Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies - University of Florida


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	Courses MEMS in Mannheim (summer study abroad) Summer 2011: MEM2500, Tales of King Arthur Judy Shoaf We begin in the depths of post-Roman Britain, but move quickly on through heroic and comic glimpses of the mysterious Arthur until he emerges, a full-blown literary figure, in the 12th century. We will follow how the stories of fairies, idealistic adultery, and the Grail became part of the story of King Arthur, culminating in Malory's masterpiece (but not forgetting Monty Python). Fall 2011: Note: all readings in these courses are in English. ARA4930/0355 – MEM 4931/2387: The Qur’an as Literature Professor Sarra Tlili The Qur’an is at once a fascinating and perplexing scripture. While many Muslim and non-Muslim readers are struck by its beauty, to many others it comes across as a disorganized text. This course’s primary objective is to familiarize students with this scripture mainly by considering characteristics of its style and content. After introducing the geographical and historical setting and addressing the question of how translatable the Qur'an is, the course proceeds to the study of various theories about its genesis. Moving to the question of style, the course will introduce students to the notions of orality and Semitic rhetoric, two key concepts for the appreciation of many classical texts, including the Qur’an and the Bible. Turning to the content of this scripture, we will consider some of its major themes, such as the themes of God’s unity and the hereafter, as well as questions that may have special relevance to our generation, such as gender and environmental issues. In the concluding part of the course we will look into the historical impact of the Qur’an on Arab and Islamic civilization in the fields of arts, scholarship and social life. CHT 3123/2598 – MEM 4931/ 04H5: Pre-Modern Chinese Fiction in Translation (H, N) Professor Richard G. Wang CHT 3123 explores pre-modern Chinese literary narrative from its beginnings through the seventeenth century. Emphasis will be laid on 16th and 17th centuries when Chinese vernacular fiction flourished. All required readings are in English translation, with no knowledge of Chinese required. Class time will primarily be devoted to discussions of the readings, although an introduction to critical issues and literary, historical, and cultural context will be presented in lecture. This is a reading and writing intensive class. EUH 3122/2514 – MEM 4931/048A: High Middle Ages (H, N) Professor Florin Curta The High Middle Ages was a period of fundamental transformations. A world of peasant communities, with a small elite of aristocrats dominating and feeding itself from the labors of the peasantry, Europe after AD 1000 underwent exceptionally intense changes. Economic growth, territorial expansion, and dynamic cultural and social change, all marked the vitality of European society between 1000 and 1400. For four hundred years, before the slump and crisis of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, population grew, the cultivated area expanded, urbanization and commercialization restructured economic and social life. Through incorporated towns, universities, central representative bodies, and the international orders of the Roman Catholic Church, Europe of the High Middle Ages first began to define itself in expansionary terms. For the first time, the High Middle Ages witnessed what Robert Bartlett called "the making of Europe." In this course we will examine the various aspects of this transformation. We will initially follow a topical, rather than chronological order. We will then move along chronological and geographical lines, as we will tackle the issue of state centralization. Our focus will be on Western Europe, but we will also look at some of the neighboring areas, such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia. EUH 3931/1125: History of Orthodox Christianity Professor Florin Curta When Orthodox Christians recite the Creed during the Divine Liturgy, they cross themselves at the words "Believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." The gesture is more than just a matter of ritual, for the significance of these words has to do with identity and with membership in the Kingdom of God. The Church is not just an institution, but a mode of life and a way of being in the world. As such, it has a history, which is often understood as the history of Christianity as a whole. The course will offer a selection of representative topics from a much larger possible list. We will examine some of the key concepts of theology that had historical significance, the political circumstances leading to the separation of various churches, and the main aspects of Orthodox Christian life throughout history. Our focus will be on Orthodoxy, but we will also take quick glimpses at some other churches, especially at the Roman-Catholic church. Anyone with enough curiosity and desire to learn is welcome. EUH 5934/Dept.: Religion and Politics in Medieval Christian Iberia Professor Nina Caputo Through much of the medieval period, Spain was more tolerant, even accommodating, of religious and cultural difference than any other part of Latin Christendom. However, by the end of the 15th century this situation had changed completely: after a long and difficult cultural struggle, religious tolerance officially collapsed with the establishment of the Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Christian Spain. This class will examine the social, religious, intellectual and political circumstances that made these changes possible as well as the growing historiography. EUH 6935 – Readings in Early Modern Europe: The Republic of Letters & the Nascent-Public Sphere Dr Robert Alan Hatch GRADUATE COURSE. Rooted in antiquity and flowering with Renaissance Humanism, the Republic of Letters became a radical new reality in Early Modern Europe. No longer a literary guild of widely dispersed bookish intellectuals, the Republic of Letters—often dismissed as ideal, mythic, invisible—became a new daily reality that often aimed to subvert ancient and traditional foundations. Expanding on the wider efficiency of the postal system, correspondence networks provided a vehicle for the exchange of daily information, and not least, an outlet for freedom of expression not found with published books. By the middle decades of the 17th century, the New Science helped transform the Republic of Letters in its daily practices and in establishing new communication strategies. Working in a harsh intellectual climate—marked by censorship and surveillance backed by incarceration and excommunication—new intellectuals created a new kind of space (without boundary or center) and a new kind of community. By the end of the century, this new community—now expanding its territory with the vernacular—helped undermine the foundations of the ancien regime from within. Foreshadowing the Enlightenment, the nascent-Public Sphere directed itself increasingly toward radical reform—intellectual, social, and political. This seminar plots the unfolding of this dramatic shift in western civilization (1550-1750) by tracing changes in scribal and print culture that prompted new identities for the scholar, intellectual, bourgeois, and citizen. Foreshadowing the Enlightenment, this early modern community helped lay foundations for revolution as much as for democracy. A tentative working syllabus is found at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ufhatch/pages/01-Courses/current-courses/04-EUH%206935-F-2011.html FRT 2460/3209 – MEM 2500/046A: The Knight, the Lady, and the King: Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages (H, N) Professor William Calin Arthur, Guinevere, Tristan, Isolt, Lancelot, and Perceval are not historical personages. They are literary characters in romances created first by poets in twelfth- and thirteenth-century France. This course will scrutinize the relationship of literature to historical reality (the mind-set of a feudal-aristocratic and classical-Christian culture, knighthood and chivalry, attitudes toward women, etc.) and the nature of literature itself, with special attention to the creation of myth (the Arthurian world is one of the great myths of modern times) and the relevance of such books to the reader of today. Students will learn how to analyze texts in a more sophisticated way, using modern critical approaches. GEW 6425 /1837 – MEM 4931/04H7: A Survey of Literary Culture in Early Modern Germany (in English translation) Professor Will Hasty This course is a consideration of literature (sermons, religious tracts, dramas, lyric poetry, romance/early novel, philosophical essays), ranging from the late medieval mystics of the 13th and 14th centuries (Mechthild of Magdeburg, Meister Eckhart), to the writings of Humanists, early treatises of Martin Luther, and the Faust chapbook in the 15th and 16th centuries, to German Enlightenment (selected writings of Leibniz, Lessing’s dramas, Kant’s essay “What is Enlightenment?”) in the 17th and 18th centuries. The critical focus falls on the emergence of new subject positions in the cultural landscape of early modern Germany as religion/theology converges in unique ways with the arts, sciences, and new technologies. Discussions will be informed by supplementary readings in essays by Walter Benjamin, Mikhail Bakhtin, Michel Foucault, and others. (Advanced undergraduates may enroll in this course with the permission of the instructor; < hasty@ufl.edu>). ITW3100/1485 – MEM 4931/04H8: Dante's Inferno (in Italian) Professor Mary Watt This course will take students on a semester-long journey through the underworld as imagined by the fourteenth century writer Dante Alighieri. The primary source will be Dante’s Inferno but the course will be enhanced with visual materials and will make full use of the many digital resources devoted to the study of Dante and his world. Special attention will be paid to the political, historical and religious context in which Dante was writing but the main point of the course will be to give students an appreciation of the masterful narrative that Dante weaves and the enduring beauty of his poetry. JPT 4130/6890 – MEM 4931/04H9: The Tale of Genji Professor Yumiko Hulvey The Tale of Genji is the masterpiece of classical Japanese literature, written by a woman known as Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 1000). The Genji preserves the essence of aristocratic culture that is as unfamiliar to many Japanese today as well as non-Japanese. Its pervasive influence continues to be found even in contemporary literature, such as Masks written by Enchi Fumiko in the 20th century that provides a glimpse of an eerie world inhabited by phantasmal figures from the Tale of Genji. Readings include a poetic memoir written before the Genji that helped develop necessary literary strategies for a long sustained narrative. LNW 3490/0377: Introduction to Medieval Latin (H, N) Professor Robert Wagman The course is an introduction to Medieval Latin in its cultural and historical context for students who have completed at least two years of Classical Latin. Students will read in the original from a selection of texts illustrating important aspects of Medieval culture, history, literature, philosophy, religion, and language. The grammatical and lexical peculiarities of Medieval Latin will be discussed. The course will also involve a small practicum in codicology and palaeography intended to introduce students to the study of manuscripts. MEMS and departmental courses relevant to the MEMS minor and IDS major: 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


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