Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Medieval and Early Modern Studies
https://medieval.rice.edu/
326 Humanities Building
713-348-4947

Claire Fanger
Program Director
mdem@rice.edu

The Medieval and Early Modern Studies program offers a major and a minor, which enable students to study medieval and early modern cultures in the period between 300 and 1800 A.D.

Both the major and minor are interdisciplinary and foster a global perspective, combining a broad background in various aspects of medieval and early modern culture with more specialized study in a selected field. These fields of emphasis or specialized study include medieval and early modern art history, history, literature (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, or Latin), music, philosophy, or religion.

Medieval and Early Modern Studies does not currently offer an academic program at the graduate level.

Director and Advisor

Claire Fanger

Professors

Lisa A. Balabanlilar
Gregory Barnett
Joseph A. Campana, Jr. 
David Cook
Jeffrey B. Fleisher
Michael R. Maas
Joseph Manca
Scott McGill
Alida C. Metcalf
Deborah Nelson-Campbell
Brian Ogren
Paula A. Sanders
Edward A. Snow

Associate Professors

Niki Clements
Daniel Domingues Da Silva
Sarah Ellenzweig
Claire Fanger
Esther Fernández
Emily Houlik-Ritchey
Shih-Shan Susan Huang
Maya Soifer Irish
Peter V. Loewen
Aysha Pollnitz

Assistant Professors

Farshid Emami
Denva Gallant 
Eric Huntington
Jaymin Kim

Senior Lecturer

Ted Somerville

Lecturers

Philip Mogen
Kevin "Casey" Shoenberger, Jr.

For Rice University degree-granting programs:
To view the list of official course offerings, please see Rice’s Course Catalog
To view the most recent semester’s course schedule, please see Rice's Course Schedule

Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MDEM)

MDEM 101 - ELEMENTARY LATIN I

Short Title: ELEMENTARY LATIN I

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Study of the fundamentals of Latin grammar with emphasis on acquisition of reading skills. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Cross-list: LATI 101.

MDEM 102 - ELEMENTARY LATIN II

Short Title: ELEMENTARY LATIN II

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Prerequisite(s): LATI 101 or MDST 101 or MDEM 101

Description: Continuation of LATI 101 and MDST 101. Graduate students require permission of instructor. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Cross-list: LATI 102.

MDEM 103 - INTRODUCTION TO JEWISH MYSTICISM

Short Title: INTRO TO JEWISH MYSTICISM

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Surveys the historical development and central themes of Jewish mysticism. From the bible to ancient mysticism to medieval Kabbalah to modern expressions, we will critically reflection the ideas such as divine presence in the world, the cultivation of insight and magical powers, contemplative and restorative practices, and charismatic authority. Cross-list: RELI 104.

MDEM 111 - INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF WESTERN ART I: ANTIQUITY TO GOTHIC

Short Title: INTRO TO HIST OF WESTERN ART I

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: A survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture from Antiquity through the 15th century. Cross-list: CLAS 102, HART 101. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for MDEM 111 if student has credit for HART 220.

MDEM 120 - MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATIONS

Short Title: MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATIONS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Focusing on the period between 300-1500 CE, the course will survey political institutions, society, and culture in medieval European, Byzantine, and Islamic civilizations. Topics include Christianization of Europe, the rise of Islam, the Crusades, scholastic theology, persecution of heretics, bubonic plague, and the rise of centralized monarchies. Cross-list: HIST 120.

MDEM 205 - MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

Short Title: MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Course examines the political, institutional, military, and cultural development of the societies that successively dominated the "Middle Sea" from AD 500-1500 in Europe and the Islamic World. It highlights the Mediterranean legacy of commercial, cultural, and religious exchange and coexistence, as well as its history of confrontation and warfare. Cross-list: HIST 205.

MDEM 210 - MEDIEVAL VIOLENCE

Short Title: MEDIEVAL VIOLENCE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Discussion course looks at private and large-scale warfare during the European Middle Ages. It considers how violence was legitimized and carried out, and examines attitudes towards violence and its effects on society. Topics include theoretical approaches to violence, crusading, chivalry, Truce of God, rituals of violence, military technologies, and cinematic portrayals of medieval warfare. Cross-list: HIST 211.

MDEM 211 - INTERMEDIATE LATIN I: PROSE

Short Title: INTERMEDIATE LATIN I: PROSE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Review of grammar and readings in Latin prose. Cross-list: LATI 201.

MDEM 212 - INTERMEDIATE LATIN II

Short Title: INTERMEDIATE LATIN II

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Prerequisite(s): LATI 201 or MDEM 211

Description: Readings in Virgil. LATI 202 and MDEM 212 are mutually exclusive with LATI 210. Credit cannot be earned for LATI 202 or MDEM 212 if a student has previously taken LATI 210. Cross-list: LATI 202.

MDEM 222 - MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ERAS

Short Title: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ERAS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Prerequisite(s): MUSI 211 or MUSI 317

Description: Introduction to the study of Western music history, with emphasis on music before 1600. Score reading ability required. Cross-list: MUSI 222.

MDEM 238 - SPECIAL TOPICS

Short Title: SPECIAL TOPICS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Internship/Practicum, Laboratory, Lecture, Lecture/Laboratory, Seminar, Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1-4

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Topics and credit hours may vary each semester. Contact department for current semester’s topic(s). Repeatable for Credit.

MDEM 271 - MEDIEVAL POPULAR CHRISTIANITY

Short Title: MEDIEVAL POPULAR CHRISTIANITY

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: For much of the Middle Ages, literacy was a luxury that ordinary people could not afford. How could peasants participate in Christian traditions? Course surveys devotional practices engaged by the laity, including penance, pilgrimage, plays, charms and spells, as well as traditions of lay interaction with dead saints and ghosts. Cross-list: RELI 271.

MDEM 281 - GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM

Short Title: GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level

Description: Introduction to the Islamic World from the 8th century to the 13th century. Topics include conquests and classical Islamic states, Arabization, Jewish and Christian communities, impact of Turkic peoples, and the Ottoman Empire, with emphasis on social, cultural, artistic, and scientific trends that shaped the region's history. Cross-list: HIST 281.

MDEM 306 - DISABILITY IN THE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN WORLD

Short Title: DISABILITY IN MED & EARLY MOD

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: A study of disability and impairment during the medieval and early modern periods. Students will approach the subject through primary and secondary readings, including theoretical tests on disability studies and the humanities.

MDEM 308 - THE WORLD OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Short Title: THE WORLD OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Study of the social, religious, and political history of the Roman world from Diocletian to the rise of Islam, with emphasis on the breaking of the unity of the Mediterranean world and the emergence of early medieval societies in the east and west. Cross-list: HIST 308.

MDEM 311 - THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AFRICA

Short Title: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AFRICA

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Thematic coverage of developments throughout the continent from the Lower Paleolithic to medieval times, with emphasis on food production, metallurgy and the rise of cities and complex societies. Cross-list: ANTH 312.

MDEM 316 - CHAUCER

Short Title: CHAUCER

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: An introduction to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Middle English, and the political and cultural climate of the fourteenth century. Cross-list: ENGL 316, SWGS 305.

MDEM 317 - ARTHURIAN LITERATURE

Short Title: ARTHURIAN LITERATURE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: A survey of the origins and development of the Arthurian legend from the earliest chronicles in the sixth century and later medieval French, Welsh, Irish, and English Arthurian poems to modern adaptations of Arthurian material, including films. Cross-list: ENGL 317, SWGS 301.

MDEM 319 - MEDIEVAL ROMANCE

Short Title: MEDIEVAL ROMANCE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: A course that examines the development of romance as a genre during the medieval period. Cross-list: ENGL 314.

MDEM 320 - DIRECTED READING IN MEDIEVAL STUDIES

Short Title: DIRECTED READING MEDIEVAL STDY

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1-3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Student works one-on-one with an individual faculty member on a topic directly related to Medieval Studies. Instructor Permission Required.

MDEM 323 - BUDDHIST AND DAOIST ART AND RITUAL

Short Title: BUDDHIST & DAOIST ART & RITUAL

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course examines key themes of art and ritual in Daoism and Buddhism. From southern Asia to China, commonalities and contrasts appear in cosmology, art, ritual, and soteriology. This team-taught course combines expertise in Daoist art, Chinese art history, and Buddhist traditions of India, Nepal, and Tibet. Distribution 1 credit effective Fall 2022. Cross-list: ASIA 323, HART 323.

MDEM 324 - CONFLICT AND COEXISTENCE IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN

Short Title: COEXISTENCE IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Course explores the history of the Iberian Peninsula from late Antiquity to the early 16th century, focusing on coexistence and conflict between medieval Spain's three religious communities - Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Cross-list: HIST 324.

MDEM 327 - EUROPEAN FRONTIER SOCIETIES

Short Title: MEDIEVAL BORDERLANDS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Courses examines the military, political, social and cultural developments on the European frontiers between 500-1500 AD. Topics include colonization and conquest, crusades and Spanish Reconquista, piracy, slavery, encounters with native peoples, spread of Christianity, medieval colonial regimes, map-making and cultural exchanges. Cross-list: HIST 327.

MDEM 330 - EARLY MEDIEVAL ART

Short Title: EARLY MEDIEVAL ART

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Early Medieval Art from the 5th Century to the Romanesque period. This course begins with a study of the art and architecture of the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Lombards, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and Merovingians, and the transformation of the Roman World through new Germanic, Barbarian, and Christian forces. The second part of the course considers the cultural Renaissance of the Carolingian and Ottonian Periods under rulers such as Charlemagne and Otto III. The last third of the course focuses on themes of pilgrimage, relics, crusades and the emergence of new monumental tradition in art and architecture during the Romanesque Period. Cross-list: HART 330.

MDEM 332 - ART OF THE COURTS

Short Title: ART OF THE COURTS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Examination of art and architecture produced in the late gothic period within three distinct settings-the court, the city, and the church. Includes private, public, and religious life as expressed in the objects, architecture, and decoration of the castle and palace, the house, city hall and hospital, and the chapel and parish church. Cross-list: HART 332.

MDEM 340 - NORTHERN RENAISSANCE ART

Short Title: NORTHERN RENAISSANCE ART

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Study of art in northern Europe from Jan van Eyck to Peter Bruegel. Cross-list: HART 340.

MDEM 343 - MASTERS OF THE BAROQUE ERA

Short Title: MASTERS OF THE BAROQUE ERA

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Study of the works of the greatest painters and sculptors in Europe during the Baroque period. Includes Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, Poussin, Claude, and Velazquez. Cross-list: HART 343.

MDEM 350 - DEMONS, MENTAL ILLNESS AND MEDICINE

Short Title: DEMONS/MENTAL ILLNESS/MEDICINE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Treats complex connections between religious beliefs/practices and formulation of human psychology in western tradition, through a historical reckoning with demonology. Consider the way demons are represented -- from semi-corporeal beings to marks of mental illness -- by looking at texts from the ancient world to modern psychiatry. Cross-list: RELI 350.

MDEM 357 - JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Short Title: JEWS & CHRISTIANS-MEDIEVAL EUR

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Course will focus on Jewish-Christian coexistence in medieval Europe. Will examine the Jews' legal status in Christendom, their communal life, economic activities, intellectual achievements, while also focusing on the complex dynamics of Jewish-Christian interaction, and the shifting patterns of persecution and acceptance. Cross-list: HIST 357.

MDEM 370 - INTRODUCTION TO TRADITIONAL CHINESE POETRY

Short Title: INTRO TO TRAD CHINESE POETRY

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course seeks to decode enchanting features of traditional Chinese poetry through examining the transformation of poetic genres, the interaction between poetic creation and political, social and cultural changes, and the close association of poetry with art. Thus, this course also serves to understand Chinese culture and history through poetic perspectives. All readings in English translation. Cross-list: ASIA 330, CHIN 330.

MDEM 373 - CHINESE ART AND THE WORLD

Short Title: CHINESE ART AND THE WORLD

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course is an introductory seminar studying the history of traditional Chinese art and visual culture from ancient times to the nineteenth century. This course draws upon masterpieces and monuments from both archaeological finds and museum collections, including bronze vessels, funeral objects, painting, calligraphy, sculptures, architecture, ceramics, and so on. Designed for students who have no background in Chinese art, Chinese history, or art history, the seminar uses diverse teaching materials in multiple media beyond traditional textbook-based readings to achieve four main goals: 1) Develop visual literacy through a direct encounter with objects. The development of specialized vocabulary to describe, analyze, and communicate function, composition, and meaning in art. 2) Understand major artistic movements of art and architecture within historical, social, political contexts. 3) Develop specialized knowledge in art from specific geographical locations (e.g. China), time periods, artists or artistic movements. 4) Evaluate and use primary and secondary source materials. Cross-list: ASIA 372, HART 372.

MDEM 375 - INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL CHINESE NOVELS

Short Title: CLASSICAL CHINESE NOVELS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Examination of the basic characteristics of classical Chinese novels, primarily through six important works from the 16th to 18th centuries: Water Margin, Monkey, Golden Lotus, Scholars, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber. All readings in English translation. Cross-list: ASIA 335, CHIN 335.

MDEM 377 - MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS

Short Title: MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This seminar explores illuminated European manuscripts from late antiquity through the early sixteenth century. It examines manuscripts’ functions, patrons, makers, and materials and technique, as well as such issues as the relationship between text and image and the manuscript’s ideological stance. Students have the opportunity to study original medieval illuminations. Cross-list: HART 377.

MDEM 378 - DUTCH ART IN THE AGE OF REMBRANDT

Short Title: DUTCH ART IN AGE OF REMBRANDT

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course will examine Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century art, including major masters, such as Rembrandt, Rubens, and Vermeer, and major developments, such as the rise of still life, genre, and landscape painting. Cross-list: HART 378.

MDEM 379 - WOMEN IN CHINESE LITERATURE

Short Title: WOMEN IN CHINESE LITERATURE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course examines women's roles in Chinese literature as writers, readers, and characters, focusing particularly on the tension between women's lived bodily experiences and the cultural experiences inscribed on the female body and how, in the process, women have contrarily gendered patriarchal culture into their own. It will also touch on Chinese women's incorporation of the Western Tradition. All readings in English translation. Cross-list: ASIA 399, SWGS 399.

MDEM 398 - INDEPENDENT STUDY IN MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES

Short Title: INDEPENDENT STUDY

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Independent Study

Credit Hours: 1-3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Independent study reading, or special research in medieval and early modern studies. Repeatable for Credit.

MDEM 404 - BEGINNINGS OF THE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF FRANCE

Short Title: THE LANG AND LIT OF FRANCE

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course includes and external history of the French language, an examination of hagiographic literature and the chanson de geste in their cultural and artistic contexts, as well as bibliographic component to acquaint the students with library tools available for research emphasizing medieval resources but not excluding those for later periods. Student will acquire a reading knowledge of Old French. Course taught in French. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Cross-list: FREN 404. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor

MDEM 434 - SEEING SEX IN EUROPEAN ART, 1400-1700

Short Title: SEEING SEX IN EUROPEAN ART

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course will examine the visual history of sexuality from 1400-1700. It will explore how imagery structured sexual desire; the role of erotic sacred art; the rise of pornography; the intersection of spatial topography and sexuality; the linkage of licit and illicit sexualities; and the sexuality of artist and patrons. Cross-list: HART 434, SWGS 434.

MDEM 435 - MULTICULTURAL EUROPE, 1400-1700

Short Title: MULTICULTURAL EUROPE,1400-1700

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: The art of Europe was never the product of a single culture working in isolation. This seminar will explore the multicultural aspects of medieval and early modern Europe by focusing on the visual culture of groups who defined themselves or are today defined by nationality, race, or religion. Distribution 1 removed effective Fall 2022. Cross-list: HART 435, HIST 443.

MDEM 436 - LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: KING ARTHUR

Short Title: LIT & CULTURE OF MIDDLE AGES

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Examination of the origins of the legend of King Arthur and reasons for its popularity, particularly in literature of the French Middle Ages but also in other medieval literatures of Western Europe. Includes discussion of the legend's influence in diverse areas even in modern times. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Cross-list: FREN 416. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor

MDEM 444 - VISIONS AND VISONARY PRACTICES: MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

Short Title: VISIONS & VISIONARY PRACTICES

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: This course examines accounts of visions, comparing medieval and modern visionary techniques and processes and relating visionary writings to cultural and personal contexts. Includes some Christian theology along with other theoretical frameworks, but emphasis on praxis. Cross-list: RELI 444.

MDEM 456 - COLLEGIUM MUSICUM

Short Title: COLLEGIUM MUSICUM

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Studio

Credit Hours: 2

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: The performance of vocal and instrumental music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras in which instrumentalists use period instruments. Specific repertory will depend on student interest and on the availability of instruments. The class entails two hours of evening rehearsal each week and an end-of-semester recital of music prepared. On occasion this course may require weekend rehearsals and performances. Consult the instructor regarding possible conflicts. Instructor Permission Required. Cross-list: MUSI 436. Repeatable for Credit.

MDEM 477 - SPECIAL TOPICS

Short Title: SPECIAL TOPICS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Internship/Practicum, Seminar, Lecture, Laboratory

Credit Hours: 1-4

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Topics and credit hours may vary each semester. Contact department for current semester's topic(s). Repeatable for Credit.

MDEM 494 - SENIOR THESIS

Short Title: SENIOR THESIS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Research

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Description: Independent research course for undergraduate Medieval and Early Modern Studies majors who wish to write a senior thesis. Students may enroll in MDEM 494 only with consent of a faculty advisor and the program director, and only if they intend to enroll in MDEM 495 as well. Senior Thesis is a year-long research course. Applicants will normally be required to have completed courses relevant to the proposed thesis topic (e.g. English, History, Art History, etc.), to be determined by the thesis advisor. Instructor Permission Required.

MDEM 495 - SENIOR THESIS

Short Title: SENIOR THESIS

Department: Medieval/Early Modern Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Research

Credit Hours: 3

Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.

Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level

Prerequisite(s): MDEM 494

Description: Independent research course for undergraduate Medieval and Early Modern Studies majors who wish to write a senior thesis. Students may enroll in MDEM 495 only with consent of a faculty advisor and the program director, and only if they enrolled in MDEM 494 in the previous semester. Senior Thesis is a year-long research course. Instructor Permission Required.

Description and Code Legend

Note: Internally, the university uses the following descriptions, codes, and abbreviations for this academic program. The following is a quick reference: 

Course Catalog/Schedule

  • Course offerings/subject code: MDEM 

Department (or Program) Description and Code 

  • Medieval and Early Modern Studies: MDEM 

Undergraduate Degree Description and Code 

  • Bachelor of Arts degree: BA 

Undergraduate Major Description and Code

  • Major in Medieval and Early Modern Studies: MDEM 

Undergraduate Minor Description and Code

  • Minor in Medieval and Early Modern Studies: MDMM 

CIP Code and Description1

  • MDEM Major/Program: CIP Code/Title: 30.1301 - Medieval and Renaissance Studies
  • MDMM Minor: CIP Code/Title: 30.1301 - Medieval and Renaissance Studies