Celts to Vikings 2014

Met my students for the first time tonight. It went pretty well, although I talked too much. Combination of nerves and inadequate preparation, I guess; plus I was thrown off by missing my first class and starting a week behind.

We set some of our themes for the class: barbarians and Romans, especially, and my notion that medieval Europe results from the fusion of their worlds;  and we began our exploration of Europe's two different models of male-female relations and the status of women by reading some Roman texts on famously virtuous women.

Next time I will slow down and push my students to talk more.