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Teaching Documents by Deanna Forsman

This paper researched methods to incorporate Universal Design principles to enhance student learn... more This paper researched methods to incorporate Universal Design principles to enhance student learning in online undergraduate classes. A literature review examined the principles of various Universal Design frameworks and then linked them with Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML), Multiliteracies, and Learner-Centered Pedagogy (LCP). The findings of the literature review informed the design of the creative project and its specific recommendations for implementing Universal Design principles: curriculum should be delivered using both images and words; students should be allowed to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple means, and assessment of student learning should be based on clearly measurable outcomes. The creative project was developed in a WordPress site and follows WCAG 2.1 and uses CTML and LCP to provide samples and recommendations to college faculty. While the literature suggests that delivering curriculum in multiple medias and providing students with multiple means to demonstrate their knowledge is beneficial for student learning, more empirical research needs to be conducted to understand effectiveness of these practices across diverse learners.

Education is an integral part of human civilization; its history is more than 4000 years old. We ... more Education is an integral part of human civilization; its history is more than 4000 years old. We have sources that describe classrooms, students and school exercises dating back to the third millennium before the Common Era. Many ancient teaching strategies are familiar to us today: the ancient classroom, like the modern, relied upon lecture, textbooks, classroom exercises, and homework. Then, as now, there were experienced and novice teachers, as well as stellar and indifferent students. Then, education was reserved for the children of the elite. Thankfully, today, we believe that education should be available to everyone.

Conference Presentations by Deanna Forsman

The Roman/barbarian binary is ubiquitous in studies of Late Antiquity, used to describe elite att... more The Roman/barbarian binary is ubiquitous in studies of Late Antiquity, used to describe elite attitudes and categories of “us” versus “them,” as well as to examine Late Antique constructions of ethnicity. Although scholars, such as Walter Pohl in his 2005 article on the transformation of identity, have questioned the utility of the Roman/barbarian binary for understanding the identity of individuals in Late Antiquity, the tendency to categorize people into such groups persists. Once an individual has been categorized as “Roman” or “barbarian,” these identifications color interpretations of their actions.
This paper examines the generalissimo Stilicho (fl. c. 383–408) as he appears in fourth- and fifth-century sources with particular emphasis on the differences between those sources dated to Stilicho’s lifetime and those that appeared after his death. While there is little in Claudian’s panegyrics or Symmachus’s letters to indicate that Stilicho was a barbarian, the testimony of Orosius and Jerome would seem to suggest his barbarian identity was well-known. Scholars have navigated the different views of Stilicho variously; the most common approach is to refer to him as “half-Vandal”/“half-barbarian” or to describe him as “thoroughly Romanized.” Such descriptions serve to underscore Stilicho as “other” and also betray a rather positivistic approach to the testimony of Orosius and Jerome. Rather than use the fifth century sources to categorize Stilicho as “barbarian” or “Roman,” this paper seeks to understand how an individual’s identity was constructed and manipulated by Late Antique authors.
Several recent studies of ethnicity and identity have concluded that it is impossible to determine ethnic identity from material artifact. I would argue that we are well-served to consider the critiques of material culture as we look at identity within literary culture. Positivistic use of chance phrases in literary works can serve to obscure the nuance and complexity of both individual and corporate identity in Late Antiquity.

This paper examines the policies of Ebroin, the Neustrian Mayor of the Palace (659–680) toward th... more This paper examines the policies of Ebroin, the Neustrian Mayor of the Palace (659–680) toward the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. Ebroin viewed Anglo-Saxon involvement in Merovingian affairs as a legitimate threat on at least two occasions: when Theodore, recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, traveled from Rome to England; and when Leudesius, a rival claimant to the position of Mayor of the Palace, fled with the Neustrian king towards the English Channel. I examine Ebroin's policies in these incidents within the context of both Frankish and Anglo-Saxon politics to argue that these neighboring kingdoms were more closely intertwined than scholars have acknowledged.

The late Merovingian Period saw a dramatic increase in the practice of granting immunities, docum... more The late Merovingian Period saw a dramatic increase in the practice of granting immunities, documents exempting monasteries from episcopal interference. Merovingian immunities have primarily been examined as sources for the relationship between Church and State. However, immunities can also shed light on social organizations and the complex relationships between monastery, bishop, royalty and nobility. In this paper, I examine specific attempts, both failed and successful, of established monasteries to obtain immunity from episcopal control in the late seventh century. When an existing monastery requested such a change in status, it was not simply a strategy to obtain the rights and privileges granted to newer foundations. I argue that the efforts of monasteries to obtain exemption from episcopal jurisdiction, whether or not they were successful, redefined the relationship between monastery and bishop, as well as between monastery, nobility and royalty.

Childebert often appears as a minor figure in contemporary scholarship on Merovingian Gaul. Typ... more Childebert often appears as a minor figure in contemporary scholarship on Merovingian Gaul. Typically, he is presented as an example of the many Frankish warrior-kings who waged war upon kin with as much enthusiasm as upon an unknown enemy. Less frequently, Childebert is cited as Venantius Fortunatus’s exemplar of an ideal priest-king. Few scholars have thought to question why Fortunatus selected Childebert as his preferred model, as opposed to Gregory of Tours’s ideal good king, Guntramn, or a specific Roman example, such as Constantine I. In this paper, I suggest that Childebert should be understood as more than a romanticized ideal in Fortunatus’s literary works. He was the first Merovingian ruler to take his responsibilities as a Christian king seriously, thus defining the role for future Frankish kings.
Gregory of Tours’s History says little about Childebert as a Christian king, instead focusing on Childebert’s wars. Fortunatus, on the other hand, devotes himself to Childebert’s interactions with holy figures, taking every opportunity to place each example of contact in the best possible light. In keeping with this theme, he neglects to mention Childebert’s martial activities. The image of Gregory’s Childebert, who appears as the slayer of innocents, is difficult to reconcile with Fortunatus’s king, who was the friend of saints. To understand the contemporary reality of Childebert’s reign, we must examine alternative sources, such as the edicts from Childebert’s reign, the canons of the Gallic Councils summoned between 511 and 558, and letters exchanged between the bishops of Rome and the Merovingian kingdoms. These sources indicate that Childebert took an active interest in the Christian Church, both within his kingdom, as well as in the wider world. He deemed it part of his responsibility to enforce Christian behavior in his subjects, in accordance with the canons of the Church, to encourage regular attendance of bishops within Gaul at regional councils, and even to ensure the orthodoxy of the bishop of Rome. It is ironic that while Childebert’s role as a Christian king is largely eclipsed in contemporary Frankish history, it was remembered by Breton hagiographers writing as late as the fifteenth century, who took pains to portray this Merovingian king as a friend to sixth century Breton saints.

Thesis Chapters by Deanna Forsman

This study examines how Christianity replaced romanitas as the common cultural identity facilitat... more This study examines how Christianity replaced romanitas as the common cultural identity facilitating contact between Britain and Gaul during Late Antiquity. Both “Christian” and “Roman” were pan-cultural identities that transcended regional levels. The “Roman” identity gradually lost resonance over the course of the fifth century, as the “Gallic” identity that included Britain and Spain, and was used in sources written in the South of Gaul within the context of the military challenges the Prefecture faced were replaced with Christian concerns of orthodoxy. The importance of Christianity as a supra-regional identity leads directly to the second theme, which was the constant interchange between areas that were more “Romanized” or “Christianized” with those that were less so. During the fifth century, the majority of contact seems to have originated from Southern Gaul, an area that was thoroughly Romanized and possessed a solid Christian base.

The activities of sixth century British peregrini in the Frankish kingdoms was a movement from an area with a strong Christian tradition among the higher social classes, to an area where Christianity was only starting to take hold. A significant number of British holy men operated as missionaries within the Frankish countryside under the patronage of Merovingian kings. In doing so, they provided Merovingian royalty and nobility with a way to express their spirituality that did not require the veneration of relics controlled by bishops.

The direct result of the activities of the British peregrini was that Merovingian kings provided the initial support for Augustine’s mission to the Anglo-Saxons, and that Frankish nobility were inspired by the peregrinus model to take Christianity to a place that was both less Christian and less Roman, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. This explains in part the two distinct phases of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons that can be seen in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. On the one hand, there was the institutional phase, where the fledgling Church in Kent had close ties with the Gallic Church, and the personal phase, wherein individuals counted on personal ties of amicitia to obtain monastic training and spread Christianity in the Anglo-Saxon countryside.

By the middle of the seventh century, the involvement of Frankish nobility and royalty in the spread of Christianity in England led to the intersection of religion and politics. Frankish bishops occupied Anglo-Saxon sees and played a significant role as advisors to kings. In a similar manner, contact with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms impacted Frankish politics to such a high degree that by the end of the seventh century, a recently ousted Merovingian king attempted to flee to safety in England.

The transformation of cross-Channel contact between the fourth and seventh centuries was neither unidirectional nor straightforward. Christianity provided the common cultural identity that facilitated movement, but it was an identity that needed to be adopted before it could serve as a point of contact. In many ways the conversion of Merovingian Gaul and Anglo-Saxon England was accomplished through the efforts of individuals who crossed the Channel in both directions. It was this continual intercourse over several centuries that created the homogenized culture so remarked upon in studies of seventh century Anglo-Saxon England.

Based on sources from the time, over the course of the fifth century Roman territory in Gaul was ... more Based on sources from the time, over the course of the fifth century Roman territory in Gaul was settled by barbarians. While many scholars have examined questions of transformation and continuity in fifth-century Gaul, few scholars have examined the sources through a postcolonial lens. As a result, questions of accommodation and acculturation are often uncritically addressed, giving undue emphasis to Roman perspectives and biases.
This paper applies postcolonial and anthropological theory to the letters of the Gallo-Roman elite, Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 430–489), an acknowledged key witness for fifth-century Gaul. Building upon recent scholarship that emphasizes reading Sidonius more holistically, rather than piecemeal, this paper argues that Sidonius structured his letter collection to articulate a particular value of romanitas (the quality of being Roman) that excluded anyone who did not conform to traditional classical values, which included the barbarians, Gallo-Romans who accommodated the barbarians, and Christian leaders who abandoned classical elite otium in favor of Christian work.
Non-hegemonic settler theory frames fifth-century Gaul as a liminal space where colonizers and indigenous interacted. This theory argues that settlers simultaneously embrace loyalty and fear betrayal from both the indigenous population and the metropole. Applying this theory to Sidonius’s corpus explains the complexity of his views towards Burgundians, Visigoths, Roman Imperial rule, and his fellow Gallo-Romans. He feared betrayal by both Rome and the barbarians, even as he held out hope for romanitas as a force to civilize the barbarians. After situating Sidonius within this complex context, this paper applies Clifford Geertz’s theory of “deep play” to argue that Sidonius engaged in risky moves to assert a higher social status than other Gallo-Roman elite, particularly those who exercised episcopal authority. Finally, this paper examines Edward Said’s thoughts about “othering” to critically examine who (and how) Sidonius spoke for others in his letter corpus, and how speaking for others enabled him to articulate his version of romanitas as the marker of the civilized elite.
Sidonius’s (and other Roman writers’) views of barbarians have colored scholarship on late antiquity so heavily that most assume unquestioningly that barbarians really wanted to be Roman. A post-colonial reading of Sidonius demands that we reevaluate the story of barbarian acculturation with romanitas and critically examine the degree to which we allow the colonized Romans’ narrative of their barbarian overlords to influence and direct our understanding of identity during a time of shifting political and social boundaries.

Publications by Deanna Forsman

The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, 2003

In this paper, I argue that Anglo-Saxon dispute settlement in the early ninth century exploited C... more In this paper, I argue that Anglo-Saxon dispute settlement in the early ninth century exploited Charlemagne's title as Holy Roman Emperor. The willingness of Anglo-Saxon monarchs to evoke a Continental presence in dispute resolution demonstrates the connection between England and Charlemagne's renovatio imperii.

Medieval Prosopography, 2003

Book Reviews by Deanna Forsman

Journal of Late Antiquity, 2014

Comitatus a Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oct 1, 2000

REVIEWS George Henderson, Vision and Image in Early Christian England (Cambridge: Cambridge Unive... more REVIEWS George Henderson, Vision and Image in Early Christian England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1999) 292 pp., plates. George Henderson’s book examines visual and literary imagery surviving from early Christian England in an attempt to recreate the exemplars available to artists working in England primarily during the seventh century. Although aimed primarily at art historians, Henderson’s work is valuable also to those interested in literary imagery. Throughout Vision and Image Henderson fits English art into the larger framework of late antique continental culture by emphasizing Italy in particular as the source for most of the exemplars in early Christian England. Henderson’s primary interest is to explore the imagery available to artists and to understand how exemplars were adapted or incorpo- rated to meet the visual needs of early Christians in England. For Henderson, early Christian England refers to the first centuries after Augustine’s mission in A . D . 597. H...

Papers by Deanna Forsman

Comitatus-a Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oct 1, 2000

Journal of Late Antiquity, 2014

The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, 2003

Medieval Prosopography, 2003

Journal of Late Antiquity, 2014

Comitatus a Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oct 1, 2000