The fall of the Roman Empire

Aims of the course:

1. To establish why (and if) the Western Roman Empire fell.
2. To educate students into methods of historical enquiry.
3. To teach collaborative working techniques in an online environment.

Course content overview:

• This course will examine the death of the Western Roman Empire as though it were a forensic case. We shall look at possible causes of death, match them with observed symptoms and deduce the likelihood that the suggested cause did indeed bring about the end result.
• in the first weeks we will look at a variety of causes. The last two weeks will ask firstly 'Did the Western Empire really fall?' (currently being hotly debated by academics), and secondly 'Why did the Eastern Empire survive?'

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):

Orientation Week: 24 February-1 March 2020

Teaching Weeks: 2 March-5 April 2020

Feedback Week: 6-12 April 2020

Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.

While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

Terms and Conditions and ICE Fee Information and Refund Policy

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

For information on bursaries for this course, please see http://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/info/bursaries