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Spring 2006: Graduate Courses
MI 60005 Paleography
Dan Sheerin
MWF 08:30-09:20
Although paleography, study of the history of letter forms, has
been called "a science of the very small," it can play
a very large role: it equips philologists with otherwise unavailable
resources for their studies, it furnishes historians of culture
and the arts with abundant new data and comparanda, and it is
a source of delight to anyone who loves books and calligraphy.
This course is an introduction: it will provide an overview of
the history of Latin letters and writing from the first century
BC through the 15th century AD considered as products of the cultures
that produced them; special attention will be given to developing
facility in reading the principal script types used for the transmission
of texts (bookhands) and in transcribing and editing texts so
transmitted; but students will also develop a good acquaintance,
a basis for future study, with the more obscure script types,
display scripts, and letter forms employed on coins, inscriptions,
and seals.
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MI 60111 Beowulf
Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe
TR 03:30-04:45
What relationship do we expect between "heroic" texts
and the society which produced and enjoyed them? What cultural
investments of our own lead us to read certain Old English texts
and not others? How did Beowulf receive canonical status? What
strategies of reading permit the past to offer a critique of the
present? Using Beowulf as both focus and foil, this course will
examine a wide range of textual and material cultural issues presented
by the surviving verse from Anglo-Saxon England. Pre-requisite:
Reading knowledge of Old English. (Undergraduates may enroll with
permission of the instructor.)
Required work: Mid-term examination, oral report, critical paper,
final examination.
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MI 60199 Introduction to Middle English Manuscript
Studies: Authors, Scribes and Readers in Late Medieval England
and Anglo-Ireland
Kathryn Kerby-Fulton
MW 11:45-01:00
This course will examine the culture of the book in late medieval
England, including the important literary writers who gave it
impetus, the scribes who transmitted and often transformed their
works, and the wide range of readers they reached. Among the writers
to be studied will be Julian of Norwich, Chaucer, Langland, the
Gawain Poet, Hoccleve, and Margery Kempe; among the topics to
be discussed: literacy, book illustration, marginalia, social
conditions of authorship, the rise of heresy, women and book production,
nun’s libraries, patronage, household books, religious and
political trends, and attempts at official censorship.
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MI 60251 Colloquium: Medieval Cities
Remie Constable
R 02:00-04:30
This colloquium examines the development and structure of urban
centers in Europe and the Mediterranean world from late antiquity
to the later Middle Ages. Through a discussion of primary texts,
secondary historical studies, and works on modern urban theory,
we will track the history of urban life in the Middle Ages, with
particular attention given to the topography, society, culture,
and economy of cities in southern Europe.
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MI 60279 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.
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MI 60280 Rome, the Christians, and Early Europe
Sabine MacCormack
MW 11:45-01:00
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.
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MI 60322 Founders of the Middle Ages
Stephen Gersh
TR 02:00-03:15
A study of three Christian writers of late antiquity who influenced
medieval thought and literature in significant ways: Boethius
- philosopher, theologian, and translator of Greek sciences and
logic, Cassiodorus - historian and theorist of education --, and
Isidore of Seville - etymologist, encyclopaedist, and theologian.
The course will begin with an introductory survey of the "Augustinism"
which underlies the thinking of the chosen authors, and will continue
with lectures on these authors, their works, and their contexts.
Special features of the course will be 1. regular readings in
class of the authors in their original Latin, and 2. preparation
among the students and under supervision of the instructor of
a prosopographical and bibliographical guide for each author studied.
The regular Latin readings and the guides will satisfy the written
requirements of the course
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MI 60364 Anselm and Nicholas of Cusa: God as Maximum
Stephen Gersh
TR 12:30-01:45
A study of two of the most important non-scholastic philosophical
writers before 1500 - Anselm of Canterbury and Nicholas of Cusa
- laying emphasis upon the methodological and doctrinal continuities
and contrasts between them. Of Anselm, we shall read Monologion,
Proslogion, and De Veritate, and of Cusanus De Docta Ignorantia,
De li Non Aliud, and De Possest. Among the philosophical issues
selected for discussion will be 1. - starting from Anselm's notion
of God as "That-than-which-a-greater-cannot-be-thought"
- the theological and cosmological notion of maximum; 2. the contrast
between Anselm's Aristotelian-Boethian logic and the alternative
logic(s) of Cusanus; and 3. the contrast between Anselm's (apparently)
Augustinian Platonism and the more Dionysian and "Chartrian"
Platonism(s) of Cusanus. Requirement: one final written paper
of ca. 20 pp.
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MI 60420 Topics in Early Christianity
Robin Darling
Young
TR 12:30-01:45
The course is entitled "The Formation of Christian Empire."
It is a historical exploration of the development of empire and
the religious polity in antiquity and late antiquity, beginning
with the idea of the Davidic monarchy in the Jewish tradition
and divine kingship in Graeco-Roman tradition, but concentrating
upon the Christian adoption and combination of these ideas and
their adaptation in the Roman empire and successor states in Europe
to the Carolingian period. It investigates primary theological,
political and philosophical sources as well as classical and recent
secondary treatments of the matter
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MI 60467 Medieval Liturgies
Michael Driscoll
T 12:30-03:15
The purpose of this seminar is to examine the various sacramental
rites in the Middle Ages, especially the Eucharistic liturgy,
and to attempt to reconstruct them within the context of liturgical
enactment, architectural space, artistic and musical decoration,
etc. The seminar must necessarily deal with liturgical texts,
but this is only a first step for understanding the broader dimensions
of the liturgy. Architectural, artistic and musical components
will be taken into consideration. Numerous commentaries on the
liturgy are also an important source for garnering the medieval
understanding of the liturgy, especially in its allegorical interpretation.
A tangential but key element for the understanding is the devotional
and spiritual practices that grew up alongside the official liturgy.
Therefore, some attention will be given to these dimensions, including
liturgical drama.
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MI 60475 Christian Spirituality
Lawrence Cunningham
MW 01:30-02:45
This course will fall into three parts: (1) A consideration of
the nature of Christian spirituality and the ways in which the
subject can be studied; (2) a consideration of some classical
texts on prayer (Origen, Cassian, Augustine, Teresa of Avila,
and Thomas Merton); (3) A study of some fundamental themes in
Christian spirituality. Course requirements include regular brief
reflection papers on the reading; Two examinations; a research
paper of roughly 12-15 pages. There will be a reading packet and
three required books in the course.
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MI 60476 The Monastic Way in the History of Christianity
Robin Darling Young
TR 09:30-10:45
This course considers the origins of monasticism in the ascetic
traditions of Second Temple Judaism/earliest Christianity and
examines the varying institutions of the monastic life from the
late third century through the Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth.
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MI 60478 Islam and Muslim-Christian Dialogue
Gabriel
Said Reynolds
TR 03:30-04:45
In our course we will consider Christianity's encounter with
Islam, from the Islamic conquests of the 7th century to the internet
age. The first section of the course is historical. We will examine
how various historical contexts have affected the Christian understanding
of Muslims, their scripture and their prophet. The second section
of the course is systematic. How are Christians today to respond
to Islam, in light of world events and recent Church teaching?
In addressing this question we will analyze primary sources that
express a range of responses, from relativism to dialogue to evangelism.
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MI 60508 Rascals, Saints and Soldiers: Autobiography
of the Golden Age
Encarnacion Juarez
M 03:00-05:30
A study of fictional and historical autobiography in the Golden
Age.
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MI 60553 Dante II
Christian Moevs
TR 09:30-10:45
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.
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MI 60632 Medieval Latin Survey
W. Martin Bloomer
MW 11:45-01:00
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.
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MI 60720 Late Antique and Early Christian Art
Charles
Barber
MW 11:45-01:00
Art in Late Antiquity has traditionally been characterized as
an art in decline, but this judgment is relative, relying on standards
formulated for art of other periods. Challenging this assumption,
we will examine the distinct and powerful transformations within
the visual culture of the period between the third and sixth centuries
AD. This period witnesses the mutation of the institutions of
the Roman Empire into those of the Christian Byzantine Empire.
Parallel to these social changes we can identify the emergence
of a Christian art that defines our basic assumptions about the
role of art in a Christian society. The fundamental change in
religious identity that was the basis for this development had
a direct impact upon the visual material that survives from this
period. This course examines the underlying conditions that made
images so central to cultural identity at this period.
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MI 60725 15th-Century Italian Renaissance Art
Charles
Rosenberg
TR 09:30-10:45
Open to all students. This course investigates the century most
fully identified with the Early Renaissance in Italy. Individual
works by artists such as Brunelleschi, Donatello, Ghiberti, Fra
Angelico, Botticelli, and Alberti are set into their social, political
and religious context. Special attention is paid to topics such
as the origins of art theory, art and audience, art and institutional
and personal spirituality, portraiture and the definition of self,
and Medician patronage..
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60783 Vocal Sacred Music
Alexander Blachly
TR 02:00-03:15
"Vocal Sacred Music I" is devoted primarily to Gregorian
Chant, with some study toward the end of the semester of medieval
polyphonic works based on chant. The course will cover matters
of liturgy, performance practice, musical forms, notation, and
sources. The course is open to upper-class music majors, graduate
students in the Master of Sacred Music Program, and undergraduates
and graduates in Medieval Studies.
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MI 63402 Historical Theology Seminar: Medieval Theology
Thomas Prugl
M 12:50-03:50
Ecclesiology in the Middle Ages
Unlike the Trinity, christology, or sacramentology ecclesiology
did not form a distinct area of academic teaching in medieval
theology. It was not until the 15th century that the tractate
"De ecclesia" emerged to become one of the most important
areas of theology in modern times. Nevertheless, the Church was
an object of theological investigation prior to the 1500s, and
usually these investigations reflect the political controversies
of the day. One major obstacle of medieval theologians to provide
a coherent doctrine on the Church was the tension between a mere
eschatological concept of church as "corpus Christi mysticum"
and an understanding of the Church as a concrete spatio-temporal
reality with a hierarchical organization. Accordingly, descriptions
of the Church fluctuated, emphasizing either the visible constitution
of the Church, its hierarchy and power, or the sacramental view
of the Church as the vessel of the Holy Spirit and the communal
aspect of salvation and grace. After briefly looking at the Gregorian
reform in the 11th and 12th centuries, the major part of the course
will focus on the ecclesiological ideas of the 14th and 15th centuries,
when the Great Western Schism (1378-1414) and the heresies of
John Wycliffe and Jan Hus challenged traditional understandings
of the Church. The Conciliar Movement in the wake of the Councils
of Constance (1414-1418) and Basel (1431-1449) and the reactions
to it produced more ecclesiological literature than any period
before that time. Linking the debates on the Church in the earlier
and the later Middle Ages, the course will also pay attention
to the ecclesiology of Thomas Aquinas as a representative of high
scholastic thought. -- Students are required to write one formal
research paper and to prepare background reports as well as in
class presentations on selected texts. Many texts discussed in
this course are not available in translation. Therefore a basic
reading knowledge of Latin is expected.
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MI 63421 Early Christianity Seminar
Blake Leyerle
R 09:30-12:15
John Chrysostom and Friends: The Social World of Late Antiquity
John Chrysostom preached and wrote tirelessly for his congregations
in Antioch and Constantinople from the end of the fourth to the
beginning of the fifth century. This body of sermons and occasional
tracts provides us with an unsurpassed window onto the lives and
concerns of late antique Christian men and women. These social
issues - as well as the church's efforts to address them - will
form the focus of this course. Other roughly contemporary authors
(i.e. "friends") will be consulted to extend and enrich
our discussion. We will explore issues of civic life, urban poverty,
marriage and sexuality, the education of children, monasticism,
patronage, sickness, Jewish-Christian relations, rhetoric, and
church matters. Throughout the course, we will consider the role
of theory in the work of history.
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MI 63750 Medieval Art Seminar
Nina Rowe
TR 03:30-04:45
The Gothic Cathedral in Historical Perspective
This seminar will examine gothic cathedrals in relation to their
medieval, early modern and modern audiences. Our exploration will
begin in the thirteenth century, considering both the patrons
and audiences for medieval cathedrals. Here we will examine the
technical achievements of the builders and the iconography of
sculpted decorative programs, as well as the immense economic
toll such projects took on local economies. In our second unit
we will consider eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century
enthusiasm for gothic style as manifestations of nationalist and
idealist agendas of such thinkers as Victor Hugo, John Ruskin
and Henry Adams. Finally we will consider the position of gothic
style within the contemporary United States, exploring issues
ranging from medieval reenactment societies, through goth rock
to architecture on the Notre Dame campus..
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MI 66020 Directed Readings (for Graduate Students)
Various Instructors
By arrangement
Offers students a possibility, normally in their second or third year, to work
closely with a professor in preparing a topic mutually agreed
upon. Student and professor must sign a form that records the
readings.
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MI 67002 2nd-Year Research Tutorial II
Various instructors
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.
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77001 Field Examination Preparation
Thomas Prügl
By arrangement
Offers students a possibility, normally in their second or third
year, to work closely with a professor in preparing for one of
their field examinations.
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77002 Dissertation Proposal Preparation
Thomas Prügl
By arrangement
Offers students the opportunity to work with their adviser in
preparing their dissertation proposal.
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88001 Research and Dissertation
Thomas Prügl
By arrangement
Independent research and writing on an approved subject under
the direction of a faculty member.
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88002 Nonresident Dissertation Research
Thomas Prügl
By arrangement
Required of nonresident graduate students who are completing
their theses in absentia and who wish to retain their degree status.
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