Using Feminist Pedagogy to Explore Connectivity in the Medieval Mediterranean

Abstract

F eminism and Mediterranean studies intersect in some surprising ways, especially in the classroom, despite assumptions about the region's tendency toward misogyny. 1 The empathetic search for comprehension across boundaries of difference motivates both disciplines, and the generous nod toward intersectionality structures teaching and research in both domains. Yet, while I suspect many teachers approach the classroom in ways that are consonant with these tenets, few have combined these fields to theorize a pedagogical approach, one born of concern for understanding connections between cultures by fostering connections within the classroom. Working in medieval and Mediterranean studies-both sites of connections and fields in which one can hardly master everything , from geographic, linguistic, and cultural diasporas to the thousand years of history that constitute our time period-has led me to seek a pedagogy that invites us to leverage our collective reading skills to better understand a period and place rich in intersections but relatively poor in sources, one divided into falsely nationalized disciplinary frameworks by its nineteenth-century forefathers. 2 In this essay I explore how what I call a pedagogy of connectiv-ity, inspired by the intersection of both medieval Mediterranean and feminist studies, encourages students to embrace the discomfort of non-mastery in order to leverage their group thinking and analytic skills to become better readers. The Mediterranean-with all its