HUM 560S Humanities Colloquium: Outcasts & Others in Medieval Europe
The Middle Ages were a time of intense questioning and discovery, and a crucible in which the basis of many of our modern concepts was forged. Medieval Europeans were engaged in a series of deep investigations into the nature of identity. Their questions were both philosophically timeless (what does it mean to be human?) and timely (how do non-Christians fit in a social system whose structures are built on Christian thought and practice?) In many cases, the responses developed to these questions of identity created deep social schisms, and established a series of stereotypes and patterns of social exclusion that continue to resonate today. This interdisciplinary seminar will examine a wide range of the textual and visual presentations of medieval notions of identity, difference, race, and belonging as we explore various medieval ideas about the world and humanity's place within it. Themes will include monsters and the idea of monstrosity, religious difference, medieval notions of race, the construction of the exotic or distant Other, and how these traditions appear in modern ideologies. Examining these ideological structures in the past expands our understanding of the history of critical issues by placing these issues in a wider framework, and provides models for discussing such issues in thoughtful, informed ways both in and out of the classroom.
Offered
As Needed