Medieval Ethnicities and Ethnographies
ENGL 353
Fall 2012
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
MDST 353 |
| Certificates: Jewish and Israel Studies |
This course concerns premodern ideas of ethnicity and the people who invented them. Our focus will be on a selection of medieval texts dealing with the encounters of Western European Christians with Jews, Muslims, and other cultures--real or imaginary. The readings will begin historically with the Crusades and the chronicles written by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish authors. Other genres will include religious polemics, autobiographical narratives of religious conversion, and travel accounts by missionaries and spies. We will also read some early "ethnographic" writings like Gerald of Wales' HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF IRELAND and Mandeville's TRAVELS. The greater part of the course will deal with literary texts--romances, plays, lyrics, etc.--but we will take a truly "cultural studies" approach to this material. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CJST-MN)(CSCT)(ENGL)(MDST)(MDST-Art/Arch)(MDST-History)(MDST-Lang/Lit)(MDST-Phil/Reli) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Crusade chronicles; SONG OF ROLAND, THE CONQUEST OF ORANGE, THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAIL, the Hebrew "KING ARTHUR" romance; Gerald of Wales, HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF IRELAND; Memoirs of Usama Ibn Munquidh, THE JOURNEY OF WILLIAM OF RUBRUCK TO ASIA; TRAVELS OF SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly response papers; final research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
English Major Requirements: Literary History I and Literatures of Difference
English Concentration Requirements: Race & Ethnicity |
| Instructor(s): Nisse,Ruth Times: ..T.R.. 01:10PM-02:30PM; Location: ZLKA106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 6 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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