Spring 2005 Graduate Courses - Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame

715 Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5629, Telephone: (574) 631-6603, Facsimile: (574) 631-8644, Email: medinst@nd.edu

Spring 2005: Graduate Courses

MI 514B Cervantes: Don Quixote
Encarnacion Juarez
TH 02:00-03:15

A close reading of Cervantes’ novel in relation to the prose tradition of the Renaissance: novella, the pastoral romance, the romance of chivalry, the humanist dialogue, and the picaresque novel. We will also pay attention to the historical, social and cultural context of the work. Students in this seminar must participate actively in class discussions. Each student will be required to make a presentation (fifteen minutes) upon the subject of his/her term paper. The term paper, of approximately 8-10 pages, will be on a topic individually agreed upon and discussed by each student with the instructor. No prior knowledge of Cervantes is necessary to take this course, but a solid knowledge of Spanish is required. The final grade will be given according to the following distribution: one mid-term exam, 20%; one term paper and presentation, 40%; one final exam, 25%; class participation, 15%.

MI 522E Thomas Aquinas and the Pursuit of Wisdom
Joseph Wawrykow
MW 01:30-02:45

This course offers an orientation to the theology of Thomas Aquinas through his account of "wisdom", which in Thomas refers to the contemplation of divine things and the ordering of all else in that light. The theme of "wisdom" threads its way through the entire range of Thomas's theology, and attention to "wisdom" will make clear many of Thomas's most important convictions-about the nature of the theological enterprise; the interrelated doctrines of God, and, of Christ; and, the specific character of Christian discipleship.

MI 525A Patristic Exegesis
John Cavadini
MW 08:00-09:15

This course will be an examination of traditions of biblical interpretation in the early church. Since the greatest proportion of exegetical literature in the early church was homiletic, this course will also entail an examination of traditions of preaching. We will devote considerable attention to ancient allegorical schools of interpretation (Origen), to reactions against it ("Antiochene" exegesis), and to Western exegetes (Augustine, Gregory the Great). We will also look at the uses of the Bible in ascetical literature (desert fathers and mothers, etc.).

MI 531A Them 'n' Us: Identities in Anglo-Saxon England
Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe
TH 09:30-10:45

This course seeks to explore the structures of identity through which Anglo-Saxons recognized themselves and others. We will focus primarily on Old English writings that explore the larger category of the “not-us” and “our” relation to it: translations of Orosius’s history, Bede’s history, the Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, Wonders of the East, Apollonius of Tyre, portions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other texts. We will be looking particularly at the ways in which Anglo-Saxons peopled the category of “other” and, conversely, imagined themselves. Topics for analysis will include contemporary approaches to identity, ethnicity in early England and the difficulties posed for us by analytic terms deriving from nineteenth- (and twentieth-) century nationalism, Anglo-Saxon geographic imaginings, contemporary maps, notions of borders (within and without England), foreigners (and laws relating to them), and Anglo-Saxon “orientalism.”
Requirements: A short, exploratory paper, a final paper (with an eye to publication), a midterm (ungraded but evaluated), two oral presentations.

MI 533F The Roman Revolution
Keith Bradley
TH 02:00-03:15

This course builds on the work of CLAS 30-012 and CLAS 30-022 and examines the climactic events in Roman history of the late first century BC and early first century AD that changed Rome from an open republic to a repressive military monarchy. Chronologically the course begins with the appearance on the Roman political stage of the unabashedly ambitious Julius Caesar, and ends with the accession of an hereditary autocrat in the person of the morose ruler Tiberius. Exploring a variety of sources, the course focuses on the political tensions and civil commotions of the revolutionary era associated with warlords like Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, and Antony, and concentrates especially on the rise to power of Augustus, the most ruthless warlord of all, and his creation of a personal political regime that was to last in style for centuries.

MI 534E Ricardian Poetry
Robert Meyer-Lee
M 01:30-04:25

A close examination of the selected Old English and Middle English prose, with particular emphasis on manuscript construction and collaboration. .

MI 548 Dante II
Christian Moevs
TH 9:30-10:45

An in-depth study, over two semesters, of the entire Comedy, in its historical, philosophical and literary context, with selected readings from the minor works (e.g., Vita Nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia). Lectures and discussion in English; the text will be read in the original with facing-page translation. Students may take one semester or both, in either order.

MI 549 Boethius: An Introduction
Stephen Gersh
TH 12:30-01:45

This course will attempt a study of Boethius, one of the foundational figures of medieval culture, in an interdisciplinary and open-ended manner. Our approach will be interdisciplinary in that we shall simultaneously study philosophical-theological and literary subject matter and simultaneously apply philosophical-theological and literary methods. It will be open-ended in that students will be expected to react creatively to the topics under review in terms of their own independent studies and research (e.g. in connecting Latin and vernacular materials). During the course we shall read a broad selection of passages in Latin and in English translation drawn from Boethius’s work in the fields of science (arithmetic, music), logic, and theology. Part of the course will be devoted to a close study of De Consolatione Philosophiae. We shall study Boethius as reading intertextually the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and the Greek scientists Nicomachus and Ptolemy, without forgetting the Latin theology of Augustine. Turning from Boethius to Boethius in quotation marks and Boethius “under erasure,” we shall study Boethius read intertextually by glossators, commentators, and other writers from the eighth to the fourteenth century. Requirement: one final essay (ca. 20 pp.)

MI 555 Hermeneutics, Deconstruction and Medieval Thought
Stephen Gersh
TH 02:00-03:15

The aims of this course are both methodological and historical. The methodological part will consist of an introduction to hermeneutics (in a broad sense) as theorized and/or practiced in certain areas of modern continental philosophy. After a brief look at the crucial innovations of Husserl, we shall study carefully chosen extracts (in English translation) of Heidegger: Being and Time and What is Called Thinking, Gadamer: Truth and Method, and Derrida: Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference, Dissemination in order to illuminate the different (even opposing) ways in which the idea of “hermeneutics” can develop. This general discussion will be combined with specific consideration of the themes of allegory and negativity. The historical part of the course will concentrate on late ancient, patristic, and early medieval readings (Origen: On First Principles, Augustine: On Christian Teaching, Literal Interpretation of Genesis, Proclus: Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus). Here, we shall attempt to advance our comprehension of ancient literature by 1. looking for parallels with modern hermeneutic techniques, 2. applying the modern techniques in test cases. The course is intended to be relatively open-ended, i.e., students will be expected to think about the way in which these discussions are internally coherent and also relate to their own areas of interest (which may be elsewhere in philosophy, theology, or literature (Latin or vernacular)). Requirement: one final essay of ca. 20 pp.

MI 569 History of the Italian Language
Ted Cachey
M 03:30-06:00

An advanced introduction to the history of the Italian language from Le origini to the High Renaissance with special emphasis on Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio during the medieval period and Bembo, Castiglione, and Machiavelli for the Renaissance.

MI 571A The Vulgate and Related Texts
Calvin Bower
TH 03:30-4:45

Readings and critical discussion of the various layers of text, commentary, and glosses in the Vulgate Bible: 1) Jerome's translation from the Hebrew (Canonical Books of thhe Hebrew Scriptures) including his introductions, including recent secondary scholarship on St. Jerome; 2) Jerome's revised Gospels, with particular attention to St. Luke; 3) a glossed commentary on the gospel of St. Luke recently purchased by Notre Dame and Newberry Library (Notre Dame-Newberry ms. no. 9); 4) a transcription and evaluation of the Notre Dame-Newberry glosses. The class will have access to the manuscript itself, as well as photographic reproductions. An elementary knowledge of Latin is prerequisite; students will be expected to translate in class, and to read from reproductions of medieval manuscripts.

MI 572A Topics in Medieval Art
Sherry Lindquist
TH 09:30-10:45

This course considers how women interacted with the visual arts in the Middle Ages. How ere women represented and how did this compare with their actual social roles? How did an audience of both men and women respond to these representations? What kinds of artistic choices did medieval women make as patrons and artists? Finally, what is at stake for men and women today in studying these questions?

MI 576 Medieval Latin Survey
Dan Sheerin
MWF 08:30-09:20

The aim of this course is to experience a broad spectrum of Medieval Latin texts. Readings representative of a variety of genres (literary and subliterary), eras, and regions will be selected. Students planning to enroll in this course should be completing Introduction to Christian Latin Texts or they must secure the permission of the instructor. Those with interests in particular text types should inform the instructor well in advance so that he can try to accommodate their interests.

MI 580 Seminar in Medieval Art
Sherry Lindquist
MW 01:30-02:45

Art and Vision in the Later Middle Ages: How people see and how they think they see have profound implications for under-standing the art of any historical period. In this seminar we will consider vision as an interpretive paradigm for investigating the production and reception of art, focusing on the later Middle Ages. Drawing on the writings of Aristotle, Alhazen, Bacon and others, late medieval people increasingly attributed truth value to what they perceived with their senses---especially the sense of sight. Scholars make connections between this development and historical phenomena ranging from the origins of empirical science to the rise of naturalism in art. And yet, competing Platonic and Augustinian ideas asserting that the things of this world are deceptive and unworthy of attention were still very powerful. The devout expressed a widespread desire for beatific over earthly vision. People guarded against exposure to sinful sights, feared the "evil eye" and tried to protect themselves against diabolic illusions.
As a class and in individual research projects, we will address primary sources and scholarship about vision, visions, and the connections between material and mental imagery. We will analyze images intended to incite or enhance visionary experience, images meant to guide the laity in seeing productively, images that question and/or assert secular seeing, as well as architectural structures that regulated sight. Through our consideration of aspects of late medieval visuality, we will investigate the inter-relationships between science, philosophy, theology, and artistic representation..

MI 584 Historical Writing in England from Gildas to Trevisa
Julia Marvin
M 1:30-4:15

This course, designed for (but by no means limited to) students of history or literature, will make a selective, chronological survey of the varieties of historical writing in England from its beginnings to the rise of vernacular historiography in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. We will examine a range of works--among them broad histories, annals, monastic chronicles, and royal lives--in Latin, English, and Anglo-Norman, going beyond what modern scholars have often deemed "historical" to include vernacular verse works such as the Bruts of Wace and Layamon and later vernacular chronicles such as the prose Brut. Among other things, we will investigate what their writers considered historical, how they ordered their works and their arguments, and how they sought to endow their own texts with authority. The course will also serve as an introduction to modern scholarly work on medieval historiography. In the interests of time, we will read mostly in modern English translation, but students will write a research paper on one of the works studied (or another of their choosing) and so should be comfortable with at least one of the literary languages of medieval England. Students who already have a strong interest in a particular historical text or writer are encouraged to contact me as soon as possible.

MI 592 Theories of Law
Mary Keys
T 3:30-6:00

What is law? What constitutes a just law? Is there any universally valid, moral foundation for law: human rights, natural law, a categorical imperative, etc.? Or is law purely positive, a product of the will of those possessing political power, its justice merely a matter of following the established procedures? These questions constitute the core of this seminar. We will focus on the contemporary debates on these issues among legal theorists, in particular H.L.A. Hart (The Concept of Law) and John Finnis (Natural Law and Natural Rights), preparing to understand them better through careful study of Thomas Aquinas's writings on law and justice. There will be additional short readings from early modern theorists and American jurists as well.

MI 594 Nature, Grace, and History
John Roos
MW 01:30-02:45

This seminar will explore several interrelated themes concerning the relationship between religious belief and politics. It will critically compare several authors on a variety of questions including the status of politics, its natural versus conventional status, whether religion is understood as natural theology or divine particular providence, whether reason and revelation can conflict, toleration of other religions, and what claims are made about the role of revealed religion in establishing political obligation. Readings will include parts of Plato "Laws," Augustine's "City of God," Aquina's "Summa Theologica," Maimonides "Guide of the Perplexed," Alfarabi's "Plato's Laws," John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion," and selections from Martin Luther. Requirements will include two five-page seminar papers, four one-page commentaries, and a 20-page term paper due at the end of the semester.

MI 598B 2nd Year Research Tutorial 2
Thomas Noble
By arrangement

Second-year graduate students in medieval studies produce a substantial, original research paper based on the intensive program of reading in primary sources (preponderantly in the original language) and scholarly literature undertaken with a teacher in the previous semester. Alternatively, by permission of the Medieval Institute’s director, students may use the tutorial to expand and polish a paper prepared originally for a previous research seminar.

Prerequisite: 2nd year standing as a graduate student in medieval studies.

MI 607 Rome, the Christians, and Early Europe
Sabine MacCormack
MW 01:30-02:45

The course studies continuity and discontinuity in the Mediterranean world during a formative period, the transition from Roman Empire to early medieval European kingdoms. Christianity played a vital role during this transformation, but not the only one. Beginning with a review of Roman institutions, law, culture and religion, we will observe the changes they underwent between c. 150 CE and c.750 CE. At this latter point in time, some people were still thinking of themselves as living within the Roman empire, even though the local potentate was a non-Roman king. Also, Roman law had become Christian law, and Latin was beginning to generate the languages now collectively described as "Romance." On the fringes of Europe, in England and Ireland, meanwhile, missionaries shared with their converts not just Christianity but also the Latin language and Latin literature along with certain Roman concepts of culture and political organization.

MI 629 Islamic Origins
Gabriel Said Reynolds
M 12:50-03:50

Few questions in Religious Studies have proven more contentious than that of Islamic origins. Formerly western scholars debated whether Islam originated from Christianity or from Judaism. In reaction to that earlier debate, contemporary scholars have often portrayed Islam as a fully-independent religious movement, due either to the genius of Muhammad or the inspiration of the Qur'an. At the same time, new theories have sporadically arisen that present profoundly new visions of Islamic origins, theories based on non-Islamic historical sources (Crone/Cook), theological analogies to Judaeo-Christianity (Lueling) or Syro-Aramaic leadings of the Qur'an (Luxenberg). The present seminar, then, is devoted to an investigation of the past and present debate over Islamic origins. In addition, our seminar will be supplemented by the conference "Towards a New Reading of the Qur'an?," to be held at Notre Dame on April 2-4, 2005.

MI 647 Muslims and Christians in the Medieval Mediterranean World
Olivia Remie Constable
H 02:00-04:45

This colloquium will consider the cross-cultural history of the western Mediterranean, including North Africa, southern Italy, and France, Sicily, and the Iberian Peninsula from the eighth to the 15th century. Special attention will be devoted to political, social, economic, and cultural contacts between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in this region. The course will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on secondary monographs and articles. Students may write either a research paper or a historiographical essay.

MI 688 Medieval Legal History
Robert Rodes
W 08:00-10:00 p.m.

Studies the formative period of the Anglo-American legal system using 14th-century yearbooks and other materials from the same period.