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Spring 2003
MEDIEVAL STUDIES COURSES
Undergraduate Courses in Medieval Studies
These courses apply toward the Minor in Medieval Studies
Art & Art History
Art History 449.001 Art of Spain
M 10:00-12:50 p.m.
Professor Cynthia Robinson
Medieval Spain ... it was the land of three religions, but WAS it the "land of three cultures"? Was Spain really the eternal "receiver of influences" from places as diverse as Baghdad and Bruges, or did it have more of a say in the process of cultural creation (and dissemination ...) than present scholarship acknowledges? This course will examine the visual culture(s) of Medieval Spain in context, beginning with the Visigothic Kingdoms and finishing with Charles V's "addition" of a Renaissance palace to the Alhambra.
Students will do weekly reading assignments, and participate in organized discussions both on class listserv and in class. Written assignments include short response papers and summaries, and a research project to be presented in two stages in class. PREREQUISITES: undergraduate students must have completed either AH201 or AH202 AND a 300-level Art History class. Reading knowledge of Spanish is highly desirable but not a necessary prerequisite. Students whose preparation does not reflect these prerequisites, but who feel they are adequately equipped to approach the class, should contact the professor as soon as possible. Special fee $18.
English
English 350.001 Bewulf: The First English Epic
TR 5:30-6:40 p.m.
Professor Helen Damico
This is the introductory course to Beowulf, and as such it is primarily a linguistic and literary study of the first English epic. It is meant to lay the groundwork for an advanced seminar in Beowulf. The student will engage in short, introductory paleographical and metrical exercises on selected portions of the poem. This will allow the student to become closely acquainted with the manuscript, Cotton Vitellius A.xv and to begin to arrive at an understanding about the making of an epic. Over half of the poem will be translated from the original, although students are required to know the entire poem in translation. Yet, this is not a course that focuses only on translation. Rather, it attempts to expose the text as it is-the work of a master craftsman-and not as how various translators have presented it. Topics discussed in the course will include: Old English poetic language and form; formula and formulaic systems; Old English versification; the history of the manuscript; the dating of the poem; heroic women in Beowulf; the existential warrior; Germanic heroic tradition. Course requirements: Midterm; short exercises in metrics and paleography; Final. Attendance is mandatory.
English 351-001 Chaucer
MW 2:00-3:15 p.m.
Staff
Discerning students seek real liberation from oppression in Chaucerian delights, where the Canterbury Tales do not just reflect power relationships-Eurocentrics vs. eccentrics, merchants vs. intellectuals, aristocrats vs. monks, landowners vs. peasants, women vs. patriarchy, machos vs. matriarchy. In Chaucer, these very real struggles are grounded in an intelligible discourse that emerges from both conditioned and timeless human experience. The Knight frees you from fate's oppression, the Wife of Bath from patriarchy, the Miller from surplus repression, the Clerk from matriarchy, the Merchant from an unreflecting everydayness. The tales as a whole provide escape from the silly sussurrations of political correctness, the cacophonies of feigning fascism, the collective detritus and pompous illusions of post-modernism, and the random, grammatical drift of careless language. Midterm, final, and a five-to ten page paper.
University Honors
UHP 222-010 J.R.R. Tolkien: Writings, Myths, and Sources
TR 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Professor Leslie Donovan and David Briones
Vastly popular, immensely learned, and profoundly spiritual, J.R.R. Tolkien's epic trilogy The Lord of Rings has outgrown its 1970s cult status to become not only a literary classic, but even what many consider to be the foundation of the genre of modern fantasy. In recent years, national and international surveys even identified Tolkien as the most popular or influential writer of the 20th century. Yet, while millions of readers have enjoyed and treasured The Lord of Rings and its precursor The Hobbit, few readers seriously study the myth, meaning, historical sources, and literary background of Tolkien's work. In this course, we will endeavor a careful survey not only of Tolkien's work, but also of other early works that influenced Tolkien's writing and the mythic constructs that underlie his epic vision, including works such as Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Snorri Sturluson's The Prose Edda, and selections from Malory's Le Morte Darthur. Requirements: two 5-7 page papers, one 10-20 page research project, one oral presentation, weekly electronic exercises, attendance and active class participation. Students who are not currently enrolled in the University Honors program must have permission from the instructor to register.
History
History 320-001 Anglo Saxon England
MWF 10-10:50 a.m.
Professor Timothy C. Graham
This course will offer an overview of the history and culture of England from the arrival of the Angles and Saxons in the fifth century until the Battle of Hastings of 1066. These six centuries form one of the most vibrant and innovative periods of English history, when the foundations of England's greatness were first established. We will cover such diverse topics as the pagan culture of the early Anglo-Saxons, the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, the Irish and Roman missions to England, the Viking invasions, the military and educational campaigns of King Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon manuscript culture, and the Bayeux Tapestry. The course will center upon the interpretive study of such primary source materials as the Beowulf poem, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle. There will be three short papers, in-class quizzes, and a final examination.
Languages
Latin 202.001 Intermediate Latin
MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m
Aryn Seiler
Latin 202.002 Intermediate Latin
TR 2:00-3:15 p.m
Aryn Seiler
Graduate Courses in Medieval Studies
These courses apply toward the MA and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies
Art and Art History
Art History559.001 Art of Spain
M 10:00-12:50 p.m.
Professor Cynthia Robinson
Medieval Spain ... it was the land of three religions, but WAS it the "land of three cultures"? Was Spain really the eternal "receiver of influences" from places as diverse as Baghdad and Bruges, or did it have more of a say in the process of cultural creation (and dissemination ...) than present scholarship acknowledges? This course will examine the visual culture(s) of Medieval Spain in context, beginning with the Visigothic Kingdoms and finishing with Charles V's "addition" of a Renaissance palace to the Alhambra.
Students will do weekly reading assignments, and participate in organized discussions both on class listserv and in class. Written assignments include short response papers and summaries, and a research project to be presented in two stages in class. Special fee $18.
English
English 550.001 Bewulf: The First English Epic
TR 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Professor Helen Damico
This is the introductory course to Beowulf, and as such it is primarily a linguistic and literary study of the first English epic. It is meant to lay the groundwork for an advanced seminar in Beowulf. The student will engage in short, introductory paleographical and metrical exercises on selected portions of the poem. This will allow the student to become closely acquainted with the manuscript, Cotton Vitellius A.xv and to begin to arrive at an understanding about the making of an epic. Over half of the poem will be translated from the original, although students are required to know the entire poem in translation. Yet, this is not a course that focuses only on translation. Rather, it attempts to expose the text as it is-the work of a master craftsman-and not as how various translators have presented it. Topics discussed in the course will include: Old English poetic language and form; formula and formulaic systems; Old English versification; the history of the manuscript; the dating of the poem; heroic women in Beowulf; the existential warrior; Germanic heroic tradition. Course requirements: Midterm; short exercises in metrics and paleography; Final. Attendance is mandatory.
English 581.001 Graduate Chaucer
W 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Staff
This course will focus on The Canterbury Tales, the Parliament of Fowls, the House of Fame, and the Book of the Duchess. Late fourteenth-century England was a time of political, philosophical and religious turmoil, to which Chaucer's poetry responds by a comic blend of political advocacy, philosophical reflection, satirical portrayal of men and women, observation of science, all types of love, and an engaging humanity. Students will do two class performances, a report on their research, and the presentation of the final paper. During each performance, the listeners will attend respectfully and offer positive, largely congratulatory observations.
Courses of Interest to Medieval Studies Students
English
English 445.001/545.001 History of the English Language
W 4:00-6:30
Professor Helen Damico
This course surveys the internal history of English, in its political and cultural context. As an introductory course, it is meant for students who have had no previous study in linguistics or in language. The objective of the course is to prepare students for further study in English language and linguistics. The arrangement of the syllabus is chronological and descriptive in approach. It traces the phonological and grammatical development of English from prehistory to the present. The syllabus offers a somewhat fuller treatment of Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English (Shakespeare's English) on the assumption that familiarity with the speech of these periods will provide the student with an easier entry into the literature. The number of periods of "renaissance" of English as the "vernacular" tongue of the learned in contrast to Latin and the attendant political climate will be explored. A midterm, quizzes, final, and a paper. Attendance is mandatory.
Art History
Art History 262.001 World Architecture II: Medieval to Early Modernist Culture
MWF 11:00-11:50
Eleni Bastea
Survey of architectural traditions tracing the rise of modernity from its intellectual origins in the cultures of medieval and Renaissance Europe, Islam, Colonial Americas, and Japan, to its historical transformation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Special fee $18.
Medieval Studies Courses are also offered in Anthropology, Greek, and Italian.
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