The following courses are a sampling of offerings that allow students to explore interests in the premodern world. Courses marked with an asterisk (*) fulfill requirements for the Medieval Studies Major/Minor/Graduate Concentration.
CLCV 133: Archaeology of Israel
Prof. Kaufman
TR 2:00-3:50
Exploration of the archaeology and history of the Near East with a specific focus on the development of Israel. Cultures of the Near East adapted to a rapidly changing world by pioneering the world's earliest innovations in agriculture, urbanism, bronze technology, and writing. We will investigate the Near Eastern background of the Israelites and their neighbors from the beginnings of agriculture during the "Neolithic Revolution", to the formation of the world's first cities in the Bronze Age, to the archaeological remnants of the Hebrew Bible. We will investigate the ramifications of wave after wave of military conflict and how this has shaped the Middle East, including the Babylonian Exile, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and the Jewish Revolts against the Romans.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
- Cultural Studies - Western
- Humanities – Hist & Phil
Prof. Symes
TR 11:00-11:50 lectures + weekly section
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
- Advanced Composition (HIST 140 only)
- Cultural Studies - Western
- Humanities – Hist & Phil
ENGL 202 / CWL 253 / MDVL 201: Medieval Literature and Culture*
Prof. Barrett
MWF 11:00-11:50
“Medieval Journeys”: This course introduces students to the cultural diversity of the global Middle Ages by focusing on tales of travel and mobility. Some of these journeys navigate historical landscapes: a Viking sailor makes first contact with the Indigenous peoples of North America, a Moroccan scholar follows the caravan routes to African Mali, and a Japanese concubine takes up the itinerant life of a Buddhist nun after her exile from the imperial court. Others traverse imaginary terrain: a Hindu king is reunited with his family atop a celestial mountain, a flock of Persian birds cross seven mystical valleys in search of their ruler, a Chinese woman’s soul follows her beloved to the capital while her body languishes at home, and a transgender knight wanders the forests of Arthurian legend on a quest for Merlin. What these journey stories all share is an interest in encountering the Other (barbarians, foreigners, monsters, prodigies, heretics, etc.) as well as a realization of travel's potential for self-discovery--or self-alienation. Texts will be read in Modern English translations; assignments will include short reading responses, longer interpretative essays, and a pair of exams.
Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
• Cultural Studies - Western
• Humanities – Lit & Art
CLCV 231 / ARTH 217 / JS 231: Development of Ancient Cities
Prof. Kaufman
online, asynchronous
Monuments, archaeological remains, and histories illustrating the development of the earliest states and urban centers of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, including Athens, Rome, Carthage, and Jerusalem.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
- Cultural Studies - Western
- Humanities – Hist & Phil
EALC / CWL275: Masterpieces of East Asian Literature*
Prof. Persiani
Lectures MW 12:00-12:50 Section: F TBA
A wide-ranging introduction to the literatures of premodern China, Korea, and Japan. We read selections from some of the greatest novels, plays, and poems in each tradition in order to gain insight into the cultures that produced them and hone our skills in textual and cultural analysis. At various points in the course, we also explore how these influential texts have been repackaged and reprocessed for modern audiences in a variety of media.
No knowledge of Chinese or Japanese language required.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
- Cultural Studies - Non-West
- Humanities – Lit & Arts
ITAL / CWL / MDVL 240: Italy in the Middle Ages & Renaissance*
Prof. Stoppino
TR 11:00 - 12:20
The Foul and the Fragrant
This course will provide an introduction to the medieval and early renaissance literature of Italy from the point of view of education: we will explore topics such as the formation of manners, the creation of ideals of civility, the representation of chivalric behaviors. We will focus on the education of the perfect poet, the perfect wife and the perfect nun; on the upbringing of the perfect lady and the perfect courtier, the care and grooming of the courtly body, and the rejection of the lower bodily functions. In English.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2023 for:
- Humanities – Lit & Arts
HIST / REL 347: Age of Protestant and Catholic Reformations
Prof. Koslofsky
MW 2:00-3:20
New sources of secular power and spiritual authority define the age of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. In this European history course students expand their knowledge of the people, events, and ideas of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries while deepening their understanding of a wide range of primary sources created by theologians and peasants, nuns and monarchs, and artists and rebels. We focus extensively on medieval Christianity so that we can place key works by Luther, Calvin, and Loyola in their intellectual and social contexts.
ARCH 412: Medieval Architecture
Prof. Grossman
T/Th 11:00-12:20
This course examines the architecture, monumental arts-in-space, and broader built environment of the eastern/Byzantine and western European Middle Ages from the third to the fifteenth century C.E. We will examine how architecture and its spaces shaped medieval daily life, religious experience, and political and civic spectacle. The course integrates the study of the architecture and its related arts (monumental painting, mosaics, furnishings) with the study of medieval culture and society, exploring the roles of royal courts and secular, civil authority; religious performance and observance; crusading and trade; and rising urbanism. The course will proceed chronologically, with thematic and topical issues simultaneously addressed; attention will be paid to moments of cross-cultural interaction and exchange between northwestern Europe, the eastern and western Mediterranean, north and sub-Saharan Africa, and the Islamic world. We will also look at the (mis)use of the medieval in our modern world, including in politics and culture.
3 UG hours/3 grad hours. Lecture with frequent discussions and group work. Evaluation is by participation (including short written and drawing assignments), two slide/essay examinations, and a research assignment. Students from all disciplines welcome but the course may be of particular interest to those in architecture, art history, art and design, landscape architecture, medieval studies, history, and engineering.
Prerequisite: ARCH 210 or ARTH 111.
ITAL / CWL / MDVL 420: Masterpieces of Renaissance Literature*
Prof. Stoppino
TR 2:00 - 03:20
Founding Mothers: Female Genealogies in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature
In this course, we will explore the problem of the relationship of women to dynastic power in the literature and culture of late medieval and Renaissance in Italy. Beginning from Giovanni Boccaccio’s famously ambivalent portraits of women in the Decameron and his treatise On Famous Women, we will locate women within an early modern system of inherited power and literary representations. We will then move to study a series of genealogically motivated chivalric poems (such as Orlando innamorato, Orlando furioso, Floridoro, Gerusalemme liberata) which propose a number of roles for women: warriors, queens, saints, monsters, saviors, poets, founders. These texts return again and again to the key role of women in establishing and maintaining dynastic continuity within noble families, but also to the dangers they pose to dynastic stability. We will try to understand how these literary texts work within the social and political context of the Italian city-states of this period. We will also study the involvement of women in the production and circulation of literary texts, focussing on notable patrons of the arts like Isabella d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia, and on important poets like Vittoria Colonna.
Taught in English. Readings in Italian for Italian Majors and graduate students in Italian Studies.
Prerequisite: Fulfillment of campus rhetoric requirement.
IS 583: Advanced Topics in Book History
Prof. Mak
Online, Th 9:30-12:20
Explores the role of the book in the production and transmission of knowledge through time. Major themes include the design, materiality, and performance of reading and writing technologies. Particular attention will be paid to the graphic representation and visualization of information across media. Students will examine different approaches to the study of books and documents, including those of palaeography, diplomatics, bibliography, art history, musicology, textual criticism, digital humanities, and new media studies.