Spring 2005 Undergraduate 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: Undergraduate Courses

MI 230 Introduction to Medieval Art
Charles Barber
TH 02:00-03:15

This course will provide an introduction to the visual arts of the period ca. 300 CE to ca. 1400 CE. In the course of the semester we shall devote much time to considering the possibility of a history of Medieval Art, as the objects and practices of the Middle Ages will be shown to problematize our assumptions about the nature of art history. Working from individual objects and texts we will construct a series of narratives that will attend to the varieties of artistic practices available to the Middle Ages. From these it will be shown that art was a vital, complex, lucid and formative element in the societies and cultures, both secular and sacred, which shaped this period.

MI 301 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
Stephen Dumont
TH 02:00-03:15

A survey of Western philosophy from its beginnings in the early Greek physicists to the late Middle Ages. The emphasis in class will be on the reading and analysis of fundamental texts by main figures of the period: Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Concurrent reading of a standard history will supply additional background and continuity. Requirements: Two papers (one each for the ancient and medieval portions of the course), a mid-term, and final examination.

Permission required

MI 313A 12th Century Renaissance & Reform
John Van Engen
TH 11:00-12:15

The thousand years of history we call "the middle ages" witnessed repeated efforts to reform and enlighten society through learning and religion. Such aspirations did not wait for the periods we call Renaissance and Reformation. This course will examine reform movements in the years 1050-1215, a time of great cultural expansion often called the "twelfth-century renaissance." Here we find the invention of the university and also of chivalry, mystics as well as satirical mockers. We will read original sources dealing with ethics, politics, love, and religion in that society. We will ask what it means, historically, to speak of a society as undergoing renewal or reform: Can a whole society be reformed? By whom? By what means?
Three short papers, and a midterm.

MI 318A Survey of Spanish Literature I
Encarnacion Juarez
TH 11:00-12:15

A survey of Spanish literature through 1700. Readings of selected texts in prose, poetry, and theater from the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods.

MI 333F 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 335E Gothic Art
Sherry Lindquist
MWF 10:40-11:30

It was during the Gothic period, stretching approximately from the 12th to the 15th centuries, that artists raised their social status to a higher level and produced a greater quantity of works than ever before seen in the Christian West. The architectural forms that we identify as characterizing the Gothic style, such as pointed arches, flying buttresses, pinnacles and quatrefoils were applied not only to buildings, but to altarpieces, illuminated manuscripts, liturgical objects and even to domestic items such as spoons, beds, and chests. This style has a powerful legacy, and has been frequently revived to various purposes in the modern era.
This course studies Gothic monuments -- who commissioned and made them and how they functioned for different audiences. Among others we consider the following questions: what motives fueled large architectural enterprises? What was their cultural, political, and social significance to women and men, to the laity and clergy, and to viewers from different social classes? How did imagery convey complex theological messages to this varied audience? How did architectural or public images differ from the portable private works of art which became increasingly popular in the late Gothic period?

MI 353 Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth
Laura Crago
MWF 09:35-10:25

This course will survey the history of the Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth from its origins in the 1386 dynastic union of Jogailo, Grand Duke of Lithuania, with Hedvig, the daughter of Polish king, Louis the Great (1370-1382), through the transformation into a political union at Lublin in 1569 to the collapse of the Commonwealth which culminated in three partitions at the end of the 18th century. Special emphasis will be placed on the political processes which transformed the Commonwealth into one of the most democratic countries in the world, but also ultimately contributed to its decline. Attention, too, will be paid to the wars which ravaged the Commonwealth, including those with Muscovy, Sweden, the Ottoman Empire, and with the peoples of what today is modern Ukraine.

MI 370 Modeling Sanctity: The Saint in Image and Text
Meredith Gill
TH 12:30-01:45

In this course, we will examine the lives and legacy of selected saints with a view to defining the ideal qualities and criteria by which sainthood is made known. Incorporating visual as well as textual materials, hagiographies, theological writings and written testimonies, the course will consider the varieties of evidence that testify to sanctity. An important part of this course will be a discussion of how different kinds of evidence must be evaluated according to their medium and audience, for example, how visual portrayals--whether portrait, narrative cycle or manuscript representations--can be compared to written ones, and differentiated from textual sources not only in iconographic terms but as unique and forceful forms of knowledge in their own right.

MI 371 Survey of French Literature I
Joanne DellaNeva
TH 11:00-12:15

Reading of selections and complete works of outstanding French authors from major genres and periods. All majors are required to take this sequence, or equivalent advanced courses. Students are expected to have already taken ROFR 310 or to take ROFR 310 concurrently with the first survey taken.

Prerequisite: Two or more 300-level courses or placement by exam.

MI 414 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 423 Dante II
Christian Moevs
TH 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.

MI 425E 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 434 Medieval Ireland
Aideen O’Leary
TH 11:00-12:15

This course comprises a survey of the history and culture of the Irish and the other Celtic peoples from the Neolithic era to approximately A.D. 1500. We will explore the main documentary sources in translation-mythological and historical, ecclesiastical and secular-as well as discussing the importance of the archaeological evidence.

MI 449 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 455 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 471A 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 472A Topics in Medieval Art
Caroline Goodson
TH 09:30-10:45

Building the Middle Ages: Medieval builders shaped cities and nations. How did architectural projects change when they were the projects of bishops, monks, kings, or merchants? What role did the fall of Rome or the rise of Islam play in the choices of medieval patrons and their architects? We will examine major monuments and lesser buildings from the Early Christian period to the High Middle Ages in Europe, considering buildings of Byzantium and North Africa as points of comparison. Late antiquity and the early middle ages witnessed the most dramatic transformations in architectural practice, and the first part of the semester will be dedicated to these early centuries, looking at Rome, the British Isles, Northern Europe, as well as Jerusalem, and the Islamic cities of Cordoba and Fez. During the latter part of the semester, we will explore places that enjoyed significant growth in the later middle ages, including Paris and London. Studying the history of architecture by city and site, with an attention to social and historical circumstances as well as techniques of construction and use of materials will allow us to reflect upon architecture's role in the life of a city or community and its inhabitants. In this way, students' understanding of the environment and function of buildings will be rooted in geography and topography as well as history.

MI 476 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 482 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.

Permission required.