The Pennsylvania State University Center for Medieval Studies has released its web site of curricular and educational materials for schoolteachers, 'Building Community: Medieval Technology and American History.' Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the web site is a collaborative effort of Penn State faculty in various departments, including Medieval Studies, Education, History, German, Food Science and Engineering. Additionally, materials and advice were provided by an advisory board of high school teachers and specialists from several partnering museums, Colonial Williamsburg (VA), Frontier Culture Museum (VA), Ephrata Cloister (PA), Historic Bethlehem (PA), Centre Furnace Mansion (PA), Hopewell Furnace (PA), Saugus Ironworks (MA), Plimoth Plantation (MA), Old Sturbridge Village (MA), Finch Foundry (U.K.), Ironbridge Museums (U.K.), Weald and Downland Open Air Museum (U.K.) and Avoncroft Open Air Museum (U.K.).
The site provides materials to foster an understanding of the transfer of medieval European technologies, specifically in iron manufacture and milling, to the colonies of North America. Immigrants to the New World adapted to the new land the familiar and remarkably well-suited technologies of the Old World. Those problems that had been faced and successfully solved during the Middle Ages, namely land reclamation, transportation and food supply, involved two crucial industries of food processing and metalworking, or, more simply, the mill and the forge. These industries provided the essential foundation on which the colonies and later the fledgling nation would develop.
Regrettably, this significant aspect of the nation's early history has gone for the most part untaught, and although some materials for higher education applications exist, none have been made available to the public or schoolteachers. This site, free and open to the public, hopes to address that deficiency, and make the general public more aware of the connections between the Middle Ages and colonial America.
Located at http://www.engr.psu.edu/mtah, the site features lesson plans, photo archives, plans for hands-on projects, timelines, and essays on a range of topics. Specific themes include the technology behind the waterwheel and the blast furnace; fast food in the Middle Ages and colonial America; the medieval demand for quality metal; how-to instructions for the creation of a bread oven; and the art and poetry of early America, among others.
This achievement continues the Center for Medieval Studies' history of interdisciplinary collaboration with the colleges of the Liberal Arts, Arts and Architecture, Engineering and Agriculture. Past efforts have produced multiple academic conferences, the production of a half-scale replica of a medieval windmill, a NEH-funded summer institute for teachers, and three public fairs on medieval technology and agriculture. Currently in the planning stages is our March conference, "The Grail, the Quest, and the World of King Arthur," and a public fair, connected to the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown, VA settlement. The fair will be held in May of 2007 and is based on the same theme as the 'Building Community' web site. For more information on the current and past activities of the Penn State Center for Medieval Studies, please visit http://www.psu.edu/dept/medieval.
