Program in Medieval Studies

Courses

Explore courses on Medieval topics regularly offered in various departments.

To find out which of these courses are offered this year please consult Current Year Courses. Students interested in the 2000-level courses listed here must obtain the instructor's permission before enrolling. Other courses may count for concentration credit upon consultation with the Program Director.

  • Medieval Bodies: Medieval Perspectives (MDVL 0360)

Hannah Joyce's creative project ("Plague Doctor's Mask") that she did for Jim McIlwain's module on "Baneful Visitors: Plague and Leprosy". April 22, 2020 Medieval Studies 0360 Spring 2020.
Hannah Joyce's creative project ("Plague Doctor's Mask") that she did for Jim McIlwain's module on "Baneful Visitors: Plague and Leprosy". April 22, 2020 Medieval Studies 0360 Spring 2020.
In this course we will explore bodies from a wide range of disciplines in medieval studies. The body has been always an object of imagination, literature, science, philosophy and religion, it is the vehicle of both the divine and the profane, and it is at the center of debates on sexuality, gender identities, race, and politics. In this course, we look at how different views on the body and on sexuality developed and changed throughout the medieval period and how they influenced and were influenced by the religious doctrines, the medical theories, and the intellectual environment of different groups of people. Finally, we will explore bodies both physical and metaphorical.

  • Art in Antiquity: An Introduction (ARCH 0030)
  • The World of Byzantium (CLAS 0660)
  • History of Medieval India (CLAS 0950A)
  • The Idea of Self  (CLAS 1120G)
  • Erotic Desire in the Premodern Mediterranean (CLAS 1750L)
  • Greek Erotic Literature: From Plato to the Medieval Romances (GREK 1110)
  • Greek Palaeography and Premodern Book Cultures (GREK 2110)
  • Literature at the Court of Charlemagne (LATN 1110H)
  • The World of Lyric Poetry (COLT 0510C)
  • The 1001 Nights (COLT 0510K)
  • Before Wikipedia (COLT 0610Q)
  • Tales and Talemakers of the Non-Western World (COLT 0810I)
  • The Classical Arabic Literary Tradition (COLT 1310A)
  • A Classical Islamic Education (COLT 1310E)
  • What Went Wrong? Narratives of Decline in Arabic Literature (COLT 1813A)
  • A Mirror for the Romantic: The Tale of Genji and The Story of the Stone (COLT 1420B)
  • Word and Image: Ekphrasis (COLT 1421Q)
  • Critical Approaches to Chinese Poetry (COLT 1430D)    
  • Introduction to Coptic (EGYT 2210)
  • The Medieval King Arthur (ENGL 0150C)
  • Matters of Romance (ENGL 0230)
  • Chaucer  (ENGL 1310T)
  • Structure and History of the English Language (ENGL 1311E )
  • Introduction to the Old English Language (ENGL 1360H)
  • Europe in the Vernacular (ENGL 1360U)
  • Medieval Manuscript Studies: Paleography, Codicology, and Interpretation (ENGL 1900Y)
  • History of the Spanish Language (HISP 1210C)
  • Arthurian and Carolingian Romances of Medieval Iberia (HISP 2030A)
  • History and Fiction: Literature of the 15th Century (HISP 2030B)
  • Medieval Masterpieces (HISP 2030C)
  • Fifteenth-Century Sentimental Romances and Celestina (HISP 2030D)
  • Medieval Spanish Epic (HISP 2030E)
  • Mester de clerecia (HISP2030G)
  • Books of Love (HISP2030I/ENGL2361C)
  • Middle East Beginnings: Pre-Islamic Arabia to Ottoman Europe (HIST 0240)
  • Christianity in Conflict in the Medieval Mediterranean (HIST 0521A)
  • The Long Fall of the Roman Empire (HIST 1205)
  • Crusaders and Cathedrals, Deviants and Dominance: Europe in the High Middle Ages (HIST 1211)
  • Living Together: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Iberia (HIST 1260D)
  • Unearthing the Body: History, Archaeology, and Biology at the End of Antiquity (HIST 1835A)
  • Barbarians, Byzantines, and Berbers: Early Medieval North Africa, AD 300-1050 (HIST 1963L)
  • Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages (HIST 1963M)
  • Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective (HIST 1963Q)
  • The Ottomans: Faith, Law, Empire (HIST 1968K)
  • Introduction to Medieval Art and Architecture (HIAA 0140)
  • Toward a Global Late Antiquity: 200-800 CE (HIAA  0321)
  • Islamic Art and Architecture (HIAA 0410)
  • Cathedrals and Castles (HIAA 0420)     
  • The Visual Culture of Medieval Women (HIAA 0430)
  • Muslims, Jews and Christians in Medieval Iberia (HIAA 0460)
  • Medieval Archaeology (HIAA 1460)
  • Topics in Medieval Art and Architecture (HIAA 1440)
    • The Medieval Monastery
    • The Gothic Cathedral
    • The Body in Medieval Art
  • Dante in English Translation:  Dante's World and the Invention of Modernity (ITAL 1010)
  • Boccacio’s Decameron in English Translation (ITAL 1020)
  • Boccacio’s Decameron (ITAL 1020)
  • Literature in the Middle Ages from St. Francis to Savonarola (ITAL 1310)
  • The Divina Commedia (ITAL 1610, 1620)
  • Studies in the Duecento and Trecento  (ITAL 2130)
  • Difficult Relations? Judaism and Christianity from the Middle Ages until the Present (JUDS 0050M)
  • Great Jewish Books (JUDS 0681)
  • Medievalism to Modernity: The History of Jews in Early Modern Europe (JUDS 0620)
  • Medieval and Renaissance Music (MUSC 0910)
  • Islam  (RELS 0150)
  • Introduction to Christianity (RELS 0200)
  • Dying to Be with God: Jihad Past and Present (RELS 0640 )
  • Christianity in Late Antiquity (RELS 0720)
  • Eastern Christianity (RELS 0750)
  • Women and Christianity in the Ancient World (RELS 0880)
  • Studies in Early Christianity (RELS 1170)
  • Methods and Problems in Islamic Studies (RELS 1530)
  • Monks, Mystics and Martyrs: Abrahamic Traditions Compared (RELS 1540)
  • Poverty and Wealth in the Early Christian World (RELS 1880)
  • Ritual in Earliest Christianity (RELS 1880)
  • Independent Study (RELS 1910)
  • Topics in Early Christianity (Medieval topics) (RELS 1950)
  • Performance Theory and World Theatre History: Paleolithic to Medieval (TAPS 1230)