GC 116 (The Tradition Redefined:  The Medieval Synthesis)

Spring, 2002 (MWF 2:00-2:55)

 

Section A         Anne Groton    Prof. of Classics           Old Main 32B  x3387  groton@stolaf.edu

Section B         Jonathan Hill     Prof. of English Library 527D   x3200  hillj@stolaf.edu

Section C         Ed Langerak     Prof. of Philosophy       Holland 601C   x3494  langerak@stolaf.edu    

 

Maren Flynn x6276 (flynn), Rob Grace x6499 (gracer), Julie Greene x6614 (greenej), Susanna Murley x6612 (murleys), Duong Phan x2665 (phanj), Sarah Schuurman x2983 (schuurms)

 

F          Feb. 8              Introduction; Athenagoras vs. Tertullian (handout)

 

M         Feb. 11            Melchert, Ch. 10 (Augustine)

W        Feb. 13            Augustine, The Confessions, Books I-IV

Wednesday night dinner (Valhalla Room), 5:45 p.m.

 

F          Feb. 15            Augustine, The Confessions, Books V-VIII

 

M         Feb. 18            Augustine, The Confessions, Books IX-X

W        Feb. 20            Monastic life:  The Rule of St. Benedict

F          Feb. 22            Monastic life:  Gregorian chant; listening assignment in language lab

                                                Plenary lecture:  Jim May, Dept. of Classics?

 

Sun.     Feb. 24            Visit to St. John's Abbey:  8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

 

M         Feb. 25            Beowulf 1-1686

W        Feb. 27            Beowulf 1686-end; response paper #1 due

F          Mar. 1              The Koran, surahs 1, 2, 4:1-35, 5, 12, 15, 17, 19, 24:30-32

 

M         Mar. 4              The Koran, surahs 21, 33, 38, 47, 55, 57, 60, 72, 95-102

W        Mar. 6              The World of Islam (handout)

Plenary lecture:  ? 

F          Mar. 8              Song of Roland, stanzas 1-126; Einhard, Life of Charlemagne (handout)

 

Essay #1 due:  5 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 9

 

M         Mar. 11            Song of Roland, stanzas 127-298

W        Mar. 13            Melchert,  Ch. 11 (Anselm & Aquinas)

                                                Plenary lecture:  Ed Langerak, Dept. of Philosophy

Wednesday night dinner (Valhalla Room), 5:45 p.m.

 

F          Mar. 15            Anselm & Aquinas, selections (handout)

 

M         Mar. 18            Anselm & Aquinas, selections (handout)

W        Mar. 20            Anselm & Aquinas, selections (handout)

F          Mar. 22            Midterm Exam

 

Sat.      Mar. 23-Mon., Apr. 1 SPRING/EASTER BREAK

 

W        Apr. 3              Abelard and Heloise, Letters, pp. 57-106

F          Apr. 5              Abelard and Heloise, Letters, pp. 109-156, 159-180

 

Revision of essay #1 due:  5 p.m., Saturday, Apr. 6

 

M         Apr. 8              Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, Medieval Women Writers

Plenary lecture:  Karen Cherewatuk, Dept. of English

W        Apr. 10            Hildegard of Bingen, Medieval Women Writer

F          Apr. 12            Julian of Norwich, Medieval Women Writers

 

M         Apr. 15            Christine de Pizan, Medieval Women Writer; response paper #2 due

W        Apr. 17            Branner, Chartres Cathedral

                                                Plenary lecture:  Nancy Thompson, Dept. of Art

Wednesday night dinner (Valhalla Room), 5:45 p.m.

 

F          Apr. 19            Chartres Cathedral

 

M         Apr. 22            Dante, The Inferno, cantos I-XV

W        Apr. 24            Dante, The Inferno, cantos XVI-XXII

Plenary lecture:  Jim Pence, Provost & Dean of the College

F          Apr. 26            Dante, The Inferno, cantos XXIII-XXXIV

 

                                    Essay #2 due:  5 p.m., Saturday, Apr. 27

 

M         Apr. 29            Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, “The Prologue,” “The Knight's Tale” 

W        May 1              Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, “The Prioress,” “The Miller”

F          May 3              Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, “The Pardoner,” “The Wife of Bath”

 

M         May 6              Medieval drama:  The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, The Second

                                                Shepherds' Pageant

                                                Plenary lecture:  Karen Sawyer, Dept. of English?

W        May 8              Medieval drama:  Everyman; response paper #3 due

Wednesday night dinner (Valhalla Room), 5:45 p.m.

 

F          May 10            Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 1 & 2

 

M         May 13            Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, parts 3 & 4

W        May 15            Conclusion; revision of essay #2 due

 

FINAL EXAM:            Saturday, May 18, 2002, 2:30-4:30 p.m.

 

GRADING:  class and course participation = 10%; 3 response papers = 15%; 2 essays = 30% (15% each); midterm exam = 20%; final exam = 25%

 

PRIMARY TEXTS:

Augustine, The Confessions, translated by R. S. Pine-Coffin (Penguin, 1961) 0-14-044114-X

The Rule of St. Benedict, translated by Timothy Fry (Liturgical Press, 1982) 0-8146-1272-5

Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney (Norton, 2000) 0-393-32097-9

The Koran, translated by N. J. Dawood (Penguin, rev. 1990) 0-14-044558-7

The Song of Roland, translated by Glyn S. Burgess (Penguin, 1990) 0-14-044532-3

The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, translated by Betty Radice (Penguin, 1974) 0-14-044297-9

Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson (Georgia, 1984) 0-8203-0641-X

Dante, The Inferno, translated by Robert Pinsky (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994) 0-374-52531-5

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, edited by A. Kent Hieatt & Constance Hieatt (Random House/Bantam, 1964) 0-553-21082-3

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays, edited by A. C. Cawley (J. M. Dent/Everyman, 1974) 0-460-87280-X

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by Keith Harrison, edited by Helen Cooper (Oxford, 1999) 0-19-283334-0

 

SECONDARY TEXTS:

Branner, Robert, ed., Chartres Cathedral: Illustrations, Introductory Essay, Documents, Analysis, Criticism (Norton Critical Studies in Art History, 1996) 0-393-31438-3

Melchert, Norman, The Great Conversation:  A Historical Introduction to Philosophy (Mayfield Publishing, 4th ed., 2002) 0-7674-2038-1