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COL 217
Visionary Creatures: An Introduction to Medieval Culture
COL 217 FA
Crosslistings: HUM 105, MDST214
| Section | Class Size | *Available | Times |
|---|
| 1 | 24 | 0 | Times: .T.T... 1:10PM-2:30PM; |
*The number of spaces listed as available is based on class seats open for
the current phase of registration. Some seats may be taken in previous
phases while others may be held out for subsequent phases of registration.
(Last Updated on Wed Mar 4 05:01:03 EST 1998
)
"To the world when it was half a thousand years younger,"
wrote Johan Huizinga, "the outlines of things seemed more
clearly marked than to us." That world, which we now call
the Middle Ages, actually spanned a one-thousand year period
and comprised a variety of national and local cultures--a
diversity of languages and literatures, social and political
institutions and (contrary to rumor) religious beliefs.
What held them together was the capacity for vision--seeing
in other ways than so-called common-sense and modern science
instruct us--but what did it then mean to see? How did
the world appear to itself before the age of the camera?
Before industrialization polluted the landscape, when the
spring really did come up "puddle wonderful"? Before
philosophical rationalism split the mind's eye from its
body, when monsters haunted hallfires and angels dazzled
mortals with their light? We pursue these questions across
the medieval centuries, discerning continuities and changes
in vision, as we move from Anglo-Saxon England to High
Gothic France and Germany, to Italy of the pre-Renaissance.
MAJOR READINGS
BEOWULF
THE LIFE OF THE SAINT GUTHLAC
THE DREAM OF THE ROOD
THE WANDERER
Georges Duby, THE EARLY GROWTH OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY
St. Hildegard of Bingen, SCIVIAS (visions)
Chretien de Troyes, YVAIN: THE KNIGHT OF THE LION
Marie de France, THE LAIS OF MARIE DE FRANCE
Wolfram von Eschenbach, PARZIVAL
R.W.Southern, THE MAKING OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Dante, THE DIVINE COMEDY
Robert S. Lopez, THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION OF THE MIDDLE
AGES
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Thoughtful preparation,
dedicated participation in class discussion, two
interpretive essays and one creative project.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless
preregistered students attend the first class meeting or
communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first
class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE:
Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the
Registrar's office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA COL
Prerequisites:
None
- Section 01
- Weissman, H
- Times: .T.T... 1:10PM- 2:30PM;
- Grading Mode: Mixed
- Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 0, Jr: 0, So: 0, Fr: 1
- No Major Preference Given
Last Updated on MAR-03-1998
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