MDVL 201: Medieval Lit and Culture

Introduction to the diverse literatures and cultures of the global Middle Ages (Approx. 500-1500 CE). Students will read works by medieval authors in Modern English translation, with particular attention to placing works in their historical and material contexts.

Same as ENGL 202, CWL 253

Gen Ed: Cultural Studies – Western, Humanities – Lit & Arts

MWF 11:00-11:50 AM

150 English Building

Instructor: TBA

MDVL 345: Medieval Civilization

The architectural, artistic, philosophical, political, and religious components of medieval culture, thought, and patterns of behavior; includes monasticism and society and the individual.

Description: This course focuses on the Central Middle Ages (roughly 1000-1350 C.E.) in Western Europe. The goal is to situate some of the glorious cultural achievements of this period in their historical context. We will consider how economic and social changes shaped the development of cities and urban culture; how military and political changes led to the development of "courtesy" and the rich art and literature aimed at the aristocracy; how religious and intellectual changes contributed to transformations in architecture, music, and intellectual life. Most of the readings will come from medieval primary sources--texts and images created during the period we are studying.

Same as HIST 345, REL 345

MWF 1:00-1:50 PM

307 Gregory Hall

Instructor: Megan McLaughlin

MDVL 500: Seminar in Medieval Studies

MDVL 571: Medieval German Studies

Topic: Vikings in the West

The first half of this course will introduce students to medieval Icelandic literature, with special attention dedicated to texts with an interest in the discovery and settlement of Iceland, and subsequent (temporary) colonies of Norse explorers and Vikings in Greenland and North America. Archaeological evidence has confirmed that Viking settlers came to Iceland during the ninth century, reached Greenland just before the year 1000, and explored the North-Eastern coast of the American continent shortly afterwards. This class segment will include a look at archaeological finds documenting contacts between Scandinavian settlers and explorers and the indigenous peoples of Greenland and Artic America. The second half of the course will then focus on the modern reception of the Westward expansion of Medieval Scandinavians in the North Atlantic area. We will consider works of art from the United States and Northern Europe from the nineteenth century onwards and analyze how these works have participated in discourses about national identity and self-perception of Nordic Americans, Scandinavians, and Germans. We will lastly consider the role of artworks influenced by or adapting content from Medieval Norse culture in contemporary times, for instance in public discussions about race and gender, or the radical alternative drafts to globalized culture advocated by Neo-pagan movements. Readings will be assigned in English translation, but may include smaller segments in Old Norse, Icelandic, German or Swedish, depending on students' individual interests.

Same as GER 571

R 3:00-4:50 PM

Location TBA

Instructor: Verena Höfig

MDVL 514: Seminar in Medieval Literature

Topic: The Junius Manuscript

ENGL 514: The Junius Manuscript of Old English Biblical Verse The late-tenth-century Junius Manuscript is an illustrated collection of Old English biblical verse, containing four poems that chart the course of salvation history from the Creation to the Last Judgment: Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan. It serves as an important witness to the dissemination of theological doctrine to lay and unlearned audiences at the height of the Benedictine Reform, and it offers various examples of how early medieval English authors adapted Christian content to suit the needs of those audiences through the form of heroic poetry. Its availability in high-quality online images from Oxford University will allow students in this seminar to work equally with the texts of the poems, the illustrations that accompany them, and the codicological development and history of the manuscript. The primary text for the course will be the ASPR edition of The Junius Manuscript, and the primary goal of the course will be to work through all four poems in the original language, which will give students an opportunity to practice extremely close reading in the translation of some very difficult, complex, and rewarding literature. Readings will also include an extensive array of secondary literature, and students will develop their own critical readings of the text in a variety of venues, including less formal in-class discussion, prepared presentations to the rest of the seminar, and a formal seminar paper at the end of the term. A reading knowledge of Old English is required for this course; students who have taken “Introduction to Old English” or the equivalent will be adequately prepared. Undergraduates may register with the consent of the instructor.

R 12:00-2:50 PM

Location TBA

Instructor: Renée Trilling

100-level courses

CWL 189: Literatures of the Islamic World for the Campus Honors Program

Comparative, cross-cultural study of major literary and cultural works from the Islamic world, broadly defined, including pre-Islamic cultures and their interactions with Islamic civilization. All readings in English.

Gen Ed: Cultural Studies - Non-West, Humanities – Lit & Arts

TR 9:30-10:50 AM

Location: TBA

Instructor: Eric Calderwood

200-level courses

Scan 252: Viking Sagas in Translation

Studies Old Norse-Icelandic literature: kings' sagas, family sagas, mythical-heroic sagas, and romances. Texts and lectures in English.

Gen Ed: Cultural Studies – Western, Humanities – Lit & Arts

TR 9:00-10:20 AM

212 David Kinley Hall

Instructor: Verena Höfig

400-level courses

REL 418: Afterlife in Early Judaism

Examines Israelite and Jewish attitudes to death and the afterlife from Ancient Israelite belief until the rise of Islam. Topics include death, divine judgement, immortality of the soul, resurrection, and hell. We will also selectively compare Jewish afterlife traditions to those found in early Christianity. Particular attention will be paid to the transformations of belief over time, and to the changing contexts that gave rise to new Jewish soteriologies and eschatologies.

W 3:00-5:30 pm

215 Davenport Hall

Instructor: Dov Weiss

Graduate courses

ENGL 514: Seminar in Medieval Literature

Topic: The Junius Manuscript

ENGL 514: The Junius Manuscript of Old English Biblical Verse The late-tenth-century Junius Manuscript is an illustrated collection of Old English biblical verse, containing four poems that chart the course of salvation history from the Creation to the Last Judgment: Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan. It serves as an important witness to the dissemination of theological doctrine to lay and unlearned audiences at the height of the Benedictine Reform, and it offers various examples of how early medieval English authors adapted Christian content to suit the needs of those audiences through the form of heroic poetry. Its availability in high-quality online images from Oxford University will allow students in this seminar to work equally with the texts of the poems, the illustrations that accompany them, and the codicological development and history of the manuscript. The primary text for the course will be the ASPR edition of The Junius Manuscript, and the primary goal of the course will be to work through all four poems in the original language, which will give students an opportunity to practice extremely close reading in the translation of some very difficult, complex, and rewarding literature. Readings will also include an extensive array of secondary literature, and students will develop their own critical readings of the text in a variety of venues, including less formal in-class discussion, prepared presentations to the rest of the seminar, and a formal seminar paper at the end of the term. A reading knowledge of Old English is required for this course; students who have taken “Introduction to Old English” or the equivalent will be adequately prepared. Undergraduates may register with the consent of the instructor.

R 12:00-2:50 PM

Location TBA

Instructor: Renée Trilling

GER 571: Vikings in the West

The first half of this course will introduce students to medieval Icelandic literature, with special attention dedicated to texts with an interest in the discovery and settlement of Iceland, and subsequent (temporary) colonies of Norse explorers and Vikings in Greenland and North America. Archaeological evidence has confirmed that Viking settlers came to Iceland during the ninth century, reached Greenland just before the year 1000, and explored the North-Eastern coast of the American continent shortly afterwards. This class segment will include a look at archaeological finds documenting contacts between Scandinavian settlers and explorers and the indigenous peoples of Greenland and Artic America. The second half of the course will then focus on the modern reception of the Westward expansion of Medieval Scandinavians in the North Atlantic area. We will consider works of art from the United States and Northern Europe from the nineteenth century onwards and analyze how these works have participated in discourses about national identity and self-perception of Nordic Americans, Scandinavians, and Germans. We will lastly consider the role of artworks influenced by or adapting content from Medieval Norse culture in contemporary times, for instance in public discussions about race and gender, or the radical alternative drafts to globalized culture advocated by Neo-pagan movements. Readings will be assigned in English translation, but may include smaller segments in Old Norse, Icelandic, German or Swedish, depending on students' individual interests.

Same as MDVL 500, MDVL 571

R 3:00-4:50 PM

Location TBA

Instructor: Verena Höfig

HIST 502: Problems in Comparative History

Topic: Slavery, the Enlightenment, and the Production of History

Comparative examination of interpretations of slavery from the ancient world to the present; the influence of Atlantic Slavery on the Enlightenment; and the production of historical knowledge, narratives, and theory in relation to slavery and the Enlightenment. Students can work on a broad range of topics related to slavery, historicity, the Enlightenment, social theory, Latin American history, Atlantic history, or other topics unrestricted by time or place.

M 1:00PM-2:50PM

318 Gregory Hall

Instructor: Craig Koslofsky

IS580: Information History

currently restricted to iSchool; registration opens in January

Drawing on research in varied historical specializations, information history has become a vibrant area of study, one that improves our understanding, moreover, of today's information universe. Information history covers diverse institutions and practices -- from libraries and the book to the telegraph and postal systems, from surveillance to cartography, from documentary culture to statistical surveys -- seeking to connect them with the major developmental processes of human history. Framed in a succession of major historical epochs, topics and trends, from Antiquity to the twentieth century, this course revises our sense of the historical record by situating information explicitly within it. 

W 10AM-11:50 AM

131 GSLIS

Instructor: Bonnie Mak

LA 593 Islamic and S. Asian Landscapes

Topic: The Alhambra

Built in Granada in the 13th-14th centuries, the Alhambra is an enormous complex of ornamented halls and gardened courtyards with pools and water fountains. The Islamic palace is a major historic monument that marks the moment when Spain coalesced as a nation in 1492, and it has figured in the romantic imagination since the 19th century, when travelers would visit to marvel at the palace and gardens. Although it appears well preserved, prints and photos from 1665 to the present show dramatic changes, raising questions about stewardship, the celebration or repression of cultural and religious difference, and whether the Alhambra remains an authentic work of Islamic architecture or has been remade to satisfy European visions of Spain’s Islamic and medieval past.

TR 12:30-1:50 PM

Location: TBA

Instructor: D.F. Ruggles

SLAV 525: Problems in Slavic Literature

Topic: Medieval Epics and Modern Forgeries: The Igor Tale in its Contexts. This course will examine the controversies over the authenticity of the late 12^th-century Igor Tale and will study the Tale alongside many of the texts to which it has been compared, from authentic medieval epics to oral folk epics (byliny) to Ossian and the Czech forged manuscripts. Students should be able to read Russian and/or Old Church Slavonic.

W 2:00-4:20 PM

1112 Foreign Languages Building

Instructor: Prof. David Cooper