Medieval Cultures offers two distinct areas of historical focus: the Medieval and the Late Antique. The former focuses on the sixth through the fifteenth centuries, combining interdisciplinary perspectives with in-depth study of one or two related disciplines. Late Antique Cultures deals with the third through the ninth centuries, when ancient cultural forms were still in place but medieval cultures were beginning to take shape simultaneously. The first undergraduate degree of its kind in this country, Late Antique Cultures facilitates the study of human activity in all of its variety. A traditional area of study in Medieval Cultures is Western Europe, but students are encouraged to work in other cultural areas such as Byzantine, Islamic, Judaic and Slavic. The concentration serves students interested in the changing relation of cultural practices, social patterns, political and economic forms, and artistic and literary traditions in this important transitional period.
For additional information, please visit the department's website: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Medieval_Studies/
MDVL 0024. Arts of Asia: Beginnings to 1300 (HIAA 0024).
Interested students must register for HIAA 0024.
MDVL 0025. Wealth: Religious Approaches (RELS 0025).
Interested students must register for RELS 0025.
MDVL 0050M. Difficult Relations? Judaism and Christianity from the Middle Ages until the Present (JUDS 0050M).
Interested students must register for JUDS 0050M.
MDVL 0150B. The Philosopher’s Stone: Alchemy From Antiquity to Harry Potter (HIST 0150B).
Interested students must register for HIST 0150B.
MDVL 0150C. The Medieval King Arthur (ENGL 0150C).
Interested students must register for ENGL 0150C.
MDVL 0150E. Skill: From the Medieval Workshop to the Maker Movement (AMST 0150E).
Interested students must register for AMST 0150E.
MDVL 0290D. Women, Sex and Gender in Islam (RELS 0290D).
Interested students must register for RELS 0290D.
MDVL 0300F. Beowulf to Aphra Behn: The Earliest British Literatures (ENGL 0300F).
Interested students must register for ENGL 0300F.
MDVL 0310F. Prose Sagas of the Medieval North (ENGL 0310F).
Interested students must register for ENGL 0310F.
MDVL 0310G. Gender and Genre in Medieval Celtic Literatures (ENGL 0310G).
Interested students must register for ENGL 0310G.
MDVL 0321. Toward a Global Late Antiquity: 200-800 CE (HIAA 0321).
Interested students must register for HIAA 0321.
MDVL 0360. Medieval Bodies: Medieval Perspectives.
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, medical theories, and the intellectual environment of different groups of people. Finally, we will explore bodies both physical and metaphorical.
| Spr | MDVL0360 | S01 | 25885 | M | 3:00-5:30(13) | (J. Conant) |
MDVL 0410. Christianity in Late Antiquity (RELS 0410).
Interested students must register for RELS 0410.
MDVL 0432. Pilgrimage Art and Architecture in the Middle Ages (HIAA 0432).
Interested students must register for HIAA 0432.
MDVL 0460. Muslims, Jews and Christians in Medieval Iberia (HIAA 0460).
Interested students must register for HIAA 0460.
MDVL 0521A. Christianity in Conflict in the Medieval Mediterranean (HIST 0521A).
Interested students must register for HIST 0521A.
MDVL 0600. Literary Worlds of Late Antiquity (CLAS 0600).
Interested students must register for CLAS 0600.
MDVL 0620. Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia.
The cultural diversity of medieval Spain and Portugal is proclaimed by their Christian cathedrals, Islamic palaces, and Jewish synagogues. The three distinct cultures that produced these buildings lived together for centuries in medieval Iberia, sometimes in peace, sometimes not. This convivencia of Jews, Muslims, and Christians will be examined from the perspectives of literature, art, architecture, archaeology and history.
MDVL 0640. Dying to Be With God: Jihad, Past and Present (RELS 0640).
Interested students must register for RELS 0640.
MDVL 0710D. History of the Spanish Language (HISP 0710D).
Interested students must register for HISP 0710D.
MDVL 0711L. The Quran and its Readers (COLT 0711L).
Interested students must register for COLT 0711L.
MDVL 0750E. Topics in Hispanic Culture and Civilization (HISP 0750E).
Interested students must register for HISP 0750E.
MDVL 0812H. Literary Bestsellers of the Islamic World (COLT 0812H).
Interested students must register for COLT 0812H.
MDVL 0910. Medieval and Renaissance Music (MUSC 0910).
Interested students must register for MUSC 0910.
MDVL 0980G. The Search for King Arthur (HIST 0621B).
Interested students must register for HIST 0621B.
MDVL 1010. Dante in English Translation: Dante's World and the Invention of Modernity (ITAL 1010).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1010.
MDVL 1020. Decameron: Technologies of Representation, Medieval to Modern (ITAL 1020).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1020.
MDVL 1030. The Long Fall of the Roman Empire (HIST 1030).
Interested students must register for HIST 1030.
MDVL 1100C. Medieval Arabic Philosophy (PHIL 1100C).
Interested students must register for PHIL 1100C.
MDVL 1110G. En Marge: Exilés et Hors-la-Loi au Moyen Age (FREN 1110G).
Interested students must register for FREN 1110G.
MDVL 1110H. Literature at the Court of Charlemagne (LATN 1110H).
Interested students must register for LATN 1110H.
MDVL 1110Q. Greek Erotic Literature: From Plato to the Medieval Romances (GREK 1110Q).
Interested students must register for GREK 1110Q.
MDVL 1110T. Rhetors and Philosophers: Intellectual Thought and Sophistic Style in the Ancient World (GREK 1110T).
Interested students must register for GREK 1110T.
MDVL 1120C. Survey of Late and Medieval Latin (LATN 1120C).
Interested students must register for LATN 1120C.
MDVL 1120V. The Age of Constantine: The Roman Empire in Transition (CLAS 1120V).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1120V.
MDVL 1205. The Long Fall of the Roman Empire (HIST 1205).
Interested students must register for HIST 1205.
MDVL 1210C. History of the Spanish Language (HISP 1210C).
Interested students must register for HISP 1210C.
MDVL 1210F. History of the Spanish Language (HISP 1210F).
Interested students must register for HISP 1210F.
MDVL 1211. Crusaders and Cathedrals, Deviants and Dominance: Europe in the High Middle Ages (HIST 1211).
Interested students must register for HIST 1211.
MDVL 1211A. Imperial Diadem to Papal Tiara: Analyzing the Sources for History of Europe, 476 to 1215(HIST 1211A).
Interested students must register for HIST 1211A.
MDVL 1213. Memories of the Medieval in the Age of White Supremacy(HIST 1213).
Interested students must register for HIST 1213.
MDVL 1220. Byzantine Art and Archaeology: Material Stories of a Christian Empire (ARCH 1220).
Interested students must register for ARCH 1220.
MDVL 1260D. Living Together: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Iberia (HIST 1260D).
Interested students must register for HIST 1260D.
MDVL 1280. Death from Medieval Relics to Forensic Science (HIST 1280).
Interested students must register for HIST 1280.
MDVL 1300. Ancient Christianity and the Sensing Body (RELS 1300).
Interested students must register for RELS 1300.
MDVL 1310E. A Classical Islamic Education: Readings in Arabic Literature (COLT 1310E).
Interested students must register for COLT 1310E.
MDVL 1310V. Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (ENGL 1310V).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1310V.
MDVL 1311E. History of the English Language (ENGL 1311E).
Interested students must register for ENGL1311E.
MDVL 1311H. Sagas Without Borders: Multilingual Literatures of Early England (ENGL 1311H).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1311H.
MDVL 1311L. From Mead-Hall to Mordor: The Celtic and Germanic Roots of Tolkien’s Fiction (ENGL 1311L).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1311L.
MDVL 1325C. The Virgin Mary in Christian Tradition (RELS 1325C).
Interested students must register for RELS 1325C.
MDVL 1360F. Quest, Vision, Diaspora: Medieval Journey Narratives (ENGL 1360F).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1360F.
MDVL 1360H. Introduction to the Old English Language (ENGL 1360H).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1360H.
MDVL 1360J. Middle English Literature (ENGL 1360J).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1360J.
MDVL 1360U. Europe in the Vernacular (ENGL 1360U).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1360U.
MDVL 1361D. Women’s Voices in Medieval Literature (ENGL 1361D).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1361D.
MDVL 1361J. Seminar in Old Norse-Icelandic Language and Literature (ENGL 1361J).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1361J.
MDVL 1361K. Seminar in the Old English Language II (ENGL 1361K).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1361K.
MDVL 1401. Objects of Devotion in the Middle Ages (HIAA 1401).
Interested students must register for HIAA 1401.
MDVL 1430B. Art and Exemplarity in Medieval and Early Modern Literature (COLT 1430B).
Interested students must register for COLT 1430B.
MDVL 1440. The Ottomans: Faith, Law, Empire (HIST 1440).
Interested students must register for HIST 1440.
MDVL 1440B. Architecture of Solitude: The Medieval Monastery (HIAA 1440B).
Interested students must register for HIAA 1440B.
MDVL 1440E. The Body and the Senses in Medieval Art (HIAA 1440E).
Interested students must register for HIAA 1440E.
MDVL 1520. Pilgrimage and Sacred Travel in the Lands of Islam (RELS 1520).
Interested students must register for RELS 1520.
MDVL 1530. Methods and Approaches to Islamic Studies (RELS 1530).
Interested students must register for RELS 1530.
MDVL 1560A. Italy and the Mediterranean (HIAA 1560A).
Interested students must register for HIAA 1560A.
MDVL 1610. The Divina Commedia: Inferno and Purgatorio (ITAL 1610).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1610.
MDVL 1620. The Divina Commedia: Paradiso (ITAL 1620).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1620.
MDVL 1744. Difficult Relations? Judaism and Christianity from the Middle Ages until the Present (JUDS 1744).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1744.
MDVL 1750L. Erotic Desire in the Premodern Mediterranean (CLAS 1750L).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1750L.
MDVL 1813P. Captive Imaginations: Writing Prison in the Middle Ages (COLT 1813P).
Interested students must register for COLT 1813P.
MDVL 1815. On the Edges of the Roman World (CLAS 1815).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1815.
MDVL 1835A. Unearthing the Body: History, Archaeology, and Biology at the End of Antiquity (HIST 1835A).
Interested students must register for HIST 1835A.
MDVL 1900Y. Medieval Manuscript Studies: Paleography, Codicology, and Interpretation (ENGL 1900Y).
Interested students must register for ENGL 1900Y.
MDVL 1963L. Barbarians, Byzantines, and Berbers: Early Medieval North Africa, AD 300-1050 (HIST 1963L).
Interested students must register for HIST 1963L.
MDVL 1963Q. Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective (HIST 1963Q).
Interested students must register for HIST 1963Q.
MDVL 1970. Independent Study.
Tutorial instruction on an approved topic in Late Antique and/or Medieval cultures, supervised by a member of staff. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course. May be repeated once for credit.
MDVL 1971U. Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism (HMAN 1971U).
Interested students must register for HMAN 1971U.
MDVL 1972H. Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective (HIST 1972H).
Interested students must register for HIST 1972H.
MDVL 1976R. Early Modern Globalization: Jewish Economic Activity, 1500-1800 (HIST 1976R).
Interested students must register for HIST 1976R.
MDVL 1979H. Prostitutes, Mothers, + Midwives: Women in Pre-modern Europe and North America (HIST 1979H).
Interested students must register for HIST 1979H.
MDVL 1990. Honors Thesis.
Independent research and writing on a topic of special interest to the student, under the direction of a faculty member. Required of candidates for honors. Permission should be obtained from the Director of the Program in Medieval Studies.
MDVL 2030B. History and Fiction: Literature of the 15th Century (HISP 2030B)..
Interested students must register for HISP 2030B.
MDVL 2030D. Fifteenth-Century Sentimental Romances and Celestina (HISP 2030D).
Interested students must register for HISP 2030D.
MDVL 2040D. Arts du récit, 1100-1400 (FREN 2040D).
Interested students must register for FREN 2040D.
MDVL 2110F. Greek Palaeography and Premodern Book Cultures (GREK 2110F).
Interested students must register for GREK 2110F.
MDVL 2360Q. Manuscript, Image, and the Middle English Text (ENGL 2360Q).
Interested students must register for ENGL 2360Q.
MDVL 2970A. New Perspectives on Medieval History (HIST 2970A).
Interested students must register for HIST 2970A.
MDVL 2971I. New Perspectives on Medieval History (HIST 2971I).
Interested students must register for HIST 2971I.
Medieval Cultures
The program in Medieval Studies offers a concentration in Medieval Cultures with two tracks with distinct foci: one in Medieval Cultures and the other in Late Antique Cultures. Medieval Cultures focuses on the 6th-15th centuries, combining interdisciplinary perspectives with in-depth study of one or two related disciplines.
Late Antique Cultures deals with the 3rd-9th centuries, when ancient cultural forms were still in place but medieval cultures were beginning to take shape simultaneously. The first undergraduate degree of its kind in this country, Late Antique Cultures studies the changing relation of cultural practices, social patterns, political and economics forms, and artistic and literary traditions in this imporant transition period.
A traditional area of study in Medieval Cultures is Western Europe in the High Middle Ages, but students are encouraged to work comparatively in Byzantine, Islamic, Judaic and/or Slavic cultures in the middle ages.
Medieval Cultures Track
It is recommended that prospective concentrators take the introductory course, Medieval Perspectives, during their freshman or sophomore year.
Requirements
Ten courses approved by the Program in Medieval Studies, including two courses in medieval history and one 1000- or 2000-level course that uses primary texts in a medieval language other than Middle English. Interested students are invited to discuss their plans with an appropriate faculty member of the Program. A concentration proposal should be prepared in consultation with the faculty advisor and submitted to the Program Chair for approval.
| Under the supervision of the director of the program, students may choose courses from the following: | ||
| Difficult Relations? Judaism and Christianity from the Middle Ages until the Present | ||
| Sacred Stories | ||
| Matters of Romance | ||
| Christians | ||
| Islam Unveiled | ||
| The Philosophers' Stone: Alchemy From Antiquity to Harry Potter | ||
| The Medieval King Arthur | ||
| Islamic Sexualities | ||
| Beowulf to Aphra Behn: The Earliest British Literatures | ||
| Prose Sagas of the Medieval North | ||
| Toward a Global Late Antiquity:200-800 CE | ||
| Medieval Bodies: Medieval Perspectives | ||
| Ancient Christianity: Jesus to Muhammad | ||
| Sacred Bodies | ||
| Muslims, Jews and Christians in Medieval Iberia | ||
| The 1001 Nights | ||
| Christianity in Conflict in the Medieval Mediterranean | ||
| The Holy Grail and the Historian's Quest for the Truth | ||
| The Literary Worlds of Late Antiquity | ||
| Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia | ||
| Dying To Be With God: Jihad, Past and Present | ||
| The Search for King Arthur | ||
| The World of Byzantium | ||
| Great Jewish Books | ||
| Topics in Hispanic Culture and Civilization | ||
| Medieval and Renaissance Music | ||
| Dante in English Translation: Dante's World and the Invention of Modernity | ||
| Fortunatus | ||
| Literature at the Court of Charlemagne | ||
| Medieval Latin Lyric | ||
| Greek Erotic Literature: From Plato to the Medieval Romances | ||
| Rhetors and Philosophers: Intellectual Thought and Sophistic Style in the Ancient World | ||
| Survey of Late and Medieval Latin | ||
| Alcuin | ||
| The Idea of Self | ||
| The Age of Constantine: The Roman Empire in Transition | ||
| The Long Fall of the Roman Empire | ||
| The Viking Age | ||
| Becoming Medieval: Self, Other, and the World | ||
| Living Together: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Iberia | ||
| Death from Medieval Relics to Forensic Science | ||
| A Classical Islamic Education: Readings in Arabic Literature | ||
| Chaucer | ||
| Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales | ||
| History of the English Language | ||
| Sagas Without Borders: Multilingual Literatures of Early England | ||
| From Mead-Hall to Mordor: The Celtic and Germanic Roots of Tolkien’s Fiction | ||
| The Virgin Mary in Christian Tradition | ||
| El amor en español | ||
| Quest, Vision, Diaspora: Medieval Journey Narratives | ||
| Introduction to the Old English Language | ||
| Middle English Literature | ||
| Europe in the Vernacular | ||
| Women's Voices in Medieval Literature | ||
| Seminar in the Old English Language II | ||
| The Ottomans: Faith, Law, Empire | ||
| The Architecture of Solitude: The Medieval Monastery | ||
| Pilgrimage and Sacred Travel in the Lands of Islam | ||
| Methods and Problems in Islamic Studies | ||
| Medieval Islamic Sectarianism | ||
| Italy and the Mediterranean | ||
| Astronomy Before the Telescope | ||
| The Talmud | ||
| Erotic Desire in the Premodern Mediterranean | ||
| Captive Imaginations: Writing Prison in the Middle Ages | ||
| Unearthing the Body: History, Archaeology, and Biology at the End of Antiquity | ||
| Medieval Manuscript Studies: Paleography, Codicology, and Interpretation | ||
| Barbarians, Byzantines, and Berbers: Early Medieval North Africa, AD 300-1050 | ||
| Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages | ||
| Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Prostitutes, Mothers, + Midwives: Women in Pre-modern Europe and North America | ||
| Honors Thesis | ||
| Fifteenth-Century Sentimental Romances and Celestina | ||
| Greek Palaeography and Premodern Book Cultures | ||
| Manuscript, Image, and the Middle English Text | ||
| New Perspectives on Medieval History | ||
Honors
This is awarded to students who present a meritorious honors thesis in addition to completing the required courses of the concentration. The thesis permits the student to synthesize various disciplines or interests, or to pursue a new interest in greater depth. To be eligible for Honors, candidates must complete a minimum of six approved courses in Medieval Studies by the end of their third year with more grades of A than B. Students should apply for admission to Honors and should meet with their faculty advisor(s) no later than spring of the junior year to plan the thesis project. Accepted candidates write the thesis in a two-semester course sequence under the supervision of a director and second reader drawn from the Medieval Studies faculty.
Interested students should contact the concentration advisor for further details or consultation (863-1994).
Late Antique Cultures Track
Requirements:
| One course in Roman history: | 1 | |
| Roman History I: The Rise and Fall of an Imperial Republic | ||
| Roman History II: The Roman Empire and Its Impact (recommended) | ||
| One class in medieval history | 1 | |
| One course at the advanced level (numbered at least 1000) in one approved language 1 | 1 | |
| Six other courses drawn from appropriate offerings and with the approval of the concentration advisor. These courses should support a concentrational area of special interest. | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 9 | |
| 1 | The language in most cases will be Latin, but students will present different competencies and interests; other languages, such as Greek, Hebrew, or one of the medieval vernaculars can be substituted for Latin, with the approval of the concentration advisor and in conjunction with a clearly articulated program of study. |
| Under the supervision of the director of the program, students may choose courses from the following: | ||
| The World of Byzantium | ||
| The Idea of Self | ||
| The Age of Constantine: The Roman Empire in Transition | ||
| Erotic Desire in the Premodern Mediterranean | ||
| The 1001 Nights | ||
| Captive Imaginations: Writing Prison in the Middle Ages | ||
| Matters of Romance | ||
| The Medieval King Arthur | ||
| Beowulf to Aphra Behn: The Earliest British Literatures | ||
| Prose Sagas of the Medieval North | ||
| Chaucer | ||
| Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales | ||
| Sagas Without Borders: Multilingual Literatures of Early England | ||
| From Mead-Hall to Mordor: The Celtic and Germanic Roots of Tolkien’s Fiction | ||
| Quest, Vision, Diaspora: Medieval Journey Narratives | ||
| Introduction to the Old English Language | ||
| Middle English Literature | ||
| Europe in the Vernacular | ||
| Women's Voices in Medieval Literature | ||
| Medieval Manuscript Studies: Paleography, Codicology, and Interpretation | ||
| Manuscript, Image, and the Middle English Text | ||
| Greek Erotic Literature: From Plato to the Medieval Romances | ||
| Rhetors and Philosophers: Intellectual Thought and Sophistic Style in the Ancient World | ||
| Greek Palaeography and Premodern Book Cultures | ||
| Toward a Global Late Antiquity:200-800 CE | ||
| Muslims, Jews and Christians in Medieval Iberia | ||
| The Architecture of Solitude: The Medieval Monastery | ||
| Fifteenth-Century Sentimental Romances and Celestina | ||
| The Philosophers' Stone: Alchemy From Antiquity to Harry Potter | ||
| Christianity in Conflict in the Medieval Mediterranean | ||
| The Holy Grail and the Historian's Quest for the Truth | ||
| The Search for King Arthur | ||
| The Long Fall of the Roman Empire | ||
| The Viking Age | ||
| Living Together: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Iberia | ||
| Becoming Medieval: Self, Other, and the World | ||
| Barbarians, Byzantines, and Berbers: Early Medieval North Africa, AD 300-1050 | ||
| Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective | ||
| Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages | ||
| Early Modern Globalization | ||
| New Perspectives on Medieval History | ||
| Difficult Relations? Judaism and Christianity from the Middle Ages until the Present | ||
| Great Jewish Books | ||
| The Talmud | ||
| Fortunatus | ||
| Literature at the Court of Charlemagne | ||
| Survey of Late and Medieval Latin | ||
| Alcuin | ||
| Medieval Bodies: Medieval Perspectives | ||
| Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Honors Thesis | ||
| Wealth: Religious Approaches | ||
| Christians | ||
| Islam Unveiled | ||
| Islamic Sexualities | ||
| Ancient Christianity: Jesus to Muhammad | ||
| Dying To Be With God: Jihad, Past and Present | ||
| Ancient Christianity and the Sensing Body | ||
| Pilgrimage and Sacred Travel in the Lands of Islam | ||
| Methods and Problems in Islamic Studies | ||
| Medieval Islamic Sectarianism | ||
Honors
When in Late Antique Cultures, these are awarded to students who present a meritorious honors thesis in addition to completing the required courses of the concentration. Application for admission to honors should be made in the spring of the junior year, by which time honors candidates must have completed a minimum of six approved courses in Late Antique Studies. Accepted candidates write the thesis in a two-semester course sequence (MDVL 1990) under the supervision of a director and a second reader to be determined in consultation with the advisor.