Medieval Studies
List of Pre-Approved Courses
for Fall 2026
Anthropology
Prof. Brigitte Holt, UMass
Anthropology 320: Skeleton Keys: Research Methods. W 8:00-10:45
This course offers a “hands on” introduction to the human skeleton as a means to reconstruct the lifeways of past populations. We will learn how to reconstruct the biological profile (e.g., age, sex, health), and various aspects of behavior (e.g., diet, physical activity). Students will work in teams of 2-3 with the skeletal remains from the Italian Medieval site of San Paragorio (11th-16th centuries AD).
Architecture
Prof. Whitney Kite, Mount Holyoke College
ARTH 290-RC Medieval Architecture. M/W 10:30-11:45am
This course presents a survey of architectural monuments from the Medieval Mediterranean world, broadly construed. Beginning with the Late Antique basis of architectural typologies and ending with the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453, we will move through the sacred and secular monuments of Anatolia, Eastern and Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Northern Africa, and the Levant. While the majority of monuments discussed will be from Christian populations, we will also cover contemporary developments in Islamic and Jewish architecture, as well as cross-currents between building traditions.
Art History
Prof. Monika Schmitter, UMass
Art History 100: Survey: Ancient-Medieval Art. MW 11:15-12:05 (plus disc. section)
First half of a survey of art history from prehistoric times to the 20th century. Chronological and systematic approach; either a basis for more detailed study of individual periods in upper-level art history courses, or a solid general foundation for a heightened appreciation of the heritage of art. More professionally oriented than ART-HIST 115. Background for upper-level art history courses; required of majors. (Gen. Ed. AT, DG.) Honors section available.
Staff, UMass
Art History 305: Early Medieval Art. MW 2:30-4:45
Designed as an introduction for undergraduate and graduate students, the aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive survey of early medieval art and architecture from the third trough the tenth centuries. This course recognizes the religious, political, and socioeconomic contexts in which medieval art and architecture were produced, and although the material is organized chronologically, lectures will emphasize key themes, including: the origins of Christian images, the changing depictions of Christ, the contested place of images in religious worship, the relationship between text and image, the role of patrons and politics, the liturgical function of the object, and the art of imperial propaganda.
English
Prof. Stephen Harris, UMass
English 201: Early British Literature and Culture. MWF 10:10-11:00
The growth of English literature from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century, with emphasis on major writers in historical context, major works as responses to the social and political situations and revisions of earlier literary visions. This course is open to English majors and students studying at the University on international or domestic exchange.
Prof. Wesley Yu, Mount Holyoke College
English 213: The Literature of the Later Middle Ages. MW 12:00-1:15 pm
This course will examine a variety of English works and genres written in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries. Our concentration will be principally on the Gawain-poet, Chaucer, Langland, Margery Kempe, and Lydgate. Most of our readings are in Middle English.
Prof. Wesley Yu, Mount Holyoke College
English 258/Religion 231: Biblical Literatures. MW 1:45-3:00pm
A foundational source for religious doctrine and commentary, the Bible has also made an enduring impact on literary writing. This course provides an opportunity to study selections from the Bible largely pertaining to Western Christianity, and engage with later narratives that came to use the Christian Bible as a source. Theoretical and critical approaches will help guide the study of the biblical text in relation to its genres, styles, contexts, and its history of compilation. From there we’ll engage with various English and American works inspired by Christian scriptural traditions, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary moment.
Prof. Ingrid Nelson, Amherst College
ENGL 441/ EUST 374: Medieval and Renaissance Lyric. W 1:05-3:45 pm
In this course, we read a selection of English and other European lyrics (in translation) from the twelfth through the seventeenth centuries. An exciting, fertile era in poetic innovation, these centuries see the dawn of the first romantic love poetry in these languages, the invention of new forms like the sonnet, and the invention of the lyric “anthology.” Reading the lyrics of the French troubadour poets, Chaucer, Petrarch, Wyatt, Donne, Shakespeare, and the many brilliant anonymous poets of medieval England, we will examine both the text and contexts of these short poems. Close readings will be put in dialogue with cultural contexts (such as the volatile court of Henry VIII, in which Thomas Wyatt wrote), and the material contexts of the lyrics (the medieval and early modern manuscripts and books in which they first appeared.) We will further think about how the term “lyric” emerges as a privileged poetic category, by reading contemporary “defenses” of poetry and thinking about why the word “lyric” only appears in the sixteenth century. Does the “lyric” poem change once it is defined? How do later works speak to the earlier tradition?
European Studies
Prof. Paul Rockwell, Amherst College
EUST 214 Fall/FREN 214 Fall: The Grail, The Rose and Dante. TTh 10:05-11:20
We will study the social, philosophical, poetic, and institutional currents that contribute to the emergence of allegorical texts in the period between the twelfth and the late-fourteenth centuries. Readings include works by Chrétien de Troyes, Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meung, Dante Alighieri, and Marie de France. All readings will be done in English translation. Conducted in English.
History
Prof. Stacey Murrell, Amherst College
History 118: Get Medieval I: The ‘Dark Ages’ TuTh 1:05-2:20
This course surveys the so-called “Dark Ages,” the name given to the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the end of the first millennium (c. 400-1000 CE). Often seen as a time of cultural and political decline, or even the “end of civilization,” this period was characterized by lively experimentation that created the social and political frameworks of the Mediterranean basin and Europe. From the courts of Byzantium and the nascent kingdoms of western Europe to the cultural and intellectual hubs of al-Andalus and the Islamic east, students will encounter all manner of historical actors: prostitutes and concubines who became rulers, ascetics who sought a life of discipline, believers whose faith brought them to new lands, kings who became more myth than memory, and many others. The course will also introduce students to the Viking incursions, the first medieval renaissance, and the worlds reflected in epic tales like Beowulf. Along the way, students will acquire crucial historical skills: learning the basics of source criticism, assessing change and continuity over time, and engaging with interdisciplinary scholarship.
Prof. Joshua Birk, Smith College
History 125L: Making of the Medieval World MWF 10:50-12:05
This survey course examines Europe, the Mediterranean world, from the late 10th century to the 14th, considered the height of the medieval world. Students study the interactions between peoples and societies in the medieval world - from the emergence of new conceptions of sovereignty, popular religion and the Crusades, the university, and Arthurian literature, to the restructuring of society in the calamitous century of the Mortalitas Magna. Students engage in discussions about the notions of conquest and reconquest, race, law and justice, medieval love and chivalry, and the intersection of political and religious authority.
Prof. Brian Ogilvie, UMass
History 180: The History of Science and Technology in the Western World, part I. MW 10:10-11:00 (plus disc. section)
History 180 explores the Greek fascination with modeling the cosmos and with the nature of formal scientific explanation; the assimilation and refinement of ancient Greek science in the Islamic world; the role of Scholasticism and the medieval university in the institutionalization of scientific thought; and the creation of a new quantitative framework of experience by Renaissance explorers, engineers, artisans, mathematicians, and natural philosophers.
Prof. Anna Taylor, UMass
History 303: The Later Middle Ages 1100-1350
We will examine the cultural, religious and political history of the High and Later Middle Ages, focusing on themes such as the relationship of sacred and secular power, the interaction of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, religious movements, heresies, and persecution. We will read a variety of primary sources including accounts of the crusades from eastern and western perspectives, and the letters of Abelard and Heloise. Assessment will include quizzes, a midterm and research papers.
Prof. Stacey Murrell, Amherst College
History 409: Yas Queen: Female Rulership in the Premodern World. M 1:05-3:50
Although men largely dominated the public sphere in the premodern world, women left their mark in a number of ways, including occupying positions of power and authority around the globe. Throughout the course, we will address different aspects of women’s power, as well as consider how factors such as religion, age, marital status, and even geographic region interacted with gender to shape the lived experiences of women who ruled. We will chart a course that traverses the divide between medieval and early modern, focusing also on how premodern realities contrast with (or resemble) their modern depictions. This research seminar will consider how gender roles and the supposed inferiority of women to men was constructed, as well as introduce students to the prevailing methodologies (and their limitations) for analyses of premodern gender and power. Using this foundation, we will examine several case studies that illuminate how women that were queens negotiated the limitations placed upon them to attain prominence and renown – or even notoriety – in the political and cultural spheres of a patriarchal world. Students will hone some of the key skills of the professional historian: reading and assessing scholarship critically but constructively and conducting research using primary sources to sustain an original argument. Attendance on first day required.
Italian
Prof. Michael Papio, UMass
Italian 466: The Three Crowns. TuTh 1:00-2:15
In this course, students will gain a general familiarity with the three most influential and perennially important writers of Italian literature: Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. We shall trace some of their principal concerns against the backdrop of their contemporary society and witness the transformation of a variety of subjects, from theology to history, from poetry to popular culture. Particular emphasis will be placed on the ways in which Petrarca and Boccaccio thought of themselves as continuators or innovators with respect to the Dantean tradition. Course taught in Italian.
Spanish
Prof. Albert Lloret, UMass
Spanish 320: The Literatures, Communities, and Societies of Medieval and Early Modern Iberia. MWF 12:20-1:10 PM
Introduction to the literatures of the Iberian Peninsula from the medieval to early modern periods (11th to 17th centuries). Students will read and discuss a variety of texts in relation to the contexts in which they were written, considering aspects such as audience, ideology, poetics, and related historical events. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with a range of works and authors representative of the languages, communities, and societies of the premodern Iberian Peninsula and will be able to discuss these texts in Spanish. Course taught in Spanish. (Gen. Ed. AL)