Module 1: Framing the Mediterranean in Space and Time

Lessons in this module provide geographic background on the Mediterranean, including its geological origins, its climate and ecology. A lesson on conditions for navigation, wind and currents leads to plotting routes and comparing trade routes in the Mediterranean over time. A lesson on the Braudelian view of the Mediterranean introduces students to the concept of historical scales and brings it up to date with David Christian’s Big History concept. Two lessons for use across all of the modules involve creating an annotated map of the Mediterranean in its regional, hemispheric, and global setting in order to emphasize the changing relationships to surrounding and distant regions in various eras. The second cross-module lesson involves the use of multiple timelines (environment, political, demographics, migration, and technology) that invite students to see relationships among events at different time-scales and refer to them (and add to the timelines) throughout the course. A concluding lesson on types of historical sources highlighted in each module invite students to think about how we know what we know about the past.