2013 MEDREN and CMRS Affiliate Courses:
MEDREN 2215 – Gothic Paris: 1100-1300
Description: “By the books that we have, we know the deeds of the ancients, and of centuries past. In our books we learn that Greece had the first age of chivalry. Then that chivalry and learning came to Rome, and now it has come to France.” So says the author of Lancelot, Perceval and Yvain, Chrétien de Troyes, in the 12th Century, that time when Paris became a center of learning, beauty, political power, and commerce. Meet the man behind the first Gothic cathedral, the abbot Suger, whose ideas for attracting pilgrims to the church favored spaces full of light, dazzling color, and miraculous relics. Meet Abelard, the great teacher who first shocked the Parisian university world with his philosophy, then with his secret marriage to his gifted female student, Heloise. Read tales of Courtly Love, King Arthur’s justice, and wayward students. An introduction to the arts, architecture, poetry, history, music, theology, foods, fabrics, and urban geography of the years 1100–1300.
Course Number: 23015
Time: WeFr 11:10AM - 12:30PM
Room: University Hall 0056
Instructor: Kristen M. Figg
MEDREN 2514 - Golden Age of Islamic Civilization
Description: What do we mean by “The Golden Age of Islamic Civilization”? How did it start, when and why did it end, and who participated in it? What does Baghdad have to do with it? What do algebra and algorithm, alcove and alchemy have in common? How foreign will we be in the world of 1001 Nights? And what does this all have to do with our contemporary civilization? Come share the world of medieval Islamic civilization, in both its courtly and popular dimensions, and get a glimpse of part of our human heritage.
Course Number: 28863
Time: TuTh 3:55PM - 5:15PM
Room: Cunz Hall 0160
Instructor: Parvaneh Pourshariati
MEDREN 2666 - Magic and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Description: In this interdisciplinary course, students will explore the history and culture of witchcraft and magic from ca. 400 to 1700 C.E. within sociological, religious, and intellectual contexts. By the end of the course, students will have a better understanding of the practice, persecution, and social construct of magic and witchcraft in the medieval and early modern periods and its far-reaching impact on society.
Course Number: 28582
Time: TuTh 12:45PM - 2:05PM
Room: Macquigg Lab 0264
Instructor: Richard Firth Green
MEDREN 4504 - The Arthurian Legends
Description: This course will explore the rich tradition of Arthuriana that flourished in the Middle Ages and continues to thrive in modern popular culture. After sampling some of the earliest legends about King Arthur in British histories and saints' lives, we will focus on three major works/authors: the fabulous tales of knights errant by Chrétien de Troyes, known as the “father of Arthurian romance”; Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, a haunting, often bewildering, story of sin and self-discovery centered on the quest for the holy grail; and Malory's epic Morte Darthur, which, more than any single text, has shaped modern conceptions of Arthur. Requirements include 3 exams and an optional extra-credit paper.
Course Number: 28954
Time: WeFr 12:45PM - 2:05PM
Room: Ramseyer Hall 0009
Instructor: Ethan Edwin Hugh Knapp
MEDREN 5611 - History of the Book Studies
Description: This course will be devoted to thinking about books as material objects from the advent of the codex in late antiquity, through the invention of print in the 1460s, up to the rise of mechanical printing and papermaking in the early nineteenth century. You’ll learn how books are made, probably try your hand at setting type and printing, and think about what we can learn about authorship, reading, and literary history if we adopt a book’s eye view and follow its movements, rather than those of the people supposedly in charge of it. We’ll regularly explore the holdings of our rare book library—with lots of hands-on activities—and otherwise try to make this course a very tactile (and olfactory) experience. We judge books by their covers all the time; here’s a chance to learn how to do it with more authority.
Course Number: 28778 (undergraduate) and 28779 (graduate)
Time: TuTh 11:10AM - 12:30PM
Room: Central Classrooms 0202
Instructor: David A Brewer