Pacific Perspectives: Why study Europe’s Middle Ages in Aotearoa New Zealand?

Type of content
Chapters
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
De Gruyter
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2020
Authors
Jones C
Williams M
Abstract

It could be argued that the teaching of medieval history, while of intrinsic interest, is a colonial legacy that has very little relevance in the university curricula of a Pacific nation such as Aotearoa New Zealand. This chapter argues that, alongside the important role that an accurate understanding of Europe’s past has to play in discrediting erroneous modern arguments, the teaching of medieval history remains relevant in Aotearoa for two key reasons. The first is that it enables a better understanding of New Zealand’s colonial past and its legacies. The recent debate surrounding the naming of “The Crusaders” rugby team illustrates that understanding both the reality of the Middle Ages and the way in which the medieval was interpreted in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is by no means unimportant. Similarly, the origins of New Zealand’s legal and constitutional arrangements underline the continued relevance of establishing a sound understanding of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, there is a second, possibly more important, reason for continuing to study the medieval in Aotearoa: the Middle Ages are, potentially, an excellent vehicle for better integrating Aotearoa’s official policy of biculturalism into university curricula. To fulfil such a goal would require adjusting the way in which medieval history is taught at university to integrate comparison with Māori culture and values. By adopting such an approach, however, the chapter suggests that teaching Europe’s Middle Ages will not only remain relevant to a society seeking to move beyond its colonial legacies but that it raises the possibility of introducing new and innovative approaches to medieval research.

Description
Citation
Jones C,Williams M (2020). Pacific Perspectives: Why study Europe’s Middle Ages in Aotearoa New Zealand?. In Jones C, Oschema K, Kostick C (Ed.), Making the Medieval Relevant: How Medieval Studies Contribute to Improving our Understanding of the Present.: EPUB/HARDCOVER151-169. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Keywords
constitutional debate, common law, reception of the Middle Ages, teaching the Middle Ages, medieval legacies, Māori and Indigenous Studies, biculturalism, Christchurch (Aotearoa New Zealand), genealogy, Treaty of Waitangi, tertiary education
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::43 - History, heritage and archaeology::4303 - Historical studies::430308 - European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman)
Fields of Research::43 - History, heritage and archaeology::4303 - Historical studies::430304 - British history
Fields of Research::47 - Language, communication and culture::4702 - Cultural studies::470213 - Postcolonial studies
Field of Research::13 - Education::1302 - Curriculum and Pedagogy::130205 - Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum and Pedagogy (excl. Economics, Business and Management)
Fields of Research::47 - Language, communication and culture::4702 - Cultural studies::470212 - Multicultural, intercultural and cross-cultural studies
Field of Research::20 - Language, Communication and Culture::2002 - Cultural Studies::200207 - Māori Cultural Studies
Fields of Research::39 - Education::3903 - Education systems::390303 - Higher education
Rights