Medieval Imagination

Catalog description

Why does the imagination matter? In this class, we will discover possibilities and pathways to address this question through an exploration of medieval literary and legal texts, medical records, poetry, tales and legends from Europe, Africa, and Asia. We will discover the mythology of trees and woods, the symbolism of the animals of the fairy tales, the legends of the female pope, the wandering Jew, and that time when Jesus was punished in Hell. This class will require robust collaboration and interdisciplinary work. Students will leave this class with a larger and more critical understanding of that deeply universal and influential dimension of the human experience that is the imagination.