course archive

ART & ARCHAEOLOGY

ART 204/HLS 204 Pagans and Christians: Urbanism, Architecture and Art of Late Antiquity
Slobodan Curcic
MW 9am-9:50am, McCormick 106

Urbanism, Architecture and Art of the Mediterranean world, ca. 200-600 A.D. This course will focus on the urban forms, architecture and art in the Late Roman Empire. It will explore the transformations brought about by the spread and triumph of Christianity, pagan resistance, 'barbarian' incursions and other forces. The course will culminate with the analysis of the formation of a new, Byzantine architectural and artistic tradition, associated with the fully Christianized Eastern Roman Empire.  For department majors, satisfies Medieval distribution requirement.

ART 230/NES 230 Early Islamic Art and Architecture
Thomas F. Leisten
MW 1:30pm-2:20pm, McCormick 106

A survey of art in the Islamic world from 600 through 1200 CE. The course examines the formation of Islamic art and its roots in the art of Late Antiquity. Emphasis will be made on the development of various types of religious and secular architecture and their decoration (wall-painting, carved stucco and wood, mosaic and epigraphy) in the central regions of the early Islamic world. Topics as textiles, metalwork and ceramics will be considered as well.  For department majors, satisfies medieval distribution requirement.

ART 312 The Arts of Medieval Europe
Anne-Marie Bouché
MW 12:30pm-1:30pm, McCormick 106

This course will study the development in the Medieval period of large-scale monumental decorative programs in a variety of media, including mural painting, sculpture, stained glass and mosaic. Through an examination of selected major monuments, we will consider questions of patronage, audience, architectonic context, form, style and thematic content.  For department majors, satisfies medieval distribution requirement.

ART 430/HLS 430 Seminar. Medieval Art
Slobodan Curcic
Th 7:30pm-10:30pm, McCormick 103

Death and Salvation: Their expression in architecture and the arts of the Byzantine world from ca. 800 to ca. 1500. The seminar will explore the religious practice, theological teachings and artistic responses to one of the central concerns of the Byzantine Society in the later centuries of the empire.  For department majors, satisfies medieval distribution requirement.

ART 439/MED 437 Illuminations: Monuments of Medieval Art in Form and Theory
Francisco Prado-Vilar
Th 1:30pm-4:20pm, McCormick 363

This course focuses on key monuments of medieval art as privileged case studies to meditate on the conceptual and formal possibilities of art historical writing. Each weekly reading assignment presents a set of varied perspectives on a work of art, ranging from primary sources to modern literary treatments. Monuments in different media such as Moissac, the Book of Kells, Amiens, and others will be studied formally, historically, and historiographically in the context of the work of essential figures such as Schapiro,Huizinga, Bataille, Proust, introducing students to multifaceted theoretical and artistic engagements with medieval art.  For dept. majors satisfies Medieval distribution requirement.  

ART 446 Seminar. Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance
Alfred J. Acres
W 1:30pm-4:20pm, McCormick 103

"Renaissance Invisibility" - Why and how did European painters c.1400-1520 seek, far more often than their predecessors, to invoke certain things, beings, sensations, and other phenomena (time, dreams, implied places, thoughts, evil, etc.) without quite picturing them? Since invisibility is wholly contingent on assumptions about visibility, we will dwell on new modes of representation and correspondingly new expectations of observers. The period's growing consciousness about conjuring "things not seen" (Cennini c. 1390) alerts us to shifting aims and means of painting that paralleled certain religious, literary, & other developments.  One or more art history courses recommended but not required.  For department majors, satisfies Renaissance/baroque distribution requirement.

CLASSICS

CLA 552 The Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages: John of Salisbury and the Classics
Janet M. Martin
M 1:30pm-4:20pm, East Pyne 161

A study of the classical tradition and medieval humanism based primarily on readings from the "Statesman's Book" of John of Salisbury, a leading representative of the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. Topics will include: classical influences on medieval literature, political thought, and education; manuscript transmission of classical texts; medieval classical scholarship; forgeries and pseudo-antiques; notions of decline and renewal in twelfth-century thought; reception theory. Special attention to Macrobius's Saturnalia and to commentaries on Virgil's Aeneid.  Course Not Open to Freshmen.

ENGLISH

ENG 301 The Old English Period
Kathleen M. Davis
MW 11am-11:50am, McCosh 34

What did English look like in the year 900? How did its poetry sound? This course aims to give the student a reading knowledge of Old English--which may sometimes seem foreign, but in many friendly ways is quite like Modern English. We will begin with basic structure and syntax, build a vocabulary, and translate regularly. The course will introduce Old English literature in its cultural context, as well as the ways its study has played a role in English history. We will also examine some manuscripts and facsimiles in order to gain appreciation for early medieval book technology and the complications of editing medieval texts.

ENG 307 Chaucer
John V. Fleming
TTh 1:30pm-2:20pm, McCosh 28

The course is an introduction to the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) in the original Middle English. The poetry will be studied with reference to the artistic, intellectual, and cultural traditions which inform it. The primary focus will be on Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde.  The course deals with broad questions of medieval aesthetic theory and touches on various major topics in medieval intellectual history. In its approach (literary interpretation guided by historical analysis) it also engages some major issues in modern critical theory. Though the course is not taught from a primarily philological point of view, the practical mastery of Middle English will require careful and faithful preparation on a timely basis.

FRENCH & ITALIAN

ITA 302 Topics in Medieval Italian Literature and Culture: Petrarch's Lyric Poetry
Simone Marchesi
M 1:30pm-2:20pm, Frist 307

Considered by many the greatest scholar of his age, a successful rival to Dante, the revered teacher of Boccaccio, Petrarch bequeathed to posterity the most beautiful sonnets ever written in the Florentine vernacular. In the course, we will study the Canzoniere, his collection of lyric poetry, a book which shaped the language of love in the European Renaissance, and a sample from his Trionfi. The texts will be analyzed in relation to their historical and cultural context and for the impact they will have on modern European Literature.  To count this course as a ITA departmental, students must attend the Italian-language precept, read the works in Italian, and write their papers in Italian. One 200-level ITA course or permission of instructor required.  The course is designed for students without Italian, but welcomes those with the language. NOTE: Precept 01 (P01) will be conducted in Italian.

GERMAN

GER 508 Middle High German Literature: An Introduction
Sara S. Poor
M 1:30pm-4:20pm, Firestone B06L

Introduction to Middle High German language and literature 1100-1300. Selections from Arthurian romance (Parzival, Tristan), epic (Nibelungenlied), lyric poetry (Minnesang), and mysticism (Meister Eckhart, Mechthild von Magdeburg). Additional readings on history and culture also examined.  Mid-term translation exam and final term paper.

HISTORY

HIS 544 Seminar in Medieval History
William C. Jordan
M 1:30pm-4:20pm, Dickinson 211

Reading and research seminar on rural society in northern Europe in the High Middle Ages. Reading knowledge of French required and of German encouraged.  Course Not Open to Freshmen.  See instructor for complete reading list.  Reserved seats: Open to Graduate Students 20.

MEDIEVAL STUDIES

MED 227/HUM 227 The World of the Middle Ages
William C. Jordan
M 9am-9:50am, Dickinson 210
W 9am-9:50am, Dickinson 210

An introduction to medieval Europe from late Antiquity to 1400. The course focuses on themes such as collective mentalities and dominant social practices, and addresses major forms of cultural expression in various media. Two lectures, one preceptorial.  This course is required for Concentrators.

MUSIC

MUS 512 Topics in Medieval Music
Peter G. Jeffery
Th 9am-11:50am, Woolworth 226

We will explore the history of the Oktoechos, the eight modes, from their origin in the 8th century to the 18th century.  Course Not Open to Freshmen.

NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

NES 220/HIS 220 Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages
Mark R. Cohen
MW 1:30pm-2:50pm, Dillon Court East E05

An introduction to the history and culture of the Jews in the Middle Ages (under Islam and Christendom) covering, comparatively, such topics as the inter-relationship between Judaism and the other two religions, interreligious polemics, political (legal) status, economic role, communal self-government, family life, and cultural developments.  Course emphasizes close reading and discussion of important primary sources. No prior knowledge of Jewish history necessary or expected.

NES 502 An Introduction to the Islamic Scholarly Tradition
Michael A. Cook
W 1:30pm-4:20pm, Frist 212
CLOSED  

The course offers a hands-on introduction to such basic genres of medieval scholarship as biography, history, tradition, and Koranic exegesis, taught through the intensive reading of texts in Arabic. The syllabus varies according to the interests of the students and the instructor.  Course Not Open to Freshmen.

POLITICS  

POL 301 Ancient and Medieval Political Theory
Paul E. Sigmund
TTh 2:30pm-3:20pm, Friend Center 101

The course will be devoted to an analysis of the Great Books of ancient and medieval political thought including Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, The Bible, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the writers associated with the conciliar movement.  Background in the history of philosophy is useful but not necessary. There will be other selected readings from Medieval Islamic authors. This course counts towards WWS disciplinary perspectives requirements.

RELIGION  

REL 509 Studies in the History of Islam: Medieval Islamic Narrative and Modern Historiography
Shaun E. Marmon
M 1:30pm-4:20pm, 1879 Hall 133

First half of seminar is structured around a critical survey of the recent works of Western scholarship that have shaped our understandings of Medieval Islamic historical narrative and its genres. To be discussed: the search for authenticity and the question of origins; the concept of orality and its applications; notions of tradition, authority and transmission; the role of literary analysis in the study of "historical" texts; and the locating of such texts in their cultural and social contexts. Seminar will then be dedicated to the ways in which Medieval Islamic authors defined, questioned or defended the writing of history and biography.  Course Open to Graduate Students Only.

SPANISH & PORTUGUESE

SPA 300/LAS 300 Hispanic Literature and Culture: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque
Marina S. Brownlee
MW 11am-12:20pm, Robertson 035

This course explores transatlantic relations in the literature and culture of Spain and Colonial America. Comparative analysis of selected texts will emphasize literary and cultural links, as well as disjunctures in the global reformulation of "Spanishness."  This course is required for Concentrators.  Prerequisites: A 200-level Spanish course.

SPA 301 Topics in Spanish Literature of the Golden Age: Women in Medieval and Golden Age Spain
Ronald E. Surtz
TTh 11am-12:20pm, Humanities Programs 203
CLOSED

An investigation of the literary treatment of women in medieval and Golden Age Spain. We will consider works written by both male and female authors, thus enabling us to compare ways in which women saw themselves with the ways in which they were seen by men. A series of oral reports will focus on the position of women in society, thus allowing a comparison of literary images versus actual social roles.  Prerequisites: A 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 532 Medieval Epic Literature: Concepts of the Hero in Medieval Spain
Ronald E. Surtz
Th 1:30pm-4:20pm, East Pyne 339

This course will investigate changing concepts of the hero in medieval Spain as manifested in types that range from the warrior of the epic to the saint of the hagiographic narrative to the knight-errant of romance. We will also examine such hybrid types as the intellectual hero of the Libro de Apolonio poet.  Course Not Open to Freshmen.