Ohio State is in the process of revising websites and program materials to accurately reflect compliance with the law. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status or other activities prohibited by Ohio Senate Bill 1 may still appear in some places. However, all programs and activities are being administered in compliance with federal and state law.

Autumn 2025

Autumn 2025 CMRS MEDREN Courses

 

A Drawing of witches and demons on brooms

MedRen 2666 - Magic & Witchcraft

Instructor: Johnston, Sarah Iles, MWF 10:20 – 11:15 AM, Room: 1080 Derby, Class Number: 27031

Investigate the history of magic and witchcraft from late antiquity through the 18th century, when the Enlightenment supposedly disenchanted the world. Explore how people thought about magic and what it could (and couldn’t) do, how people regarded "magic casters," and how magic relates to religion and science. 

GE (New) Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies course GE (Legacy) Culture and Ideas and Diversity: Global Studies course

MedRen 3211 - Medieval Kyoto

A modern and historic l photo of Kyoto, Japan

Instructor: Fukumori, Naomi, TR 3:55 PM - 5:15 PM, 131 Mendenhall, Class Number: 35895 

Kyoto was the capital of Japan from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries. Today it continues to be the site of many temples, shrines, gardens, and other cultural monuments that attest to Kyoto’s enduring cultural practices and values.

This course specifically focuses on the city’s medieval period, from its founding in 794 to the late 16th century. This was a period in which Kyoto’s cultural identity emerged, and, in view of Kyoto as the site of national authority during this duration, the broader Japanese cultural identity. Studying this timespan in the life of Kyoto lets us follow transformations in the lived environments of the city as it moves from imperial to shōgun military rule. By examining literary and other works of art, we’ll also address similar cultural transformations involving aristocrats, warriors, Buddhist institutions, and merchants. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on practices of urban historical preservation through the contemporary efforts of Kyoto’s citizens to preserve the heritage of the city.

(New) Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies

(Legacy) Cultures and Ideas; Diversity: Global Studies

Textbooks:

  • Clancy, Judith. Kyoto City of Zen: Visiting the Heritage Sites of Japan’s Ancient Capital. Tokyo and Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle, 2012. ISBN: 978-4805309780 or 4805309784.
  • Dougill, John. Kyoto: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-19-530138-0.
  • Stavros, Matthew. Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-8248-3879-9 or 871219699. 

Additional required materials will be uploaded to MEDREN 3211’s Carmen page each week.

 

MedRen 4504 - Arthurian Legends

Man hunting deer with dog

Instructor: Knapp, Ethan, Edwin Hugh, TR 3:55 PM - 5:15 PM, 206 Denney Hall, Class Number: 28167 

This course will examine a remarkably influential and long-lived set of narratives, the romance of King Arthur and his court.  Known to medieval authors as “the matter of Britain,” these stories have been used to examine a staggering variety of cultural themes and historical periods.  In this course we will read four of the most important medieval settings of this material (the pseudo-historical account by Geoffrey of Monmouth; the verse romances of Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France; and, lastly, Thomas Malory’s prose romance).

 

MedRen 5611 - History of the Book (Combined Section Course) 

An AI generated Image of a knight made out of books

Instructor: Brewer, David A, TR 2:20 PM - 3:40 PM, Main Library 150B, Class number: 35726 

This course will investigate books and their uses (not all of which involved reading) from the invention of moveable type in the 1450s to the advent of steam-powered printing and paper manufacture in the 1810s (roughly 1450 to 1820). We’ll range widely in terms of genre, language, and price point and pay close attention to books both as material objects and as bearers of text. The course will be entirely embedded in the collections of OSU’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (RBML), which means that you’ll have the chance to examine and work with hundreds of books over the course of the semester, ranging from ephemera to now monumental (and very expensive) first editions of canonical literature, science, and scripture. At the close of the semester, the class will collectively curate a public exhibition of material from the RBML, giving you the opportunity to engage in a more public-facing form of the humanities than most classes provide.

Textbook:

  • Werner, Sarah. Studying Early Printed Books, 1450-1800: A Practical Guide. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-119-04995-1


 

Medren 7899 - Med/Ren Colloquia 

Instructor: Highley, Christopher Frank, F 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM, Room: TBD (Varies - please consult the CMRS Events page for additional info), Course Number: 18525 

MEDREN 7899 will consist of 1 credit hour per semester for attending CMRS lectures, faculty colloquia and subsequent discussions. This will amount to: 4 1-hour+ lectures by visiting professors and at least 1 internal lecture and subsequent discussion (total 3 hours per event); at least one lunch with visiting faculty member (2 hours); active involvement with the Medieval and Renaissance Graduate Student Association and its activities; and meetings with the Center director (one hour once per term). With permission of the Director other professional activities (such as attendance at appropriate conferences, on- or off-campus) may be substituted.

Prereq: Grad standing. Repeatable to a maximum of 3 cr hrs. This course is graded S/U.