arthurian course and a thread of responses (Apr. 1995)
A thread on textbooks for a course in Women in Arthurian Literature (Jul. 1995)
A request for a book on Celtic myth for a college Arthurian course and a thread of responses (Jul. 1995)
Using Deepak Chopra's The Return of Merlin in an Arthurian course (Jul. 1995)
A thread on teaching a course on fictional representations of the Middle Ages, both medieval and modern (Oct. 1995)
A thread on texts for teaching Parzival to an undergraduate Arthurian course of majors and non-majors (Jan. 1996)
A question about compiling a list of secondary sources on Marie de France for an undergraduate course and a thread of responses (Jan. 1996)
Mark Adderley's "Prof. Malecho Lectures" on graduate school training in critical theory (Jan.-Dec. 1996)
Answering student questions about Malory's genre (Feb. 1996)
A thread on handling students' curiosity about how Chrétien might have ended his incomplete Perceval (Apr. 1996)
A request for an undergraduate textbook on 14th-century history and a thread of responses (Oct. 1996)
A question about a modern Arthurian novel to teach in a sophomore level college course and responses (Oct.-Nov. 1996)
A discussion of Malory texts to use in an undergraduate course, which begins with a question about what text to use, is followed by one response, then by several suggestions, then a thread on whether it's preferable to teach Caxton's Malory as opposed to the Winchester (Nov.1996) (Note: for Helen Cooper's recently published teaching edition of The Winchester Manuscript, see a later posting on the same subject (Oct. 1998) and Textbooks and Films)
A question about Tristan paper topics for a sophomore class, with two responses, followed by a third (Feb. 1997)
A question about Merlin paper topics for the same sophomore class, followed by a suggestion, then a second response, and finally a book suggestion (Feb.1997)
A question about novels to teach in a freshman college course and three unthreaded answers: response #1; response #2; and response #3 (Jun.-Jul. 1997)
A question about using a translation of Malory and six responses (Oct.1997)
A comment on teaching Mists of Avalon and a short thread in response. (Nov. 1997)
Teaching Mists of Avalon and T.H. White (Nov. 1997)
A discussion about the dangers to students of using e-lists as paper sources (Oct.1997), and a short thread reiterating the topic a few months later (Jan.1998). (This topic comes up again at the beginning of the following semester, for which see Sept.-Oct. 1998 below.)
A question about a graduate seminar paper on land and people in 6th-century Britain and three suggestions, including web resources; a follow-up question on land and class systems, with another website suggestion (Sept.1998).
Another thread on student use of internet sources for term papers, beginning with a pair of cautionary notes, followed by a challenge and defense, then a counter challenge, and three more contributions to the debate (Sept.-Oct. 1998)
Texts and films for teaching Tristan and Isolde and a follow-up (Oct.1998)
Constructing a sophomore level literature and composition course with the theme of Arthurian literature (or "what happens when BritLit surveys go out the window") with a follow-up (Dec.1998)
The beginning of a thread asking for lists of Top Ten Arthurian Works to Teach in Class (Feb. 1999) followed by a compilation of the all the Top Ten lists posted to Arthurnet, courtesy of Bruce A. Beatie (Mar. 1999) And a much later follow-up from Bruce Beatie (February 2013)
A thread on posting student papers on the World Wide Web (Apr. 1999)
Teaching Arthur in ESL, a question (Apr. 1999)
A comment on undergraduate students' reactions to the undemocratic nature of Arthurian romance and a response (Jun. 1999)
Thoughts on the proper response to students who ask for research help on Internet e-lists (Sept. 1999)
A question and some responses about whether most Arthurian courses mix medieval and modern texts (Oct. 1999)
A question about texts on medieval material culture aimed at non-English majors and a follow-up. (Jan. 2001)
A question about translations of Chrétien and some answers (March 2001)
Teaching Chrétien to undergrads and a response (April 2001)
A thread about Arthurian college courses (April-May 2001):
The initial question
Response #1
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Response #3
Response #4
Response #5
Response #6
Response #7
Announcement of an Arthurian MA program from University of Wales, Lampeter (May 2001)
and an update on the program (August 2001);
A response on the graduate program at University of Wales, Bangor (August 2001);
and an announcement of an Arthurian Studies Summer School at Lampeter (November 2001)
A thread on teaching Chrétien with folklore patterns devised by Karl Propp (May 2001):
Initial question from Ellen Moody, with thoughts on the difficulty of teaching religion in an Arthurian course.
Response #1 (on both Propp and religion)
Response #2 (a long explanation of Propp)
Response #3 (Reply from Ellen Moody)
Response #4 (More on teaching Christianity in Chrétien)
Response #5 (One further comment on teaching religion in Chrétien)
Response #6 (on students applying Propp to stories)
Response #7 (more on the usefulness of Propp's paradigm)
A Mordred bibliography by Michael Torregrossa (June 2001)
A long thread on teaching violence in Arthurian literature, mainly Chrétien and Malory (November 2001):
Initial message
Response #1; Response #2; Response #3; Response #4
Response #5 (some bibliography); Response #6; Response #7; Response #8
Response #9; Response #10; Response #11; Response #12 (more bibliography)
Response #13; Response #14; Response #15; Response #16
Response #17; Response #18; Response #19; Response #20; Response #21
Request for Middle English anthologies of romances and dream visions and a recommendation (November 2001)
Request for translations of Middle English romances and a recommendation (December 2001)
A thread about whether it is wise to encourage graduate students to publish and present papers (June-July 2003):
Initial message
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3
Response #4
Response #5
Another, short thread about college courses in Arthurian Legend and libraries with Arthurian research materials (June 2004):
A message from Prof. Antonio Furtado about a graduate course on medieval French Arthurian romances in translation that leads to the question of how many texts are too many for one course. (August 2004)
A follow-up by Prof. Furtado
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3
A question about teaching A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court in an undergraduate course and a series of responses. (November 2005)
Question
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A thread in response to a question about graduate programs in Medieval Studies for someone who wants to teach at the college level. (March 2006)
Initial question from a college student
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A similar discussion about colleges with undergraduate Medieval Studies programs. (March 2006)
Initial question from a high school student.
Response #1
Response #1
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A discussion about creating a course on the Grail Quest in both medieval and modern times, which also includes a tangent about courses on questing in general. (May 2006)
Question
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Response #7
A posting in a discussion on Celtic texts turns to the question of "where to begin" a full-fledged comparative study of Arthurian literature and whether any American university courses are broadly comparative, but quickly turns to whether professors should teach literature written in languages they don't themselves read. (March 2007)
Question
Response #1
Response #2
Response #3
Response #4
This thread begins as a question about a mistranslation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which leads to a question about which translation most teachers use, which then revives the discussion from May (above) of whether professors should teach translations of works in languages they cannot read. (November 2007)
Question about mistranslation
Response #1
Response #2 with question about which translations teachers use
Response #3
Response #4
Response #5
Response #6
Response #7
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Response #11
A posting by moderator Judy Shoaf about the "historical Arthur" and the relevance of "subroman British history" to King Arthur leads to a discussion of how to approach students' questions on the topic in the classroom. (December 2007)
Initial observation
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Response #4
An observation regarding an episode of PBS's Nova about teenagers and the Internet leads to a discussion of teaching and technology (January 2008)
Observation
Response #1
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A query from an English grad student looking for a school where he find an advisor to work on King Arthur and Superman leads to a discussion of being interdisciplinary and the difficulties that can create in a job search. (September and October 2009)
The question
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A thread about having to "unteach" students' preconceptions before being able to teach them facts. (July 2010)
Initial comment by Norris Lacy in support of an observation by Dennis Clark
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A thread about what kind of strictly non-Arthurian texts (e.g., Gottfried's) belong on Arthurnet leads to an observation about an apparent imbalance of literary and historical topics and a thread on addressing the literary vs. the historical in class. (December 2010)
Observation
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Response #6
A thread about an idea for teaching Malory as the foundational text in a survey of Middle English. (December 2010)
The idea
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Response #2
Response #3
A question about finding an anthology for a sophomore level Arthurian course that blends literature, visual art, and film. (February-March 2011)
The question
Response #1
Response #2
Norris Lacy announces an upcoming revision of Wilhelm's Romance of Arthur (March 2011)
A question about which edition professors use when they teach Gildas's De Excidio. (July 2011)
The question
Response #1
Response #2
A Proposal for Using the Round Table as a Model for Educational Change (September 2011)
A message from Chris Gwinn with a link to his web site on references to Arthur's pedigree in medieval Welsh, Gaelic and Latin texts. (November 2011)
A thread about using electronic textbooks. (November 2012)
The question
Response #1
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Response #4
A request for suggestions of an anthology with texts that are not all in translation and might be suitable for a senior seminar. (November 2012)
Initial question
Response #1
Response #2(Norris Lacy updates news on the revision of Wilhelm'sRomance of Arthur)
Response #3
A question about a broad-based anthology to use for an Arthurian class when Wilhelm was not available. (December 2012-January 2013)
The question
Response #1
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Response #4
Bruce Beatie ruminates on how to use films in an Arthurian class, a follow-up to his 1999 posting on Top Ten lists (see above). (February 2013)
A thread on non-European texts "that can be associated with the Arthurian mythos" for a course on global Arthuriana. (March 2014)
The request
Response #1
Response #2
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