CLA 1200/Medieval Studies 1200
Medieval Studies 3610/History 3960
Medieval Narratives and the Modern World
Spring 2012
Tuesday/Thursday, 9:45-11:00
STSS 410
Professor Michelle Hamilton, hamilton@umn.edu, 612-625-6661
Professor Ruth Karras, rmk@umn.edu, 612-625-8578
Course Description
Some of the greatest stories in world literature—Knights of the Round Table, dragonslayers, djinn performing magic, pilgrims descending to Hell—date from the Middle
Ages, but have been retold in various forms between then and now to serve a variety of
purposes. They have formed the basis of national myths, provided excuses for defining
some people as different, strengthened religious beliefs, idealized love, and provided
excellent entertainment. In this class we will read medieval texts from Western Europe,
the Arab world and Persia, and look at some of the ways these stories have been retold in
the modern era in fiction (both adult and children’s), film, and the visual arts. We’ll
discuss what the narratives meant to the societies that created them and how they have
been interpreted differently in modern cultures. Students will do an in-class presentation
based on research into a modern work of their choice and the way it uses medieval
history and literature, and will create their own modern interpretation of a medieval text
in their choice of medium and genre.
Student Learning Outcomes
This course will help you achieve the following outcomes:
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Locate and critically evaluate literary texts and other information. Students will
analyze medieval texts from a variety of cultures. Students will do both a group
and individual presentation on selected narratives. Students will also produce a
collaborative paper based on analysis and research on the historical, social and
cultural context of a medieval narrative. They will also develop their own original
version of a medieval narrative as a final project. (See Requirements below).
Understand diverse philosophies and cultures within and across societies (reading,
class discussion, quizzes)
Communicate effectively (class discussion, presentation, writing assignments)
Understand the role of creativity, innovation, discovery, and expression across
disciplines. This is the focus of the class: it looks at a variety of different types
of medieval texts and takes both a historical and literary perspective on the way
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these stories have been retold, reconfigured and given new meaning in a variety of
modern cultures (class discussion, second writing assignment)
Instructor office hours:
Professor Karras: 1222 Heller Hall, Tuesday, 1:30-3:00 and by appointment.
Professor Hamilton: 209 Folwell Hall, Thursday 11:30-1:00
Requirements:
Failure to complete any one of the course requirements will result in a failing grade
regardless of the grade received on other components.
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Quizzes. In lieu of a midterm or final examination for this class, but there will be
periodic brief quizzes on dates both announced and unannounced. These quizzes
will assess whether you have done and understood the reading, and collectively
account for 20% of your grade.
Museum visit. The class will visit the exhibit, “Michael Mazur: The Inferno of
Dante” at Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
**Please Note: we will meet at the museum at 10:00 and stay there till 11:00. If
you are unable to attend because you have another class before or after this one,
you will need to see the exhibit some other time on your own before March 9.
The quiz on March 9 will include it.
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Class participation is required. This includes both discussion and participation
in ChimeIn. This requires you to bring to class a laptop, smartphone, or any
phone capable of text messaging. When you use these phones the ringer must be
set to silent! Your peer review of other students’ presentations and final projects
will also count as part of your class participation grade. Class participation will
account for 20 % of your grade.
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Group Presentation & Paper. In the first part of the semester students will be
assigned to groups of 2-3 people, each of which will be required to make a class
presentation of a modern work (text, film, art) that makes use of a medieval story
or themes. You will need to do research to determine in what respects it is based
on the original and in what respects the author has changed it. Group
presentations will take place between Feb. 7 and April 3. Each person
individually will also turn in a paper, either a summary (for 1xxx level) or a more
extended research report (for 3xxx level), due one week after your class
presentation. Presentations and papers will be graded on the level of their
independent research on the topic, the complexity and specificity of their thesis,
the quality of analysis, and the effectiveness of expression. Not all group
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members will necessarily receive the same grade: the instructors will take into
account confidential evaluations from each student of what each contributed to
the group. 1xxx level: presentation 20% of grade, summary 10%. 3xxx level:
presentation 15% of grade, paper 15%.
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Final Project. Your final project will be the creation of your own modern version
of a medieval story, either in writing or a visual medium. This will also be
presented to the class between April 19 and May 3 and a final written version
taking into account the class’s critiques will be due May 9. It will be graded on
quality of expression, on creativity, and on knowledge of the texts on which it is
based and the process of reinterpretation. It will account for 30% of your grade.
We recommend you pick a medium with which you are familiar: we are unable
to provide advice on filmmaking or video game design, for example, so it
probably would not be a great idea to have this assignment be your first foray into
one of those fields.
Reading:
The following books are available from the Bookstore:
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My Name is Red. Orhan Pamuk. Random House.
1001 Nights. Eds. Heller-Roazen/Mahdi/Haddawy. W.W. Norton.
Inferno. Dante. Ed. Durling. Oxford
Song of the Cid. Eds. Raffel/Menocal. Penguin.
Volsunga Saga. Ed. Byock. Penguin
Greek Alexander Romance. Ed. Stoneman; Penguin Group USA
Eric and Enide. Chretien de Troyes. Ed. Comfort.
Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court. Mark Twain. Bantam.
Other readings listed on the schedule below will be posted on the class Moodle page.
Policies:
All work is due by the beginning of class on the relevant date. Any item turned in late
(including after class) will have the grade reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade for each 24
hours it is late. If you give written to a friend to turn in and the friend doesn’t do it, your
paper is late. If you submit it electronically but it does not upload properly or the
instructor is not able to open it, it is late.
Extensions and make-up quizzes will be given only in the case of documented illness or
emergency. The length of any deadline extension is at the sole discretion of the
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instructor. Some examples of things that do not constitute emergencies include: car
trouble, computer trouble, having to work, going to a family gathering. If you are
concerned about one of these things happening, feel free to turn the work in early. An
absence for illness will be excused only if one of the instructors has been notified before
class. You may leave a voicemail or send an email at any time of the day or night. If you
suddenly become too ill to pick up the phone or ask someone else to do so, a doctor’s
note indicating an emergency situation will be required.
Behavior in class must not inconvenience or distract other students. This means: no
eating foods that have a strong aroma or make loud crunchy noises; no texting or
computer use other than what is required to participate in the class.
It is your responsibility to check the class Moodle site at least once a week (or set it to
send you updates when new information is posted). Any changes we make to the
syllabus and post on the Moodle site will be binding, so make sure you do not miss them.
This class observes all University of Minnesota and College of Liberal Arts policies,
including but not limited to the following:
Equal Access: All persons shall have equal access to U of M programs, facilities and
employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age,
marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
Sexual Harassment: University of Minnesota Board of Regents policy prohibits sexual
harassment, including unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to such conduct is
explicitly or implicitly a condition of academic advancement, used as the basis of
academic decisions, or has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
individual’s academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
academic environment.
Disability Services: Any student with a documented disability condition (e.g., physical,
learning, psychiatric, systemic, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable
accommodations should contact the instructor and Disability Services at the beginning of
the semester. It is the student’s responsibility to contact Disability Services to discuss
individual needs for accommodations and for advising about contact with faculty, and to
follow up with faculty. Disability Services 180 McNamara Center, (612) 626-1333,
ds@umn.edu, http://ds.umn.edu.
Student Academic Integrity and Scholastic Dishonesty
Academic integrity is essential to a positive teaching and learning environment. All
students enrolled in University courses are expected to complete coursework
responsibilities with fairness and honesty. Failure to do so by seeking unfair advantage
over others or misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own, can result in
disciplinary action. The University Student Conduct Code defines scholastic dishonesty
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as “plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized
collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty
permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting
alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades,
honors, awards, or professional endorsement; altering forging , or misusing a University
academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis.”
It also includes inventing or falsifying research or other findings with the intent to
deceive, submitting the same or substantially similar papers for more than one course
without consent of all instructors concerned, depriving another of necessary course
materials, and sabotaging another's work.
Plagiarism means presenting someone else's work as your own, intentionally or
unintentionally. Copying text from any source, including the Web, without putting
quotation marks around it and citing the source, or close paraphrasing without citing the
source, is plagiarism. The minimum penalty in this class for any instance of plagiarism,
intentional or unintentional, is a grade of “F” for the assignment. All academic
dishonesty will be reported to the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity,
and may incur penalties up to and including a grade of “F” or “N” in the class. If you
have questions about the expectations for a specific assignment, or are concerned about
committing plagiarism unintentionally, please ask the instructors.
Schedule of Topics and Readings:
Jan 17 Introductory
Jan 19 The Greek Alexander Romance, pp. 1-86 (Intro. and Book 1)
Jan 24 The Greek Alexander Romance, pp. 87-159 (Books 2 & 3)
Jan 26 Excerpts from Spanish Libro de Alexandre & Arabic Al-Masudi (Moodle)
Jan 31 Volsunga Saga, pp. 1-65 (Intro. and Saga to 18)
Feb 2 Volsunga Saga, pp. 65-109 (19. Regin drinks Fafnir's blood-end)
Feb 7 Thomas Mann, “The Blood of the Walsungs” (Moodle)
Group presentation
Feb 9 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Chapter 12, “Inside Information” (Moodle)
Group presentation
Feb 14 The 1001 Nights, pp. vii-xiv; 3-36 (Shahrazad and frame tale)
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Group presentation
Feb 16 The 1001 Nights, pp. 303-349 (Voyages of Sinbad)
Group presentation
Feb 21 The 1001 Nights, excerpts with City of Brass adventure (Moodle)
Group presentation
Feb 23 The 1001 Nights, pp. 356-372
Edgar Allen Poe "The One Thousand and Second Tale of Shahrazad" (Moodle)
Feb 28 Dante, Inferno, pp. 1-183 (Intro. -Canto 11)
Mar 1 Dante, Inferno, pp. 185-361 (Canto 12-24)
Mar 7 Dante, Inferno, pp. 362-549 (Canto 24-34)
Museum visit
Mar 9 No reading assignment
Mar 12-16 Spring Break
Mar 20 No reading assignment
Mar 22 Erec and Enide
Mar 27 Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court, pp. 1-159 (pp. from
old Bantam ed.)
Mar 29 Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court, pp. 160-274 (pp.
from old Bantam ed.)
April 3 Song of the Cid, pp. ix-xxix; 1-77 (Intro.; Canto I)
April 5 Song of the Cid, pp.80-155 (Canto II)
April 10 Song of the Cid, pp.157-247 (Canto III)
April 12 Nizami, “Khosrow and Shirin” (Moodle)
April 17 Ferdowsi, The Shahnameh, pp. 441-528 and 714-723 (Moodle)
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April 19 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp. ix-xxv; 11-81
Project presentations
April 24 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp. 81-183
Project presentations
April 26 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp.183-303
Project presentations
May 1 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp.303-452
Project presentations
May 3 Read drafts of student work
Project presentations
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