Dear Colleagues:

I wanted to let you know we are launching the second version of "Deciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Spain" Massive Open Online Course where we are crowdsourcing manuscript transcriptions. See here: https://www.coursera.org/course/medievalspain. Currently, we have an enrollment of 5,700 students and it would be great if we gather just a couple more students for this free 12-week course on coursera.org. Below is a short course description that you may wish to share with colleagues and students. Also, we are rolling out a larger series of Deciphering Secrets MOOCs -- covering Burgos, Toledo, and Granada -- over the next several years. Anyone can register for updates on the launches of these courses at http://decipheringsecrets.com.

Thank you and have a great new year!

Prof. Martinez-Davila University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

*Course Description*

*Deciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Spain* *Free, 12-Week Massive Open Online Course*

In this course students will explore the history of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in late medieval, fifteenth century Spain. Serving as citizen-scholars, students will learn about the positive and negative elements of inter-religious co-existence in Plasencia, Spain, and more importantly, contribute to an international scholarly effort by helping transcribe manuscripts.https://www.coursera.org/course/medievalspain. More information on all Deciphering Secrets MOOCS at http://decipheringsecrets.com.

Course Syllabus

PART ONE: Finding Our Way into the Provocative History of Spain

Class 1: An Overview of the European, Byzantine, and Islamic Middle Ages (21 January 2016) Class 2: Reflections on Christian Spain and Islamic al-Andalus (Part 1) and an Introduction to the Revealing Cooperation and Conflict Project (RCCP). (28 January 2016) Class 3: Reflections on Christian Spain and Islamic al-Andalus (Part 2) and Video Tour of the Reales Alcazar (Sevilla) and the Alhambra (Granada). (4 February 2016) Class 4: Reflections on Christian Spain and Islamic al-Andalus (Part 3) and Learning About Spain’s Jewish Past and Future. (11 February 2016) Class 5: Reflections on Christian Spain and Islamic al-Andalus (Part 4) and the Cantigas de Santa Maria Trebuchet. (18 February 2016)

PART TWO: Preparing For Discovery in Plasencia, Spain

Class 6: Medieval Spanish Sources: Royal Municipal and Church Records. (25 January 2016) Class 7: The Medieval World of Plasencia, Spain, and Exploring the Cathedral of Plasencia’s Capitulary Acts, Book 1. (3 March 2016) Class 8: Introduction to Reading Spanish Handwriting/Paleography (Part 1). (10 March 2016) Class 9: Introduction to Spanish Handwriting (Part 2). (17 March 2016)

PART THREE: Citizen Scholars at Work – Interpreting Manuscripts

Class 10: Transcription & Interpretation Project 1 from the Capitulary Acts. (24 March 2016) Class 11: Transcription & Interpretation Project 2 from the Capitulary Acts. (31 March 2016) Class 12: Transcription & Interpretation Project 3 from the Capitulary Acts, Course Conclusion, and Future Opportunities. (7 April 2016)

[image: photo] http://www.youtube.com/user/rogerlmartinez?&ab_channel=RogerL.Mart%C3%ADnez http://www.facebook.com/rogelio.martinezdavila http://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerlouismartinez http://instagram.com/rogerlouismartinezdavila/ Roger L. Martínez-Dávila, Ph.D. UC3M CONEX-Marie Curie Fellow, Instituto de Histografia Julio Caro Baroja, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid rogmarti@inst.uc3m.es // rogerlmartinez@gmail.com // http://rogerlouismartinez.com // http://decipheringsecrets.com // http://revealingcooperationandconflict.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH__KonA0GY&ab_channel=RogerL.Mart%C3%ADnez Virtual Plasencia