Spring 2007 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 2007: Undergraduate Courses

MI 20001-1 The World of the Middle Ages
Thomas F. X. Noble
MW 1:55 - 2:45

The Middle Ages have been praised and reviled, romanticized and fantasized. The spectacular popularity of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia have brought a revival of interest in and curiosity about the Middle Ages. But what were they like, these ten centuries between Rome and the Renaissance? In this course, we will explore major themes and issues in medieval civilization in an attempt to offer some basic answers to that question. We will have in view three kinds of people: rulers, lovers, and believers. But we will also study carefully those who wrote about those kinds of people. We will constantly ask how can we know about the Middle Ages, and what kinds of things can we know? We will consider major literary texts as both works of art and historical documents. We will explore various kinds of religious literature. We will try to understand the limits, boundaries, and achievements of philosophy and theology. Some lectures will incorporate medieval art so as to add a visual dimension to our explorations. This course will constitute an extended introduction to the dynamic and fascinating world of the Middle Ages. This course can be used to satisfy either the University Literature OR the University History requirement.

MI 20193-1 Tolkien, Lewis, and Medieval Literature:
Allegory and Symbol
Miranda Wilcox
TR 12:30 - 1:45

In this class, we will read two works by professional scholars of medieval literature: The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. These popular and accessible works enact two important modes of literary narrative: allegory and symbol. The broad aim of this course is to be an introduction to medieval literature, and more specifically to bring some important theoretical writings on allegory and symbol to bear on several medieval texts and modern texts that they inspired.

MI 22001-1 World of the Middle Ages            F      1:55 - 2:45
MI 22001-2 World of the Middle Ages            F      12:50 - 1:40
MI 22001-3 World of the Middle Ages            F      10:40 - 11:30
MI 22001-4 World of the Middle Ages            F      11:45 -12:35

Discussion section accompanying MI 20001.

MI 30257-1 The Medieval Mind
John H. Van Engen
TR 11:00 - 12:15

This course offers an introduction to thought and culture in the European middle ages, the era of Romance, scholastic theologians, and female mystics. After a relatively brief look at the early middle ages, the course will focus on the origins of the literature of love and chivalry, of schoolmen in universities, and of women religious writers. There is a general textbook to guide the course, but much of the reading will be in primary sources, that is, in the thinkers and poets, and mystics of the medieval period.

MI 30301-1 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
Stephen D. Dumont
TR 9:30 - 10:45

This course will concentrate on major figures and persistent themes. A balance will be sought between scope and depth, the latter ensured by a close reading of selected texts.

MI 30301-2 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
Alfred J. Freddoso
MW 11:45 - 1:00

This course will concentrate on major figures and persistent themes. A balance will be sought between scope and depth, the latter ensured by a close reading of selected texts.

MI 30500-1 Survey of Spanish Literature I
Encarnacion Juarez-Almendros
TR 1:30 - 2:45

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

MI 30530-1 Survey of French Literature
Jo Ann Della Neva
MW 11:45 - 1:00

Reading of selections and complete works of outstanding French authors from major genres and periods. Students are expected to have already taken ROFR 30310.

MI 30663-1 Historical Survey: The Arab Middle East
Joseph Amar
TR 12:30 - 1:45

This course will chart the history of the Arab Middle East from the formative period of the emergence of Islam in the seventh century through the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the creation of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Intended to be broad in its coverage and comprehensive in its scope, the course will introduce students to the social, cultural, and religious crosscurrents that came to define the Arab life and culture in the region.

MI 30672-1 Saints and Kings in Medieval Ireland
Hugh S. Fogarty
TR 2:00 - 3:15

This course focuses on a series of encounters (in early Irish and Hiberno-Latin) between saints and kings or other royal characters. Through these stories and characters, tensions between the domains of spiritual and secular, the local and the “national,” the native and the external, are raised, explored and (sometimes, though by no means always) resolved. Saints such as Patrick, Colmcille, Brigit, Ciarán, and Cainnech, together with kings such as Lóegaire Mac Néill, Diarmuit Mac Cerbaill, and Muirchertach Mac Erca will be studied.

MI 30700-2 Introduction to Medieval Art
Charles E. Barber
MW 11:45 - 1:00

This course will introduce the visual arts of the period c. A.D. 300 to c. A.D. 1300. 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 make our assumptions about the nature of art history problematic. 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, that shaped this period

MI 40022-1 The Vulgate and Related Texts
Ladouceur, David J.
TR 11:00 - 12:15

Introduction to a wide range of texts drawn from Jerome’s Vulgate Bible with focus on understanding the peculiarities of this Hebraizing-Hellenizing Latin within its original historical linguistic context. No knowledge of Greek or Hebrew required. Special emphasis on the Book of Psalms which will be carefully read along with modern and ancient Christian commentaries including Augustine’s Ennarrationes in Psalmos.

MI 40149-1 Literature of Late Medieval England
Katherine G. Zieman
MW 3:00 - 4:15

This course will survey various kinds of late medieval English writing, from the chivalric romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to the dream vision, Piers Plowman, to the spiritual autobiography of Margery Kempe. We will focus on the language of the period, reading several of these texts in Middle English or in facing-page translations, as well as relevant aspects of medieval culture, its modes of representation, its literary genres, its social and political conflicts.

MI 40161-1 Arthurian Legends
Dolores W. Frese
TR 11:00 - 12:15

An examination of the textual traditions surrounding the once-and-future-king, Arthur, through readings of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, Chretien de Troyes’ The Story of the Grail, The Quest of the Holy Grail, selected short fictions from the Welsh Mabinogion, Marie de France’s Lais, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, and selections from Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, and T. H. White’s The Once & Future King.

MI 40162-1 Medieval Narratives
Sarah M. Powrie
MW 1:30 - 2:45

Augustine invented the term “soliloquy” and used it as a title for one of his early dialogues, in which a fictional Augustine debates with an allegorical Reason about the nature of the soul. Thus, at its very inception, the term combines the philosophical and the literary, describing a constructed narrative that unfolds through a volley of competing ideas. This course will investigate the pre-Shakespearian history of the soliloquy and the inward narrative. It will begin with Augustine’s Confessions, and Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, and then consider how the same dialectical pattern informs works in the vernacular tradition, such as the Pearl poem, Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess, the Mirror of Simple Souls, and Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love. We will consider the literary construction of the “I,” its relation to the narrator, and the competing forces within the “I,” which both fragment and constitute its identity. We will examine the role of memory, reason, and imagination for each writer, and consider how the interplay of these forces informs the literary, philosophical and meditative dimensions of their work.

MI 40212-1 Age of Charlemagne
Thomas F. X. Noble
MWF 10:40 - 11:30

The Carolingian (from Carolus, Latin for Charles: Charles the Great--Charlemagne--was the most famous Carolingian) period, roughly the eighth and ninth centuries, was foundational for Western Europe. But this was also the time when the mid-Byzantine Empire consolidated its position and when the Abbasid family of caliphs introduced important and durable changes in the Islamic world. This course will focus on the West in the age of Charlemagne, but will draw frequent comparisons with and make continuous reference to Europe's Byzantine and Islamic neighbors. The course will explore such themes as: Europe’s Roman and Christian inheritances from antiquity; the peoples of the Carolingian world; kingship and empire; political and social institutions and ideologies; religious and secular law; war and diplomacy; agriculture and trade; the church--popes, bishops, monks, and nuns; theology; art and architecture; Latin and vernacular literature. Reading assignments will combine modern scholarship and primary sources (in translation). Students will write midterm and final examinations and will choose between several short papers or one long paper. Graduate students will meet weekly with the professor, carry out reading assignments different from those of the undergraduates, and submit a series of short papers.

MI 40433-1 Theology of St. Augustine
Brian E. Daley
MW 3:00 - 4:15

Augustine of Hippo was arguably the most influential theological thinker in the history of western Christianity. A brilliant professional rhetorician and a profound student of Neoplatonic philosophy, Augustine brought his gifts and training to the service of the Church when he was baptized, after a long struggle of faith, in 387. Yet perhaps because of his gifts, he was always surrounded by controversy, and has remained so down to the present--appearing to many to be responsible for some of the main shortcomings of the Church’s theology and practice, even as his writings largely set the agenda for later theological discussion in the West. In this course, we will read a representative sample of his major works--some of his early philosophical treatises, the Confessions, his Homilies on I John and on some of the Psalms, some of his controversial works on grace and human freedom, and parts of On Christian Teaching, On the Trinity, and On the City of God. Our goal will be to discover Augustine’s characteristic blend of exegesis, pastoral concern, philosophical speculation, and spirituality, and to let it challenge and nourish our own reflective faith.

MI 40442-1 Thomas Aquinas and the Pursuit of Wisdom
Joseph P. Wawrykow
MW 1:30 - 2:45

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 40553-1 Dante II
Christian R. Moevs
TR 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 40605-1 The Romans and Their Gods
Anna L. Taylor
MWF 12:50 - 1:40

An introduction to the way in which the Romans conceived of, worshipped, and communicated with the myriad gods of their pantheon. The course will focus first on conventional religious rituals and their cultural value, and secondly on the success of Roman polytheism in adapting to changing historical and social conditions. Particular attention will be paid to the so-called mystery religions including Christianity, and their relationship to conventional forms of religious behavior.

MI 40633-1 Medieval Latin Texts
Anna L. Taylor
MWF 3:00 - 3:50

A survey of medieval Latin texts, designed to introduce intermediate students to medieval Latin literature and to help them progress in translation skills.

MI 40635-1 Creation and Time in Augustine
MacCormack, Sabine
W 1:30 - 4:00

In his youth, Augustine (354-430 AD) received an excellent education in the Latin classics, the benefits of which remained with him throughout his life. Later, he also read philosophical writings, and, after his conversion, works by Christian authors. The book he quoted most frequently was the Bible. From his childhood, Augustine was endowed with a most unusual ability to ask awkward questions. Initially targeting his teachers, he later addressed his questions to the authors whose books he read, and to God. His writings therefore tend to take a dialogic form where the interlocutors include not only the reader but God, and--among human beings--Cicero, Vergil and other Romans, and also Augustine’s Christian contemporaries, including Jerome, Paulinus of Nola, and Count Marcellinus to whom he addressed the City of God. In following these dialogues, we will read not just Augustine’s best known writings (Confessions and City of God) but also his commentaries on Genesis, and some of his letters and sermons. The purpose is to arrive at an understanding of Augustine’s ideas about creation and time, and about the nature of human society and its goals. We will also ask what can be learnt from Augustine’s dialogic and sometimes disputatious way of thinking, explaining, and debating. Almost all of Augustine’s writings have been translated into English, but obviously, an ability to read Latin will be most useful.

MI 43303-1 History of Medieval Philosophy
Stephen D. Dumont
TR 5:00 - 6:15

A semester-long course focusing on the history of medieval philosophy. It provides a more in-depth consideration of this period than is allowed in PHIL 30301, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy and may be considered a follow-up to that course.

MI 46020
Directed Readings (for Undergraduates)
Thomas Noble

Offers advanced undergraduate students a possibility to work closely with a professor in preparing a topic mutually agreed upon.