Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Medieval Literature
ENGL 353
Fall 2020
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
MDST 353 |
Why do white supremacists celebrate the European Middle Ages as a lost era of racial and religious purity? This course approaches that question by considering the invention of medieval ideas of race, ethnicity and religious difference. Our focus will be on a selection of texts dealing with encounters--real and imaginary--of Western European Christians with cultures from the Mongol Empire to the Celtic "borderlands." The readings will begin historically with the Crusades and the gruesome chronicles written by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish authors. We will move on to religious polemics, travel accounts and, above all, romances: fictions that re-imagine the past in terms of exoticized sexuality, racial transformation, cannibalism, and nationalist fantasy. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| 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: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Christian, Muslim and Jewish Crusader Chronicles
Usamah Ibn Munquidh, The Book of Contemplation
The Song of Roland
The Quest for the Holy Grail
The Barcelona Disputation
Mandeville's Travels
The King of Tars
William of Rubruck, Journey to the Mongol Empire
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two formal papers, weekly writing responses, one class presentation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the Literatures of Difference and Literary History I requirements and contributes to the Theory and Literary Forms concentration of the English major. |
| Instructor(s): Nisse,Ruth Times: ..T.R.. 11:10AM-12:30PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| 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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