Celtic Studies
Undergraduate Course
Celtic 128 | Medieval Celtic Culture
Location: Social Sciences Building 151
Time: Tu, Th - 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Instructor: Myriah Williams
A study of medieval Celtic culture, its society, laws, religion, history, and the daily life of the Celtic peoples, as they are reflected in a selection of texts ranging from medieval literary works to legal texts and historical chronicles. Using a range of sources from saints’ lives to chronicles, and legends to lawbooks, this class will introduce students to the rich and varied medieval cultures of Celtic-speaking peoples. Focusing on Wales and Ireland, we will explore such topics as the keeping of bees in medieval Ireland and the laws of the court in medieval Wales. Students will come away from this course with a better understanding not only of the social and legal structures of medieval Wales and Ireland and the histories of medieval Celtic peoples, but also of their languages, literatures and conceptions of themselves. All works will be read in English translation.
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Undergraduate Courses
BUDDSTD C120 | Buddhism on the Silk Road
Location: Dwinelle 247
Time: Tu, Th - 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Instructor: Sanjyot Mehendale
This course will discuss the social, economic, and cultural aspects of Buddhism as it moved along the ancient Eurasian trading network referred to as the “Silk Road”. Instead of relying solely on textual sources, the course will focus on material culture as it offers evidence concerning the spread of Buddhism. Through an examination of the Buddhist archaeological remains of the Silk Road, the course will address specific topics, such as the symbiotic relationship between Buddhism and commerce; doctrinal divergence; ideological shifts in the iconography of the Buddha; patronage (royal, religious and lay); Buddhism and political power; and art and conversion. All readings will be in English.
Japan 120 | Introduction to Classical Japanese
Location: Dwinelle 242
Time: M, W, F - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Instructor: Jonathan Zwicker
An introduction to classical Japanese (bungo), the premodern vernacular, which was used as Japan's literary language until well into the 20th century and remains essential for a thorough grounding in Japanese literature and culture.
Graduate Seminar
Chinese 234 | Texts on the Civilization of Medieval China
Location: Dwinelle 287
Time: Tu, Th - 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Instructor: Robert Ashmore
Course content varies with interests of students.
English
Undergraduate Course
English 104 | Introduction to Old English
Location: Wheeler 30
Time: Tu, Th - 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Instructor: Shu-han Luo
Hwæt! This course introduces the earliest English literature, with focus on giving students the skills to read its vibrant corpus in the original language. Step by step, we will build our grasp of grammar and vocabulary; from there, we will read a wide-ranging selection of verse and prose, including medical recipes and schoolbooks, love-laments and travel narratives, riddles, heroic poetry, guides for decoding dreams and even advice on haircuts. Throughout, emphasis on close reading will help us solidify our grasp of grammar and syntax, and attend to the ways early English writers themselves approached and valued the discipline of words. You will also practice reading from medieval manuscripts, and learn to use scholarly tools (lexicographical, codicological, digital) for conducting research in Old English. By the end of the course, you will be able to read most Old English texts with the help of a dictionary, and be well prepared for further study in medieval languages and literature.
No pre-requisites, nor is prior knowledge of Old English or medieval literature expected. This class satisfies the "Pre-1800" requirement for the English major.
History
Undergraduate Course
History 100B-002 | Land of Three Religions: Spain in the Middle Ages
Location: Moffit Library 102
Time: M, W, F - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Instructor: Robert John Iafolla
This course is devoted to the history of the Iberian Peninsula, home to modern Spain and Portugal, during the Middle Ages. The simultaneous presence of large communities of Christians, Jews and Muslims, and the influence they had on one another, distinguishes Iberia from (most of) the rest of medieval Europe. That phenomenon will be a major theme throughout the course. In chronological terms, it begins with the conquest of the peninsula by armies from North Africa in 711, establishing Muslim rule over the majority of the region. It then examines the era of Muslim ascendancy after 711, before turning to the small Christian kingdoms in the far north. In the eleventh century, political and cultural initiative shifted in their direction, and they achieved predominance on both counts by the dawn of the fourteenth century. The last part of the course takes us from 1300 until the defeat of Granada, the last Muslim realm, by the Kingdom of Castile in 1492. That same year, the Jewish population of Castile was expelled by royal command, bringing the religious diversity of medieval Spain to an end. There is no textbook for the course, though there are two shorter texts you will need to purchase or borrow. All other readings will be provided through bCourses.
Graduate Seminar
History 280A | The afterlife of Antiquity in the Greek, Latin and Arabic Middle Ages
Location: Dwinelle 2231
Time: Thu - 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Instructor: Maria Mavroudi
The great majority of ancient literary works survive in manuscripts written more than a thousand years after the death of their authors. In spite of new discoveries in papyri since the late 19th century, the bulk of ancient literature that we know today is what medieval scribes and scholars chose to preserve because they saw in them qualities very different from the ones that interest Western modernity. The seminar will examine the motivation and mechanisms that enabled the transmission of ancient literary culture throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Reference will be made to the Greek, Latin, and Arabic Middle Ages. Problems in approaching the visual culture will also be briefly mentioned.
Italian
Graduate Seminar
Italian 244 |Reading Beneath the Veil: A History of Theory Through Dante
Location: Dwinelle 6331
Time: Tu 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Instructor: Akash Kumar
This seminar will explore the affinity between Dante’s Commedia and various theoretical approaches that have made it a particular point to feature the sommo poeta. We’ll focus both on the primary text and theoretical engagements that range from Renaissance forms of reading to figures like Marx, Auerbach, Spivak, Glissant, and the like. At stake will be a development of a critical toolkit that balances a historicized understanding of Dante and the ability to deploy such theoretical approaches that might postulate a queer Dante, a decolonized poem and tradition, a social revolutionary with an affinity for gender trouble, and beyond.
Scandinavian
Undergraduate Courses
Scandinavian 101A | Intro Old Norse
Location: Dwinelle B33B
Time: M, W, F - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf
Scandinavian 123 | Viking and Medieval Scandinavia
Location: Dwinelle 219
Time: Tu, Th - 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf
Slavic
Graduate Seminar
Slavic 214| Medieval Orthodox Slavic Texts
Location: Dwinelle 6115
Time: Th - 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Instructor: Darya A Kavitskaya
Assigned translations and sight reading of selected Medieval Orthodox Slavic texts.