MDVL 101Intro-MDVL/Early Modern Stds

Catalog

This course serves as introduction to the study of medieval and early modern history, culture, and literature. We will learn some basic facts about key events, people, social and political institutions, ideas, science, and ways of life between the decline of the Roman Empire in the West and the advent of the Early Modern era. However, more than just cataloguing facts, we will spend considerable time thinking about how it is we can conceptualize these events, people, institutions, and ideas, in order to create a deeper understanding of them. We will engage with these topics from multiple disciplinary perspectives - including literature, art & architectural history, politics, philosophy, and religious studies. We will explore continuity and change, making connections across places and times, while also examining disparate systems of politics, religion, and culture. One of our primary objectives will be to better understand how various civilizations thought about the past and to interrogate our own preconceptions about the cultures, events, and people that came before us. Format: class discussions and lectures. Grading will be based on short written responses, in-class assignments, discussions, and reading quizzes. Learning outcomes: Students will acquire broad, foundational knowledge in the interdisciplinary fields of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Students will be able to discuss the most important political, social and cultural developments in this period. Students will acquire basic research skills and develop writing skills appropriate for work at the 100-level. No pre-requisites. Open to non-majors. Required for Medieval/Early Modern Studies majors and minors.