Medieval Gender and Sexuality
HIST 300
Spring 2015
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
FGSS 300, MDST 300 |
When most people think of the Middle Ages, they may envision an era of pious sexual repression and strict gender norms. Over the past few decades, however, scholars of medieval history have begun to uncover both the colorful variation and unexpected complexity of medieval sex and gender, revealing a world at once deeply familiar and profoundly strange. By exploring everything from the idea of Jesus as a nursing mother to transvestite heroines like Joan of Arc, and from private rumors of sodomy to publicly licensed prostitution, they have begun to reconstruct the powerful systems of gender and sexuality that governed the lives of both ordinary and famous people. This research seminar will examine some of their findings, while considering the broader utility of gender and sexuality as categories of historical and social analysis. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (HIST-MN)(HIST)(MDST-MN) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
The course reading list will include SELECTIONS from the following texts:
Martha A. Brozyna, GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES: A MEDIEVAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS READER
Peter Damian, BOOK OF GOMORRAH: AN ELEVENTH-CENTURY CLERICAL TREATISE AGAINST CLERICAL HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICES
Caroline Dunn, STOLEN WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: RAPE, ABDUCTION, AND ADULTERY, 1100-1500
Dyan Elliot, FALLEN BODIES: POLLUTION, SEXUALITY, AND DEMONOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Valerie Hotchkiss, CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN: FEMALE CROSS-DRESSING IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Ruth Mazo Karras, COMMON WOMEN: PROSTITUTION AND SEXUALITY IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Ruth Mazo Karras, SEXUALITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES: DOING UNTO OTHERS, second edition
Marie Kelleher, THE MEASURE OF WOMAN: LAW AND FEMALE IDENTITY IN THE CROWN OF ARAGON
Kathleen Coyne Kelly, PERFORMING VIRGINITY AND TESTING CHASTITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Michael Rocke, FORBIDDEN FRIENDSHIPS: HOMOSEXUALITY AND CULTURE IN RENAISSANCE FLORENCE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two short response papers; one longer research paper, including preliminary assignments (abstract/bibliography and primary source analysis); with approval, the research paper may deal with some aspect of gender or sexuality in a society other than the medieval West |
| Instructor(s): Johnson,Rebecca Wynne Times: ..T.R.. 01:10PM-02:30PM; Location: PAC104; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 6 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 4 | 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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