Arhivski vjesnik, Vol. 59 No. 1, 2016.
Review article
Glagolitic Script in University Education Based on the Croatian Epigraphy and Paleography Course
Ivan Botica
Tomislav Galović
Abstract
Since academic year 2006-2007 elective courses Croatian Epigraphy and Paleography I (HEP I, winter term) and Croatian Epigraphy and Paleography II (HEP II, summer term, until academic year 2013-2014) have been held by the Department of History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Designed by the Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences, Teaching Methods and Methodology of History, these elective courses are aimed at and can be taken by all students attending the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The courses offer overview of the most important epigraphic monuments and paleographic sources belonging to Croatian Middle Ages (HEP I) and Early Modern History (HEP II), their place in historiography along with the individuals and institutions responsible for their discovery, protection and presentation. They introduce students to Croatian Glagolitic tradition and three-script heritage, but also teach them how to read, write and transliterate square (HEP I) and round (HEP II) Glagolitic script and Croatian Cyrillic script (bosančica) depending on their own skills and abilities. In this paper we have presented personal experience in working with the students on theoretical and practical examination of Croatian epigraphic and paleographic sources from the Middle Ages until the 20th century. The surveys and interviews we have conducted among the students show a great interest in this approach, i.e. working with the sources. Paleography as one of the fundamental auxiliary historical sciences, although demanding, from the students’ perspective becomes a necessary tool for historians, and holds an important place in scientific research. A single study program of the aforementioned disciplines would provide a further development in quality and quantity, as well as justify disciplines’ status and usefulness. In the end, one must emphasize that, thanks to the courses Croatian Epigraphy and Paleography, in the last decade almost two hundred students, mostly students of History, but also Croatian Language and Literature, Information Science, Classical Languages, etc., have learned that Croatian written heritage is three-script and threelanguage first and foremost due to Croatian identity existing on the fringes between two European Christian civilizations, but aiming towards West since the early medieval times. Because of that, Croatian written culture remains unique and recognizable in the Western civilization. Therefore, an encounter with Croatian Non-Latin written heritage, i.e. Glagolitic and Croatian Cyrillic scripts, and particularly paleographic work on historical sources, is a promise of further expansion of existing knowledge and experience in another place and time.
Keywords
Glagolitic script; Croatian Cyrillic script (bosančica); university education; elective course; Croatian epigraphy; Croatian paleography; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; Department of History; Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences; Teaching Methods and Methodology of History
Hrčak ID:
182479
URI
Publication date:
15.9.2016.
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