Courses

Spring 2014

ENL 4311 – MEM 4931: Chaucer

Richard Allen Shoaf

ENL 4311 Spring 2014 “Chaucer” will cover all of TROILUS AND CRISEYDE, some of the shorter poems, and about half of the CANTERBURY TALES. Two examinations and one essay will be required, in addition to quizzes that monitor the reading, some of which will be in Middle English. There is no final examination.

EUH 3383: Pagans, Christians, Barbarians: The World of Late Antiquity

Andrea Sterk

  Between classical and medieval, pagan and Christian, Roman and barbarian, the late antique world was a civilization in transition.  This course will focus on the Mediterranean region from the end of the second to the beginning of the seventh century.  We will examine political, cultural, religious and socio-economic transitions that characterized this period looking at elements of continuity as well as change.  We will consider the significance of such factors as the conversion of Constantine, the rise of Constantinople, Christian responses to culture, the monastic movement, the persistence of paganism, the fall of Rom e, barbarian invasions, Christianization, and developments in philosophy, theology and education.

Richard Allen Shoaf

LIT 4930 Spring 2014 “Dante for English Majors” will cover the VITA NUOVA, DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA, the “rime petrose” (“stony rimes” to the “stony Lady”), and all three canticles of the COMMEDIA. Three papers are required, one on each canticle of the COMMEDIA. Students will be expected to involve at least one major British poet influenced by Dante in at least one of the three essays: Chaucer, Milton, Shelley, Eliot, Heaney, e.g. There is no final examination.

William Calin  (LLC)

The tradition of sacred literature is crucial to our understanding the history of Western culture yet it is often neglected in contemporary literary studies. This course will scrutinize Christian-oriented books and the writer; the meeting of and tension between the sacred and the secular; how a Christian vision shapes feudal epic, Arthurian romance, and classical tragedy and comedy. Readings in English. Conducted in English.

Yumiko Hulvey

The main objective of the course is to introduce prose masterpieces of the classical Japanese literary canon from the Heian (794-1185), Kamakura (1185-1333), Muromachi (1336-1573), Azuchi-Momoyama (1573-1600), and Edo (1600-1867) periods. Study of literary genres, fictional and non-fictional categories, and gendered differences form the core of reading materials. Supplemental readings in literary criticism and literary history provide the framework for analyzing the classical Japanese canon and function as models for academic writing of student-authored essays.
This is a NOT a Gordon Rule class, but fulfills the Humanities (H) and International (N) general education distribution requirements.

Yumiko Hulvey

The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of Japanese literature, written by a woman known as Murasaki Shikibu. In many ways, the Genji represents the essence of an aristocratic culture that is unfamiliar to Japanese and non-Japanese who consider the past in Japan equivalent to the Tokugawa or Edo period (1600-1867). Heian-period (794-1185) Kyoto was inhabited by a small aristocratic class exemplified by an elegant, sensitive male as the idealized hero of this masterpiece and era. Primary objectives are first to read the precursor to The Tale of Genji, the poetic memoir (nikki), The Gossamer Diary written by Michitsuna’s mother, who influenced the author of The Tale of Genji; next we read the masterpiece, the Genji, that influenced subsequent generations of fiction monogatari), drama, and the like; and finally we read the 20th century novel, Masks by Enchi Fumiko, based entirely on The Tale of Genji for its inspiration. Secondary objectives are to focus on genre development: nikki, monogatari (tales), uta (poetry) and sub-categories of consideration such as fictional vs. factual, public vs. private, formal vs. informal, and so on. We will foster meaningful cross-cultural communication skills by focusing on class and gender distinctions prevalent in classical Japanese culture. Knowledge about the origin of Japanese tradition and culture in the classical period is the necessary foundation for a proper interpretation of modern and postmodern Japan. This class fulfills the Humanities (H) and International (N) requirements, but it does not meet Gordon Rule.

Judy Shoaf

Starting with Geoffrey Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain around 1138, stories of King Arthur became immensely popular all through Western Europe. Almost as quickly, skeptical historians were shaking their heads, declaring that there never had been an Arthur or at least that not everything written about Arthur was true. Arthur is still today the "once and future king" around whom form political ideals and satires, historical propositions and archaeological efforts, and entertaining tales in all media.

In this course we will focus primarily on the medieval Arthur, with opportunities to consider later versions. We begin with some of the British/Welsh sources Geoffrey used to create his King Arthur, but most of our time will be devoted to reading medieval stories about Arthur written in England and France, including excerpts from Geoffrey's History, a romance of Chretien de Troyes, the English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, portions of the French Lancelot-Graal and of Malory's Morte d'Arthur, and a bit of Tennyson. Student projects will help fill in the artistic and imaginative efforts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will be expected to keep up with the reading and do some writing in addition to the final project.

Will Hasty

This course enables understanding of a new kind of European culture taking shape in palaces and cities, the outlines of which were already visible in medieval castles and cloisters.  The new operant principle in cultural processes is the primacy of individuality and the individual, and the more or less implicit assumption that individual things or cultural domains – such as politics, theology, poetry, economics, etc. – have to be understood first and foremost as functioning according to intrinsic principles. Students discover that it is in residential palaces and cities that the principle of individuality is cultivated as nowhere else and to such a degree, that the early modern world – after numerous indispensable technological enhancements – eventually becomes the modern one in which we live today. 

Note: This page lists courses cross-listed with Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Itis not a comprehensive list of UF courses being offered that may satisfy the requirements of the IDS major and minor in Medieval and Early Modern Studies.  For further information, contact Professor Will Hasty (hasty@ufl.edu).

MEMS and  departmental courses relevant to the MEMS minor and IDS major:

• Fall 2013
• Spring 2013
• Summer and Fall 2012
• Spring 2012
• Summer/Fall 2011
• Fall 2011 Courses
• Spring 2010 courses
• Spring 2008 courses
  
• Fall 2007 Courses
  
• Summer 2007 Courses + Study Abroad
  
• Spring 2007 Courses
  
• Fall 2006 Courses
• Summer 2006 (study abroad)
• Spring 2006 Courses
• Fall 2005 Courses
• Spring 2005 Courses
• Fall 2004 Courses
• Summer 2004 Courses
• Spring 2004 Courses

Courses will be added as the Faculty advises us of their  teaching schedules. Consult the Faculty home pages or departmental pages for further information.

MEMS Course Listings

The courses listed below are courses that have been taught at UF in the past, and may be taught again, which are likely to be of interest to MEMS students. This overview is intended to help students plan their studies; if a particular course seems overwhelmingly attractive and is not currently offered, please contact the department for information on it.

African and Asian Languages and Literatures
ABT 3130: Arabic Literary Heritage I
CHT 3123: Pre-Modern Chinese Fiction in Translation
JPT 3100: Japanese Literary Heritage
JPT 3130 Japanese Women Writers: The Classical Period
JPT 3300 Samurai War Tales

Art History
ARH 4200: Early Medieval and Byzantine Art and Architecture
ARH 4251: Romanesque and Gothic Art
ARH 4304: Italian Renaissance Architecture
ARH 4310: Early Renaissance Art in Italy
ARH 4312: Late Renaissance Art in Italy
ARH 4331: Renaissance Art in Northern Europe
ARH 4350: Baroque Art in Europe

English
ENL 2012: Survey of English Literature: Medieval to 1750
ENL 2330: Introduction to Shakespeare
ENL 3210: Medieval English Literature
ENG 3230:  Age of Dryden and Pope
ENL 4220: Renaissance Literature: 16th Century
ENL 4221: Renaissance Literature: 17th Century
ENL 4333: Shakespeare
ENL 3210: Medieval English Literature
ENL 4311: Chaucer
ENL 6236: Studies in Restoration and l8th-Century Literature
ENG 4060: History of the English Language
LIT 4930: Shakespeare's Theater of Likeness
LIN 4127: Old English

History
EUH 2001: Western Civilization: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century
EUH 3121: The Early Middle Ages
EUH 3122: The High Middle Ages
EUH 3140: Renaissance
EUH 3500: Medieval England
EUH 3501: Early Modern England
EUH 3090: Intellectual History of Europe, Ancient through Medieval
EUH 3091: Intellectual History of Europe, Renaissance to Modern
EUH 3144: The Reformation
EUH 3182: Medieval Archaeology
EUH 3300: Byzantine History
EUH 3323: Medieval Eastern Europe
EUH 3383: Pagans, Christians, Barbarians: The World of Late Antiquity
EUH 3500: Medieval England
EUH 4220: The Expansion of Europe; Exploration and Settlement 1415-1650
EUH 4314: Spain and Portugal
EUH 4331: The Ottoman Empire and the Balkans
EUH 4442: France
EUH 4511: Elizabethan England
EUH 4513: Restoration England
EUH 4602: Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution; Intellectual and Cultural History of Europe
EUH 4331: The Ottoman Empire and the Balkans
EUH 4442: History of France
EUH 4511: Elizabethan England, 1509-1660
EUH 4513: Restoration England
EUH 4563: Habsburg Monarchy
HIS 2464: History of Science; Origins to Newton
HIS 3463: History of Science: Origins to Newton
HIS 3464: Introduction to the History of Science: Renaissance to the Present
HIS 3465: The Scientific Revolution
HIS 3470: History of Technology I
HIS 3481: Magic and the Occult in the Age of Reason
HIS 3490: History of Western Medicine
HIS 3931: Honors seminar (topics may include Byzantine History, The Jews of Sepharad, etc.)
WOH 3220: An Analysis of Global Historical Trends Since 1500
WOH 3281: History of the Jews from 70 to 1700
WOH 4264: Empires and Imperialism

French Studies
FRW 3100: Introduction to French Literature I
FRW 3311: Theater in Avignon: An Initiation into 17th Century French Drama
FRW 4212: Readings in 17th Century French Prose
FRW 4410: Readings in Early French Medieval Literature
 

German Studies
GET 2250: The Tales of King Arthur
GET 3200: The Literature of Knighthood in Germany
GEW 3100: Survey of Medieval and Early Modern German Literature
GER 4400: Medieval Studies in German
SCT 2502: Germanic Myth and Lore
FOW 3380: Castles and Cloisters

Italian Studies
ITA 3500: Italian Civilization -- Middle Ages and Early Renaissance
ITT 2100: Masterpieces of Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature
ITT 3431: Italy and the Pilgrimages
ITT 3930: All Roads lead to Rome: Pilgrimage and Return in Italian Literature

Latin
LNW 3490: Medieval Latin

Music
MUH 3211: Survey of Music History (Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque)
MUL 3341: Baroque Music Literature
MUL 4334: Renaissance Music Literature

Philosophy
PHH 3200: Medieval Philosophy
PHH 3400: Modern Philosophy (17th and 18th centuries)

Religion
REL 3321: Early Judaism and Christianity
REL 3392: Jewish Mysticism
REL 4936/JST 3930/HIS 3931: Writing the Jewish Middle Ages

Spanish Studies
SPW 3100: Introduction to Spanish Literature I; From the Middle Ages to the Golden Age
SPW 4310: Readings in Spanish Drama of the Golden Age
SPW 4400: Readings in Medieval Spanish Literature
SPW 4604: Don Quijote

>> top

Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Will Hasty, 263 Dauer Hall, 273-3780
Email: hasty@ufl.edu

Mary Watt, 301 Pugh Hall, 392-2422
Email: marywatt@ufl.edu