They are supplemented by the advertisements which departments put in the newspapers to attract attention. Stanford's distinguished History Department has thus advertised its entry level courses for the Autumn Quarter. The Middle Ages are one of the great periods of human history. The modern world was in gestation there. This age produced the world's most glorious religious architecture and a mass of philosophy which gets little attention because it is written in Latin.
American students know little about their own history, and even less about European history.
Since that may well be the only course students take on the Middle Ages, it will determine the view of that period printed on their tabula rasa . In recent years the history department has suffered a sharp decline in enrollments. That was an important civilization too, deserving of our respect. It gets it amply in the beliefs and liturgy of its heir, Christianity. Those teaching courses on higher education should have interesting perspectives on this matter.