MEMS Courses in Spring 2007 (MEMS)

Scroll down past the MEM courses to find courses in Art History, Literature, and History.

MEM 2500: The Tales of King Arthur (section 3234)

Will Hasty
The tales of King Arthur, from the early Middle Ages to the present, in folktale, literature, and film, have provided a model for the articulation of the interests and values of different social groups through history. This general education course taught in English translation studies a corpus of literature that is international in its makeup and significance, with consideration of works originally composed in Welsh, Latin, French, German, and English. The development of the Arthurian tales is traced from its obscure origins in Celtic Britain during the migrations of peoples, to the romances of the High Middle Ages, to significant works of the later Middle Ages (Malory), and finally to exemplary modern versions of the Arthurian tales in highbrow and popular literature. We will be interested especially in viewing the Arthurian tales as cultural documents that reveal the values and interests of the different communities that produced them.  For an earlier version of this course, follow this link.

MEM 4930, section 1177:  The Religious Image in the Renaissance and Reformation

Elizabeth Ross
(3 credits)
Since earliest times, Christian civilization has grappled with the question of the proper role for images in worship and society. This issue provides a sharp lens for examining the large number of works produced for devotional
and liturgical use during the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy and Northern Europe. We will consider different types of religious patronage and look at the form and function of altarpieces, votive images, illuminated prayerbooks, devotional panels and prints, chapel environments, reliquaries, and liturgical performances.
    We will begin by exploring how Christian culture responded to the problem of religious images and how the fifteenth century continued and intensified practices developed in the Middle Ages. In the early 16th century, the
image question spawned heated argument, as theologians and lay people began to question traditional practices as part of the wave of religious reform and conflict that ultimately split the Western Church into rival denominations. Criticism of religious images often broke out into violent iconoclasm (breaking of images) or resulted in more orderly 'cleansing' of images from church spaces. Through this debate over images we see some of the most important changes that characterize this era, and we are able to watch Renaissance culture grapple with fundamental questions about the nature of representation. What do images represent? How do they work? How do viewers relate to images? And what is the relationship between images and reality?

MEM 4930, section 2860: Medieval & Early Modern Studies Research Methods

Paul Victor, Jr.
(1 credit)
Medieval Studies Research Methods is a one credit course (non-Gordon Rule) targeted specifically at teaching undergraduate students how to conduct effective research in the field of medieval studies. It is envisioned that this course will eventually become a mandatory course for those students pursuing study in MEMS.
    The most important assignment that students will work on all semester is the Research Project Proposal. This Project requires students to start by picking an academic topic in medieval studies that they are interested in researching. They are then required to meet with MEMS faculty members in their area of study (with guidance from the instructor) to learn how to develop their topic into a focused research thesis. It is important to note that students will not be writing a research paper for this class. These assignments are meant to familiarize them with the research process necessary to be a successful student.
    Throughout the semester the students will be introduced to many print and electronic resources for conducting research. Students will learn how to use their research topics to search each of the following types of resources effectively: reference books, secondary sources, journal articles, Internet resources. They will then create annotated
bibliographies for these various resources in the citation style appropriate to their area of study. Students will be assigned a citation partner who will use peer-review to evaluate their work and offer constructive feedback on how to improve it. Each student will then use this feedback to hand in a better annotated bibliography to be graded by the instructor. The annotated bibliography assignments are designed so that students will learn how to cite & annotate sources properly.

ARH 6915: The Gothic Cathedral

David Stanley
Open to all MEMS graduate students.

ENG 4133/sec. 6431 Movie Medievalism

Richard Burt
We will examine the Middle Ages on film in relation to medieval media that have been regarded as proto-cinematic.
Syllabus and more information.

ENL 4221/sec. 2509: Milton's PARADISE LOST and PARADISE REGAINED

ENL 4221/sec. 6061  17th-C. Poetry & Prose (excl. Milton)

ENL 4333/sec. 4295  Shakespeare 

ENL 4333/sec. 6984  Shakespeare:  Learning by Doing 

GEW 6405 (#4182): Corutly Romances in Germany

Will Hasty
Course taught in German. For an earlier version of this course, follow this link.

HIS 3931 Jews of Medieval Spain

Nina Caputo

LIT 3041/sec. 403:  Tudor-Stuart Drama

Ira Clark
In this course we will concentrate on reading one play per week from the middle of Elizabeth's reign to the closing of the theaters in 1642. As we do so we will focus on a number of contexts in which to understand them--such contexts as production and casting, illusion/reality/representation, language, rhetoric, and style, the development of techniques and genres, the relationship to society, economics, and politics . . . . The class will read along lines of historical development, first tragedies, then comedies, and finally tragicomedies. The development of the course should be from lecture towards discussion, with students gaining independence and proficiency in understanding the period, interpreting the plays, and arguing articulately for readings both orally and in writing. Syllabus and more information.

LIT 4930/sec. 4802  Shakespeare:  Rhetoric 

R. A. Shoaf

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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