Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies
Graduate Courses Spring Semester 2013
For more information, contact the Center at (718) 817-4655 or medievals@fordham.edu
MVST 5035 (4) Writing East: Outremer and Identity in the Middle Ages (4) Call # 20401
(Paul & Yeager) FMH 416 R 2:30-5:00
As the stage for the central events of the Gospel narrative, the lands of the eastern shore of the Mediterranean long occupied a central place in the collective imagination of Latin western Europe. Over the course of the Middle Ages, however, increasingly frequent encounters resulting from trade, pilgrimage, and crusade not only enriched the European image of the East, but vastly enhanced the significance to how medieval Christians approached the Other. This course will trace the rise of a discourse of difference centered in what was called, in England and France, “Outremer,” the land beyond the sea. Together with medieval literary productions, histories, letters, and travel narratives, we will read works from the growing body of scholarship on this important topic.
ENGL 6239 (3) French of England III (3) Call # 20935
(Wogan-Browne) TBD T 9:30-12:00
This course studies the rich, under-researched corpus ( c.1000 texts) in the Frenches of medieval England. Coursework includes projects of translation/editing (for acquiring techniques of presenting and interpreting medieval texts). FOE I, II not necessarily required.
ENGL 6265 (3) Manuscript Into Print (3) Call # 20936
(Erler) TBD F 3:45-6 :15
The course will explore the transition from manuscript to print culture in England during the half-century from William Caxton’s introduction of printing to the death of Henry VIII. It will ask about the cultural changes produced by printing, particularly in audiences, reading, and book ownership. Sample topics might include: what happens to medieval authors like Chaucer or Langland when they first appear in print? How do books of hours, the most popularbook of the middle ages, negotiate the transition to print? Early reading will be done in Middle English.
HIST 6152 (4) Medieval Women and Family (4) Call # 20344
(Kowaleski) FMH 416 M 2:30-5:00
This course surveys recent historiography on the roles and status of women in medieval society, as well as the structures and dynamics of medieval families. Among the debates to be explored are the effect on medieval society of the Christian Church’s teachings on virginity, sex, and marriage, and the influence of geography (northern vs Mediterranean Europe), environment (village, town, and convent), and status (noble, bourgeois, or peasant) on the work, family role, and authority of women. Chronologically the course will range from the early Christian period to the Renaissance. Recent scholarly work on nuns, mystics, and beguines will be examined, and readings will also cover different approaches to the study of women and family, including the methodologies of literary scholars, demographers, feminists, and legal historians.
HIST 8025 (4) SEM: Medieval Religious Cultures (4) Call # 20347
(Gyug) TBD W 5:00-7:30
Participants will build on the reading and topics from* *HIST 7025 (Proseminar: Medieval Religious Cultures) to prepare research papers based on sources and debates in the study of medieval religious cultures. Weekly readings will be selected by the participants from materials for their papers; later in the semester, they will present drafts of their own papers, and prepare critiques of others.
PHIL 5010 (3) Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas (3) Call#18395
(Davies) Collins PO M 7:00-9:00
This course will be a general introduction to Aquinas’s philosophical thinking. We shall pay special attention to his philosophy of God. We shall also look at what he says about questions such as the scope of human knowledge, the nature of the human being, and the nature and significance of human action. As well as being expository, the course will consider the cogency of Aquinas’s positions on various topics. It will also try to relate what Aquinas says to what other philosophers, especially modern and contemporary ones, have had to say. The course will not presuppose any previous knowledge of Aquinas on the part of student.
PHIL 5012 (3) Introduction to St. Augustine (3) Call # 18396*
(Cullen) Collins PO T 9:30-11:30
This course will provide a survey of some of the key aspects of St. Augustine’s thought. Topics will include faith and reason;
divine ideas; the theology of the Holy Trinity; mind; skepticism; divine foreknowledge and predestination and human free will; the problem of evil; original sin and divine grace; happiness; human history and society. These topics will be approached by studying relevant sections from Augustine’s major works. Ideally, each class will consist of an introductory lecture (first hour) and discussion on the readings (second hour). This format may vary according to what the material requires and the needs of students. Students are expected to complete the readings in advance and take an active role in the discussion.
THEO 6444 (3) Medieval Modernisms (3) Call # 20579
(Moore) TBD T 4:00-6:30
In twentieth-century Europe, the study of premodern and early modern Christianity energized an astonishing range of intellectuals, across the ideological and disciplinary spectrums. For theologians, historians, philosophers, and literary figures, Christian medieval and patristic sources were galvanizing forces of transformation, and harbingers of ethical, theological, and political renewal. This course investigates the various appropriations of medieval and ancient Christianity from la nouvelle théologie movement (Henri de Lubac, M.D. Chenu, and Jean Daniélou in particular), the Catholic literary revival (Charles Péguy, Georges Bernanos), philosophy, (Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, and Julia Kristeva), and historiography (Michel de Certeau), along with secondary works by Amy Hollywood and others.
THEO 6464 (3) From Lollards to Luther (3) Call # 20776
(Hornbeck) Duane 140 R 9:00-11:30
The period between the outbreak of the Black Death and the emergence of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and others as leaders of a new “Reformation” was a period of great diversity and contestation in Western Christianity. In this course, we will explore the theology, spirituality, and ecclesio-political ramifications of several reform “movements” in the later middle ages. Our focus will fall primarily on the lollard or Wycliffite controversies of late medieval England, on fifteenth-century phenomena like conciliarism and the Modern-Day Devout, and on the early Lutheran Reformation, but broader themes (women, preaching, soteriology, academic life, heresy and inquisition) will be treated throughout the semester.
THEO 6466 (3) Hagiography (3) Call # 20583
(Tilley) Duane 140 W 9:00-11:30
This course surveys methods for researching and writing about as well as evaluating the religious functions of stories of holy people. The course begins with a look at contemporary saint-making and then surveys classic works on hagiographic methods. After these explorations the course studies examples primarily from late antiquity and the Middle Ages, applying the methods of the first part of the course. Requirements include book reports, seminar leadership, a mid-term paper using primary sources and illustrating hagiographical method on a person not canonized (yet?), and a final paper in the student’s own field of interest. Students in history, fine arts, literature, theology, etc. are welcome.
GERM 5002-R02 (0) Graduate Reading in German (0) Call # 17960
(Hafner) TBD TF 11:30-12:45