All courses are taught in English unless otherwise specified.
Prof. Samuel Barber, Mount Holyoke College
Art History 290MV: Art, Nature, and Ecology in the Medieval World. TuTh 3:15-4:30
From gardens of paradise to wild forests, silent deserts to raging seas, the natural world was a potent source of meaning and metaphor in the Middle Ages. This course examines human engagements with nature in art, architecture, and literature to reveal how medieval people were shaped by-and also shaped-the landscapes around them. Adopting a thematic and comparative approach, we will explore the intersections between medieval science, society, and religion. How did medieval people conceptualize the world around them? How did the landscape itself express power — secular, sacred, and supernatural? To what extent do medieval ideas of landscape continue to shape our lives today?
Prof. Samuel Barber, Mount Holyoke College
Art History 307: Romanesque and Gothic Art: TuTh 1:00-2:15
Designed as an introduction for undergraduate and graduate students, the aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive survey of the most important monuments of high and late medieval art and architecture from the 11th through the 15th centuries. We will also examine objects and images that are less often included in surveys, such as medieval jewelry and illustrated treatises on death. In addition, readings from sources contemporary with the objects observed in lecture will add a more textured historical background to our observations. Art and architecture will be observed not simply as reflections of dominant ideas and ideologies, but also as instrumental in formulating those ideas and ideologies.
Prof. Sonja Drimmer, UMass
Art History 308: The Art of the Medieval Book. MW 2:30-3:45
The history of the illustrated book from early Christian period through the High Middle Ages. Problems in materials and technique; stylistic and iconographic questions.
Prof. Joseph Wilson, UMass
Classics 380: The Ancient City. TuTh 1:00-2:15
This course explores the development and variety of ancient urban life in the Western world from its earliest formations in the Neolithic to the Medieval town.
Prof. Jason Moralee, UMass
Latin 591A: Medieval Latin. TuTh 1:00-2:15
A survey of the many styles and genres comprising Medieval Latin with attention paid to developments in syntax and morphology.
Prof. Jessica Barr, UMass
Comp Lit 340: Mystical Literature. TuTh 1:00-2:15
“Mystical experience” usually refers to a personal encounter with God or a transcendent power, a deep communion with spirits outside of ourselves — with that which lies beyond. But how can you write about an experience that defies language? In this course, we will analyze the ways in which mystics have tried to capture such seemingly inexpressible, non-verbal experiences. Readings will draw from the mystical traditions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Gen. Ed. AL, DG; 4 credits; no prerequisites.
Prof. Eglal Doss-Quinby, Smith College
French 320: Women Defamed, Women Defended. TuTh 9:25-10:40
The voices of medieval women juxtaposed with the voices of men seeking to defame them (the antifeminist tradition). How did women writers of the Middle Ages engage with the conventions and rhetoric of misogyny? To what extent did they question the traditional gender roles of their society? How did they represent female characters in their works, and what do their statements about authorship reveal about their understanding of themselves as champions of women? Readings include the love letters of Héloïse, the lais and fables of Marie de France, the songs of the trobairitz and women trouvères, and the writings of Christine de Pizan, alongside excerpts from the major antifeminist tracts of the Middle Ages.
Prof. Robert Sullivan, UMass
German 341: Early German Culture. TuTh 10:00-11:15
A broad survey of medieval German social and cultural history, music, art, architecture and literature, including the Nibelungenlied and Hildegard von Bingen. Conducted in English.
Prof. Craig Davis, Smith College
First-Year Seminar 168: Damaged Gods: Myth and Religion of the Vikings. TuTh 9:25-10:40
A reading of poems and sagas about the Old Norse gods and their cults during the Viking Age (ca. 800-1100 CE) as these were preserved in Icelandic manuscripts of the 13th century, but also in early Arabic, Latin, Old High German and Old English sources and runic inscriptions. We will explore the dark theory of history and desperate religion of the Vikings from the creation of the world from the corpse of a primeval hermaphrodite to the soon-to-come end of time at Ragnarök 'Doom of the Gods'. The cult of the Æsir dramatized disability, difficulty and sacrifice, for even the gods to whom we look for help in this world have much bigger problems of their own, including dire mutilations and other handicaps. They will one day die. They are not our benefactors but our role models, struggling to hold their own in a crowded universe of cliff-trolls and frost-giants, fire-demons and witches, dark elves, dwarfs, valkyries, berserks, wolf-skins and other shape-shifters, as well as various types of human being. First-years only. Enrollment limited to 16. Crosslists: ENG, MED, WLT.
Prof. Craig Davis, Smith College
World Literatures 177: Epic Worlds. MW 9:25-12:05
A comparison of the first literary works to emerge from oral story-telling traditions among several ancient, medieval, and modern peoples to explore their highest ideals and sense of collective identity, how they came to be who they are: the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh, the Greek Odyssey, the ancient Indian Mahabharata, the Old Irish Cattle-Raid of Cooley, the Medieval Welsh Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the Finnish Kalevala and the Nyanja (Congolese) Mwindo, among others texts. The course explores these epics as the very site of cultural formation and dire moral contest, and especially seeks to understand the world view, conflicting values, and trajectory of human history through time as these are revealed in the life-struggles of vividly imagined heroes and heroines. Enrollment limited to 20. Crosslists: ENG, MED
Prof. Joshua Birk, Smith College
History 226: Renaissance and Reformation? Europe in the Late Middle Ages: Society, Culture and Politics. M 1:40-2:55, W 1:20-2:35
Did radical societal shifts really take place in Europe between 1300 and 1600, as the terms “Renaissance” and “Reformation” imply? Students will use this question to frame their learning in this survey course, studying the period that saw the aftermath of the Black Death, the fragmentation of Christianity, the growing power of monarchs, the advent of the printing press, and the beginnings of the age of European Imperialism. Students will examine and discuss humanism, witch hunts, popular piety and heresy, the advent of the Italian city-state, and the intersection of politics and science. Enrollment limited to 40.
Prof. Joshua Birk, Smith College
History 291: Reacting to the Middle Ages. M 1:40-2:55, W 1:20-2:35
This course uses an active learning pedagogy of role-playing games to teach about the society, culture, and politics of the medieval world. Students are assigned character roles with specific goals and must communicate, collaborate, and compete effectively to advance their objectives. Class sessions are run by students, students adhere to the philosophical and intellectual beliefs of these roles they must devise their own means of expressing those ideas persuasively in papers, speeches, or other public presentations to try to win the game. No previous experience with Reacting to the Past or knowledge of the medieval world is required. Enrollment limited to 30.
Prof. Anna Taylor, UMass
History 302: Early Middle Ages 300-1100. TuTh 1:00-2:15
European history from the 3rd to 11th century. Disintegration of Roman Empire, Germanic invasions, rise of Christianity, origin and expansion of Islam, age of Charlemagne, Vikings, feudalism and manorialism.
Prof. Michael Papio, UMass
Italian 507. Dante and the Duecento. TuTh 1:00-2:15
In this course, students will become familiar with the major currents of thirteenth-century Italian poetry and will explore Dante’s Divine Comedy as an encyclopedic compendium of medieval thought as well as a very personal vision of the individual’s place in the universe, a journey that is as meaningful now as it was 700 years ago.
Prof. Albert Lloret, UMass
Spanish 320. Literary Currents. Spain I. MWF 12:20-1:10
This course offers an introduction to the literature of the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval and early modern periods, roughly 1000-1700. We will read a selection of texts (short stories, romances, drama, epic and lyric poetry), and will discuss them in relation to the context in which they were produced (in terms of aesthetic trends, thought, audience, related historical events, and other socio-historical conditions—including issues of gender, race, and religion). (Gen. Ed. AL) Taught in Spanish.