MW 2:00-3:15
Dr. Lezlie Knox
The Middle Ages is a figment of our imaginations. This generative claim could be made for just about any period of history, of course. Humans created historical periodization and assigned corresponding values. Whether you think of castles and knights, sunlight pouring through a wall of stained glass, or assume that dirt and disease defined a millennium, you are imagining the Middle Ages, a period which has been particularly prone to revisionism and romanticization (medievalisms). This class evaluates how, when, and why ideas about the centuries between the end of the Classical world and the emergence of the modern developed, and how individual and collective memories have created historical meanings that have changed over time. It is organized around the analysis of medieval sources (texts and objects), but it also examines how these medieval events and imagery are used and misused in the shaping of modern identities and ideologies. We will explore how historical memories of the Middle Ages have been deployed in the modern period for claims about racial identities (whiteness), religion (Christianity), and gender (patriarchy). Students thus will investigate the various ways we have imagined the Middle Age and ask why they matter.
This class fulfills the Humanities requirement for the MCC Discovery tier theme of Cognition, Memory, Intelligence. It also fulfills European and elective requirements in the History major, as well as an elective for the Interdisciplinary minors in Medieval Studies and in German Studies.