"Medieval and Renaissance Studies" Course Cluster

It was during the period between 500 AD and 1650 that a distinctly European civilisation was forged. It was an age of faith in which people sought truth in ancient texts--both spiritual and secular--but this faith gave Europeans a sense of confidence and purpose which was not challenged until the Protestant Reformation.

But it was also an age of profound political, social and cultural innovation. This is the period that saw the beginnings of the modern nation state, the first stirrings of constitutional government and the emergence of modern notions of jurisprudence. It is the age when parliament and universities are born. Although most people were illiterate, it sees the rise of a distinctly popular style of literature--a literature of the people. And it is an age of profound technological innovation: mechanical clocks, banks, insurance, algebra, citizen armies, distilled liquor, law and medical schools, eyeglasses, women playwrights, polyphonic music, the modern calendar, navigational maps, golf and soccer all trace their origin to the Middle Ages.

This cluster invites students to consider this exciting and dynamic period from an array of different perspectives. In so doing, it will help students understand the social , political and  intellectual context that gave rise to some of the great cultural masterpieces of western civilisation.

Courses

Classics

• Classics 1010: Latin 1
• Classics 1020: Latin 2
• Classics 3420: Later Roman Empire (284-410)

English

• English 2550: Introduction to Shakespeare
• English 2750: Arthurian Literature
• English 3550: Shakespeare’s Comedies and Histories
• English 3560: Renaissance Literature
• English 3570: Renaissance Drama
• English 3580: Milton
• English 4550: Advanced Studies in Early Modern Literature
• English 4750: Advanced Studies in Medieval Literature
• English 3720: Chaucer
• English 3750: Middle English Literature
• English 3780: The Medieval Book

Fine Art:

• Fine Arts 2120: Medieval Art
• Fine Arts 3010: Renaissance Art

History:

• History 2010: European Civilisation 500 BC-1648
• History 3030: Renaissance Europe
• History 3050: The European Middle Ages (500-1300)
• History 3100: Tudor England (1485-1603)
• History 3110: Science Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult in Premodern Europe
• History 4040: “Monsters, Gold, and Glory”
• History 4050: Crusades and  Crusading

Philosophy:

• Philosophy 2480 (RS 2840): Introduction to Medieval Theology and Philosophy

Religious Studies:

• Religious Studies 2860: Spiritual Journey of Christian Mystics
• Religious Studies 3310: History of Christianity to the Reformation
• Religious Studies 3760: Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic Tradition.

Modern Languages:

• French 4010: Renaissance Literature
• French 4020: Le moyen-age
• Spanish 4050: The Legacy of the Spanish Mystics
• Spanish 4070: Spanish Medieval Literature
• Spanish 4150: Cervantes’ Don Quixote and the Formation of the Modern Novel