Beowulf and Pedagogy in the Digital Age
This site is intended as a companion resource for the chapter "Pedagogical Approaches III: Digital Resources," by Rebecca Straple-Sovers, in Practical Approaches to Teaching Beowulf, edited by Aaron Hostetter and Larry Swain (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2022). While the digital resources described in the chapter may change as time passes, this site will maintain an updated collection of digital sources that can help high school, college, and university instructors engage their students with the Old English poem Beowulf in a dynamic way.
Practical Approaches to Teaching Beowulf
Beowulf is by far the most popular text of the medieval world taught in American classrooms, at both the high school and undergraduate levels. More students than ever before wrestle with Grendel in the darkness of Heorot or venture into the dragon’s barrow for gold and glory. This increase of attention and interest in the Old English epic has led to a myriad of new and varying translations of the poem published every year, the production of several mainstream film and television adaptations, and many graphic novel versions. More and more teachers in all sorts of classrooms, with varying degrees of familiarity and training are called upon to bring this ancient poem before their students.
This practical guide to teaching Beowulf in the twenty-first century combines scholarly research with pedagogical technique, imparting a picture of how the poem can be taught in contemporary American institutions. The book includes chapters about text and translation, religion and mythology, history and legends, monsters and monstrosity, environment and place, gender and identity, performance, and more, with three practical chapters on pedagogical approaches. Practical Approaches to Teaching Beowulf is coming soon from Medieval Institute Publications.
This practical guide to teaching Beowulf in the twenty-first century combines scholarly research with pedagogical technique, imparting a picture of how the poem can be taught in contemporary American institutions. The book includes chapters about text and translation, religion and mythology, history and legends, monsters and monstrosity, environment and place, gender and identity, performance, and more, with three practical chapters on pedagogical approaches. Practical Approaches to Teaching Beowulf is coming soon from Medieval Institute Publications.
