History of East Asia to 1800
Professor/Instructor
Thomas Donald Conlan, Xin WenGeneral introduction to major themes in the cultural, intellectual, and institutional history of China and Japan, with some attention to Korea and Southeast Asia. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages
Professor/Instructor
An introduction to the history and culture of the Jews in the Middle Ages (under Islam and Christendom) covering, comparatively, such topics as the interrelationship between Judaism and the other two religions, interreligious polemics, political (legal) status, economic role, communal self-government, family life, and cultural developments. Two 90-minute classes.
The Worlds of the Middle Ages
Professor/Instructor
Helmut Reimitz, Jack Boulos Victor TannousWe will begin in 476 with the fall of Rome and will end in 1453, with the fall of New Rome (Constantinople). In between, we will trace the different trajectories that the area stretching from Iceland to Iran traveled along over the course of this fateful millennium. We will meet Northern barbarians, Arab armies, Vikings, Crusaders, Mongols, and the Ottomans; we will witness the birth of Islam and medieval Islamic civilization; Charlemagne's creation of the Western Roman empire; will see clashes between Popes and rulers and Caliphs and Muslim religious authorities. We will do all this and more, all the while asking: what were the Middle Ages?
Music in the Middle Ages
Professor/Instructor
Rob C. WegmanMajor developments of Western music up to about 1400, including some of the following: the origin and growth of chant, its liturgical context and musical properties; medieval secular song; early polyphony and Parisian organum; the French ars nova and Machaut; the Italian trecento; English medieval music. Prerequisite: a year of theory or instructor's permission.
The Islamic World from its Emergence to the Beginnings of Westernization
Professor/Instructor
Michael Allan CookBegins with the formation of the traditional Islamic world in the seventh century and ends with the first signs of its transformation under Western impact in the 18th century. The core of the course is the history of state formation in the Middle East, but other regions and themes make significant appearances. The course can stand on its own or serve as background to the study of the modern Islamic world. Two 90-minute classes.
Christianity in the Roman Empire: Secret Rituals, Mystery Cults, and Apocalyptic Prophets
Professor/Instructor
This course is a historical introduction to early Christian texts within and outside of the New Testament canon. We investigate how the Christian movement began, using ancient sources - Jewish, Greek, Roman, and Christian - about Jesus of Nazareth. We read the letters of the Apostle Paul and New Testament gospels, and the recently discovered gospels of Thomas and Mary. We will discuss the formation of the New Testament canon, views of Jesus, and attitudes toward gender, race and community. The course is accessible to students new to these sources, as well as to those familiar with them. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Medieval and Renaissance Music from Original Notation
Professor/Instructor
Jamie L. ReulandA "hands-on" course that explores music from before 1600 using the pedagogical methods of the period. Medieval and Renaissance techniques of sight-singing, memorization, improvisation, and harmonization will be learned. Modern computer technology will also be used to investigate the deeper mystical and philosophical content of music from this period. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: ability to read modern music notation comfortably.
Topics in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Culture
Professor/Instructor
Poetry, prose, and drama of the Golden Age. Readings might include the works of authors such as Garcilaso, Saint Theresa, Saint John of the Cross, Góngora, Quevedo, Lope de Vega, and Calderón. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.
Dante's 'Inferno'
Professor/Instructor
Simone MarchesiIntensive study of the Inferno, with major attention paid to poetic elements such as structure, allegory, narrative technique, and relation to earlier literature, principally the Latin classics. Course conducted in English with highly interactive classes and preceptorials. An Italian precept will be offered. Two-hour lecture and one-hour precept.
The Literature of Medieval Europe
Professor/Instructor
Daniel Heller-RoazenAn introductory survey of major representative Latin and vernacular texts in modern English versions, including hagiography, romance, lyric and philosophical poetry, allegory, religious and secular prose, and drama. Special attention will be paid to Christian transformations of classical traditions and to the emergence of the Continental vernaculars of the late Middle Ages. Lecture and preceptorials.
The Medieval Period
Professor/Instructor
Donald Vance SmithA study of the Middle English texts that span the period from the Norman Conquest to the Tudor Renaissance, with attention paid to Middle English as a language. Readings will be chosen from verse romance, drama, political and religious writings, romance and/or lyric. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
The Old English Period
Professor/Instructor
Sarah M. AndersonAn intensive introduction to the English language spoken and written in the British Isles approximately 500 to 1100 C.E., leading to a critical survey of the literature. Attention is paid both to linguistic questions and to the cultural context of such poems as Beowulf and the Dream of the Rood. Two 90-minute seminars.
Chaucer
Professor/Instructor
Andrew ColeA study of Chaucer's art with reference to the intellectual, social, and literary conventions of the Middle Ages. The course introduces the student by this means to the characteristically medieval aspects of Chaucer's poetry. Two 90-minute seminars.
Topics in Medieval Greek Literature
Professor/Instructor
Emmanuel C. BourbouhakisThe subject of this course will be medieval Greek Romantic fiction. We will read translations of the four surviving novels written in twelfth-century Constantinople in a bid to answer questions about the link between eroticism and the novel, truth and invention in the middle ages, who read fiction and why, and what role, if any, did the medieval or Byzantine Romances have in the story of the European novel. Above all, we will seek to recover some of the pleasure felt by the medieval readers and audiences of these novels.
Topics in German Medieval Literature
Professor/Instructor
Sara S. PoorExploration of German medieval literature. Topics may include medieval German Arthurian literature and the relationship between gender and power in the medieval epics.
Sex and Gender in the Ancient World
Professor/Instructor
Melissa HaynesThe theoretical and ideological bases of the Western attitudes toward sex and gender categories in their formative period in the Greco-Roman world through the study of myth and ritual, archaeology, art, literature, philosophy, science, medicine, law, economics, and historiography. Selected readings in classical and modern texts.
The Formation of Europe in the First Millennium
Professor/Instructor
Helmut ReimitzA study of the emergence of a distinctive Western European civilization out of Christian, Greco-Roman, and Germanic institutions and ideas from the decline of the Roman Empire to about A.D. 1050. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
The Civilization of the High Middle Ages
Professor/Instructor
William Chester JordanAn analysis of typical institutions, social and economic structures, and forms of thought and expression from about 1050 to about 1350. Emphasis is placed on the elements of medieval civilization that have influenced the subsequent history of European peoples. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Topics in Medieval Studies
Professor/Instructor
An intensive seminar devoted to a particular aspect of European medieval life and culture. Topics change yearly. One three-hour seminar.
Seminar. Medieval Art
Professor/Instructor
Charlie BarberTopics in medieval art and/or architecture. Prerequisite: a course in the art of this period or instructor's permission. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.
Seminar in Medieval Art
Professor/Instructor
Beatrice Ellen KitzingerIntensive seminar on selective topics in Medieval art and theory from 400 to 1400.
An Introduction to the Islamic Scholarly Tradition
Professor/Instructor
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.
Middle High German Literature
Professor/Instructor
Sara S. PoorBased on one specific text, the first term provides an introduction to language, metrics, manuscript tradition, and textual criticism. The second term deals with special topics in German literature between 1150 and 1450 or interdisciplinary topics such as orality and literacy, word and image.
Middle High German Literature II
Professor/Instructor
Sara S. PoorBased on one specific text, the first term provides an introduction to language, metrics, manuscript tradition, and textual criticism. The second term deals with special topics in German literature between 1150 and 1450 or interdisciplinary topics such as orality and literacy, word and image.
Seminar in Medieval French Literature
Professor/Instructor
Jacqueline Cerquiglini-TouletTo suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, a subject for intensive study is selected from special topics such as chansons de geste, roman courtois, paleography and textual criticism, rhetorical theory, lyric poetry, the chronicles, and Provençal materials.