Fall 2012 Courses
I.
II.
III.
Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Graduate Course Descriptions
Schedule Grid of All Courses
Note: For Cross-listed courses the CRN is that for MDVL; the CRN for
other Departments will differ
I. Undergraduate Courses
HIST 100 Global History
Topic: The Medieval World
Non-Western Cultures course , and UIUC: Western Compartv
and UIUC: Hist&Philosoph Perspect course
Cult course ,
30338 LEC AL1
10:00 AM – 10:50 AM MW 100 Materials Science
Discussion/Recitation sections: see Course Catalogue
3 hours
Instructor: M. McLaughlin
This course examines the “deep history” of the complex world we live in today. While it is
easy to assume that our lives are entirely modern, in fact our languages, beliefs, laws, family
structures, ethnic identities, religions, economies, politics—even our technologies--are still
being shaped in significant ways by developments that began hundreds of years ago. This
course looks at human societies across the world, during the period from 500 to 1500 C.E.;
important course themes will be wealth and poverty, exchanges (of people, goods, and ideas)
between different parts of the world, and political systems (including systems of gender
hierarchy).
MDVL / ARTH 111 Ancient to Medieval Art
37084 LEC AL1 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM MWF Krannert Art Museum 62
4 hours Discussion sections begin after the first lecture: see Course Catalogue
Instructor: A. Hedeman
The arts of Byzantium and Western Europe from the early Christian era to the Renaissance.
SLAV 120 Russian and East European Folktales
53291 LCD A 1:00 PM -1:50 PM MWF
3 hours
Instructor: D. Cooper
Introduction to Russian and East European folktales, focusing on folk beliefs, fairy tales,
and folk narratives in Slavic languages from a comparative perspective, with an emphasis on
methods of analysis and the role of gender.
MDVL 201 / ENGL 202 / CLW 253 Medieval Literature and Culture
Literature and the Arts and Western Compartv Cult course.
33890 LCD Q 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM TR 131 English
3 hours
Instructor: TBA
Medieval British and continental authors (including Chaucer) read in modern English.
LA / ARCH 222 Islamic Gardens and Architecture
Time TBA
3 hours
Instructor: D. Ruggles
A general introduction to the landscape and architectural history of the Islamic world, from
Spain to South Asia. Themes include the agricultural development and settlement of the
desert, the formation of an Islamic visual culture, gardens of myth and memory, architectural
and garden symbolism, space and ritual, and the built environment as a theater for political
display.
MDVL / HIST / GWS 245 Women & Gender in Pre-Modern Europe
Hist&Philosoph Perspect and Western Compartv Cult course.
34349 LCD A
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM MWF
3 hours
Instructor: M. McLaughlin
An introduction to some major issues in the history of women and gender from the fifth to
the seventeenth century. Among the subjects to be discussed are the impact of class on
gender roles, women‘s work and access to property, the relationship between the public and
private spheres of life, women‘s roles in the conversion of Europe to Christianity and in The
Reformation, and the connection between the misogynist tradition and premodern women's
sense of self.
MDVL / SCAN / CWL / RLST 251 Viking Mythology
Hist&Philosoph Perspect and Western Compartv Cult course.
58535 LCD D
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM MWF
3 hours
Instructor: B. Malekin
In this course we will read a variety of texts dating back to the Roman period but primarily
from the centuries during and immediately after the Viking Period. Students will become
familiar with the major gods and goddesses, other mythological beings, rituals, and texts as
well as getting an overview of the archaeological and anthropological contributions to the
understanding of pre-Christian religion in Pagan Northern Europe. In the final part of the
semester we will look at reflections of Viking Mythology in everything from 19th century
opera to 20th century Warner Bros Cartoons and will also treat Neopaganism and the
“Revival” of Germanic Religion. Students will purchase translations of several of the most
important Icelandic texts on Viking Age Religion and will also read materials that are
available for free online.
MDVL / SCAN / CWL 252 Viking Sagas in Translation
Literature and the Arts and Western Compartv Cult course.
48307 LCD D
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM MWF
3 hours
Instructor: B. Malekin
Studies Old Norse-Icelandic literature: kings’ sagas, family sagas, mythical-heroic sagas, and
romances. Texts and lectures in English.
ENGL 300 Writing about Literature
Topic: The Literature of Purgatory
33987 LCD C
10:00 AM – 10:50 AM MWF 127 English
3 hours
Instructor: M. Camargo
Unlike Heaven and Hell, Purgatory was a creation of the medieval imagination. The word
“Purgatory” was first used in the late twelfth century, and the official church doctrine on its
existence, nature, and function was still developing less than fifty years before Dante devoted
the second part of his Divine Comedy to this “third place.” As Dante envisioned it,
Purgatory has a special relationship with literary art: Dante and his guide Virgil meet more
poets and talk more about poetry in the Purgatorio than in the Inferno or the Paradiso; and
that relationship has continued to the present day. We will follow the literary fortunes of
Purgatory in early works ranging from Dante’s Purgatorio (around 1319) through the
Gawain-Poet’s Pearl (late fourteenth century) to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, before turning to
modern and contemporary “purgatorial” works by T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land), Samuel
Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Seamus Heaney (Station Island), and Paul Auster (The
Brooklyn Follies). Course work will emphasize critical writing, including responses to
discussion questions on each of the readings and three papers focused on historical research,
close reading, and comparative analysis, respectively. The paper that focuses on historical
research also will be delivered as an oral presentation. One of the three papers will be revised
and expanded into a research paper that serves as the final examination. It is strongly
recommended that all English and Teaching of English majors take ENGL 300 and ENGL
301 BEFORE taking any other 300- or 400-level courses.
MDVL / ENGL 407 Introduction to Old English
49830 LCD 1G 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
MWF 259 English
4 hours Restricted to Graduate students.
Instructor: C. Wright
49829 LCD 1U 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
MWF 259 English
3 hours
Restricted to Undergrad students.
Instructor: C. Wright
this pure contemplation / of a language of the dawn
--Jorge Luis Borges, “On Embarking on the Study of the Anglo-Saxon Language”
In this course you will learn to read Old English prose and poetry in the original language,
which was spoken by the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of England from the sixth through
eleventh centuries. This was the native language of Caedmon, who wrote the earliest
surviving English poem (“Cædmon's Hymn”); of King Alfred, who prevented the Vikings
from conquering England, and who then undertook a revival of learning by translating into
English “those books which it is most necessary for all to know”; of the anonymous author
of Beowulf, who memorialized a Germanic hero’s battles with a man-eating monster, his
vengeful mother (the monster’s, that is), and a dragon; and of abbot Ælfric and archbishop
Wulfstan, who preached in English for those who could not understand Latin, the official
language of the medieval church.
We will begin with some easy prose readings (the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis, and
a school dialogue about Anglo-Saxon “career choices”), and as you gradually master the
basics of Old English grammar we will work our way up to more challenging narrative prose
such as Bede’s story of Cædmon's miraculous transformation from cowherd to poet; King
Alfred’s government “white paper” on education reform; and Ælfric’s story of the
martyrdom of King Edmund, slain by Vikings invaders. Then in the second half of the
semester we will read some of the finest shorter Old English poems, including The Wanderer
and The Seafarer, two elegiac poems of exile; The Battle of Maldon, recounting the heroic defeat
of an English army by the Vikings; The Dream of the Rood, a mystical vision of the Crucifixion,
as told by the Cross; and The Wife’s Lament, about a woman abandoned by her former lover.
For graduate students the course is 4 hours credit and will involve an additional hourly
meeting per week (time and place to be arranged).
MDVL / ENGL 411 Chaucer
46885 LCD 1G 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM MWF 115 English
4 hours
Restricted to Graduate students.
Instructor: M. Camargo
46884 LCD 1U 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM MWF 115 English
3 hours
Restricted to Undergrad students.
Instructor: M. Camargo
We will read and discuss the General Prologue and a dozen of the narratives that make up
Geoffrey Chaucer’s last major work, the Canterbury Tales. Our goal will be to appreciate
Chaucer’s language, his poetic innovations, the literary traditions within and against which he
wrote, and the ideological tensions that defined the world in which he lived. Topics that will
be emphasized in class discussions include Chaucer’s experiments with genre,
characterization, and narrative voice; the lively debates he stages around gender and sexuality,
power and social status, and the moral responsibilities of poets; and the complex interplay of
courtly and intellectual ideologies that shapes his identity as a writer in fourteenth-century
England. In addition to a research paper and a final examination, graded work will include
short written responses to discussion questions and occasional quizzes and microthemes.
MDVL / ITAL / CWL 413 Dante
43292 LCD D
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM TR
3 OR 4 hours
Instructor: E. Stoppino
Dante’s Comedy
Interpretation of Dante’s Divine Comedy with special attention to its position in the
medieval world. Through a complete reading of the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso this course
will situate Dante within the literary, political, philosophical and religious contexts of
thirteenth and fourteenth century Italy. Topics in the Comedy explored over the course of the
semester include the relationship between love and knowledge; aesthetics and ethics; and
exile and history. Knowledge of Italian is not required.
MDVL / ARTH 431 Topics: Northern Art 1300-1500
51697 LCD G
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM MWF
Instructor: A. Hedeman
4 hours Restricted to Graduate students.
51696 LCD UG 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM MWF
Instructor: A. Hedeman
3 hours Restricted to Undergrad students.
Special topics in the history of painting, sculpture, and minor arts of France, Germany, Spain,
and England during the Renaissance selected for intensive study.
MDVL / LAT 460 Medieval Latin
59497 LCD G 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM MWF 1040 FLB
3 hours
Prerequisite: Two years of college Latin or consent of instructor.
Instructor: TBA
Literary and historical texts in prose and poetry will be read in the original; the course will
also cover patristic writings.
ENGL 465 Topics in Drama: Ecocriticism and Early English Drama
59750 LCD 1G
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM MWF 150 English
4 hours
Restricted to Graduate students.
Instructor: R. Barrett
59749 LCD 1U
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM MWF 150 English
3 hours
Restricted to Undergrad students.
Instructor: R. Barrett
This course surveys early English drama through an ecological lens. Medieval and early
modern conceptions of nature inform the plays and shows of the three centuries before the
closing of the theatres in 1642; these dramas in turn make crucial contributions to discourses
of the natural. For example, in the York and Chester bible cycles, the Eden and Noah
pageants establish humanity’s relationship with nature in ways that owe as much to the
cycles’ civic sponsors as to the Book of Genesis. The Towneley Second Shepherds’ Play blurs
the line between human and animal, juxtaposing a stolen sheep disguised as a baby with the
Lamb of God in the stable, while the morality play Mankind redefines human existence as
wheat harvest. The “green worlds” of William Shakespeare’s comedies—the forests of
Athens (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Arden (As You Like It), and Windsor (Merry Wives of
Windsor)—exist on a biopolitical continuum with the urban zones nominally opposed to
them. In the 1630s, John Brome’s Sparagus Garden explores the class conflicts resulting from
the enclosure and commodification of common green spaces as urban parks. These aren’t
the only plays and issues we’ll consider in the course, but they do suggest ecocriticism’s
potential for the study of early English drama. Assignments will range from short reading
responses to a larger research project; there will also be a pair of exams. We will not stage a
course production of any of our shows, but we will frequently act out key scenes in class—
we are talking about theatre, after all.
II. Graduate Courses
MDVL / ARCH 512 Seminar in Medieval Architecture
Topic: What We Talk About When We Talk About Columns
50565 LCD A
9:30 AM - 12:20 PM
T 105 Architecture (Plym Office)
3 hours + 1 additional hour option Restricted to Graduate students.
Instructor: A. Marina
From its earliest appearance in ancient Egyptian monuments to Adolf Loos’s subversive
design of a Doric column skyscraper for the Chicago Tribune in the early 20th century, the
column has been both a fundamental building block of monumental architecture and a
symbol of the limitations of the classical style. In particular, the ever-changing, ever-present
column encapsulates the tension between tradition and innovation in the architecture of the
medieval West. This seminar will investigate the transformations and reinterpretations of this
iconic architectural form in monumental building and microarchitecture, in theory and in
practice, from late antiquity through the Middle Ages and to its eventual codification in the
Renaissance. Through thematic readings and discussion, we will analyze how medieval
patrons, architects, workshops, and audiences understood, exalted, exploited, and subverted
the column and the architectural orders, with occasional forays into later (and earlier)
periods. Readings will include diverse primary sources such as ancient and Renaissance
architectural treatises, as well as medieval encyclopedias, building histories, civic panegyrics,
and religious exegeses. Secondary source readings will include Joseph Rykwert’s The Dancing
Column, John Onians’ Bearers of Meaning: The Classical Orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance, and essays by Dale Kinney, Marvin Trachtenberg, Judson Emerick, Willibald
Sauerlander, Francois Bucher, Michael Greenhalgh, and Alina Payne, among others.
I would like to emphasize that this class is not a survey of medieval architecture. It is
not a lecture course. It assumes familiarity with the canon of medieval architecture, the basic
characteristics of the various period styles, and the outline of medieval history in Europe.
The course will have a marked theoretical bent; we will engage in vigorous critical discussion.
The conceptual skills refined through the semester will enrich your perception of medieval
architecture, of course, but also contribute to the development of a more rigorous critical
understanding of the architectural culture of any era. I hope that by its thematic approach,
the course will be profitable to students not only of architecture, but of art history, and
premodern European culture in general.
Course Requirements:
You are required to prepare for and participate in class discussion, successfully
complete all written assignments, conduct a semester-long research project, and present your
research findings orally to the seminar, along with supporting visual material. Your
presentations must take place on the designated days, barring grave and extraordinary
circumstances. University guidelines indicate that for each hour spent in class each week,
students should expect to invest an additional three hours outside of class working on each
course. That guideline suggests that you allocate an average of about nine hours a week for a
three-credit hour course like this one. Of course, the time required for you to complete the
coursework will in part depend on your individual talents, skills, interests, and circumstances.
Students taking the course for 4 credit hours in total should consult me regarding grading
guidelines for their version of the course, which will include writing an additional, formal 2025 page research paper on the basis of the semester’s research.
Seminar Attendance, Preparation, and Participation:
A successful seminar takes place in the discursive space shaped by the ideas
presented by the authors we are reading together and the ideas stimulated in our own
imaginations by our analyses of their work. We are not only learning from the readings, we
will be learning from each other. To prepare for each class meeting, you will be expected to
read an average of 100-125 pages per week, as well as to write short critical analyses of the
assigned readings (2-3 pages each) each week. You are expected to join in informed,
thoughtful class discussion. Sporadically throughout the term, each of you will be in charge
of leading discussion of a particular text. Your learning in this course will be evaluated partly
on the quality of your interventions in class. I expect informed, thoughtful, and frequent
contributions to the discussion. The success of a seminar depends on the presence and
engagement of its participants. Your presence is invaluable.
ITAL 510 (meets with SPAN 461) Seminar in Italian Studies
Topic: Medieval Boundaries: Space, Hierarchy, and Genre in the Medieval
Mediterranean
49647 LCD G4
2:00-3:20 TR
4 hours
Restricted to Graduate students.
Instructor: E. Stoppino
49651 LCD U3
2:00-3:20 TR
3 hours Restricted to Undergrad students.
Instructor: E. Stoppino
This course tests the boundaries of the definition of Medieval culture from multiple points
of view. We will look at physical boundaries between different social and political entities
from the privileged observation point of the two Mediterranean peninsulas, the Italian and
the Iberian. Authority building and canon formation will be very important themes of
discussion: the delineation of borders between texts is a process that affects both the texts
we study and the critical work done on them throughout the centuries. We will also pay close
attention to the formation of genres in the medieval period and to its repercussions on the
formation of what we call “modernity.” One of the main goals of the course is to maintain a
focus on these themes while interrogating Medieval Studies as a discipline in its current and
past incarnations. Taught in English.
MDVL / ENGL 514 Seminar in Medieval Literature
Topic: Ecocriticism and Early English Drama
34489 LCD E
1:00 PM - 2:50 PM W 113 English
4 hours
Instructor: R. Barrett
This seminar surveys early English drama through an ecological lens, exploring the
intersection of culture and nature on English stages in the three centuries before the closing
of the theatres in 1642. For example, in the York and Chester bible cycles, the Eden and
Noah pageants establish humanity’s relationship with nature in ways that owe as much to the
cycles’ civic sponsors as to the Book of Genesis. The Towneley Second Shepherds’ Play blurs
the line between human and animal, juxtaposing a stolen sheep disguised as a baby with the
Lamb of God, while the morality play Mankind redefines human existence as wheat harvest.
We’ll consider the ecological complexities of William Shakespeare’s “green world” comedies,
situating the Forests of Athens, Arden, and Windsor along a biopolitical continuum with
Shakespeare’s urban zones. Climate and weather are up for discussion in shows ranging from
John Heywood’s Tudor interlude The Play of the Weather to Thomas Nashe’s Summer’s Last
Will and Testament; Shakespeare’s King Lear may feature here as well. “Blue studies” will give
us new purchase on the oceanic spaces of The Tempest as well as those of numerous London
Lord Mayor’s Shows, and we’ll look at Caroline drama’s response to the enclosure and
commodification of common green spaces as urban parks. This brief list of possible texts
and approaches is not exhaustive (e.g., I haven’t said anything about masques and royal
entries); look for it to change by the start of the Fall 2012 semester. The seminar will also
double as an introduction to ecocritical theory, both within and without the purview of
medieval and early modern studies. Names to drop here include Lawrence Buell, Ursula
Heise, Timothy Morton, Raymond Williams, and our own Gillen Wood. Expect some
shorter writing assignments to go along with the usual seminar paper; I may even overcome
my habitual distaste for presentations.
RLST 514 Islamic Theology
54002 LCD A 3:00PM – 5:20PM W
4 hours
Instructor: V. Hoffman
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the language, arguments and schools of
classical Islamic theology, mainly through direct study of English translations of sample
theological texts from two different theological schools. The Arabic originals will also be
available and discussed for the sake of students with adequate knowledge of Arabic.
MDVL / HIST 542 Problems in Medieval History
Topic: World of Late Antiquity
41070 DIS A
1:00 PM - 2:50 PM T 318 Gregory
4 hours
Instructor: R. Mathisen
This seminar will investigate the phenomenon of the creation of an entire new field of
historical studies, known as “Late Antiquity,” during the past fifty years. We will consider (1)
the historiographical considerations that led to the development of this new field, (2) how
definitions of what “Late Antiquity” is have changed and evolved, (3) continuing
controversies over the nature of Late Antiquity, (4) what gives Late Antiquity its own unique
identity, (5) where Late Antiquity fits into modern scholarship and pedagogy, and (6) how
the field of Late Antiquity might continue to develop in the future
III. Schedule Grid of All Courses (Over)
Monday
9:00
431 North. Art
1300-1500
HIST 100 Med.
World
HIST 100 Med.
World
ENGL 300 Lit.
of Purgatory
ENGL 300 Lit.
of Purgatory
ENGL 300 Lit. of
Purgatory
ENGL 465
Ecocriticism
Early Drama
ENGL 465
Ecocriticism Early
Drama
413 Dante
111
Ancient/Med.
Art
12:30
3:00
413 Dante
111
Ancient/Med.
Art
411 Chaucer
411 Chaucer
460 Medieval
Latin
201 Med. Lit. and
Culture
SLAV 120
Russian/E.
Europe Folktales
ENGL 465
Ecocriticism
Early Drama
111 Ancient/Med.
Art
460 Medieval
Latin
2:00
Friday
512 Med.
Architecture (to
12:20)
411 Chaucer
1:00
Thursday
431 North. Art
1300-1500
11:00
12:00
Wednesday
431 North. Art
1300-1500
9:30
10:00
Tuesday
201 Med. Lit.
and Culture
SLAV 120
Russian/E.
Europe Folktales
SLAV 120
Russian/E.
Europe Folktales
407 Old English
407 Old English
407 Old English
245 Women &
Gender PreModern Europe
514 Ecocriticism
Early Drama (to
2:50)
245 Women &
Gender PreModern Europe
252 Viking Sagas
251 Viking
Mythology
542 World Late
Antiquity (to 2:50)
460 Medieval
Latin
ITAL 510
Medieval
Boundaries
Mediterranean
252 Viking Sagas
251 Viking
Mythology
RLST 514 Islamic
Theology (to 5:20)
ITAL 510
Medieval
Boundaries
Mediterranean
245 Women &
Gender PreModern Europe
252 Viking Sagas
251 Viking
Mythology