FALL 2008

ART 153/ASIA 153: Introduction to South Asian ArtInstructor: Pika Ghosh

Time: MWF 1-1.50
This course examines the production and uses of monuments, manuscripts, gardens, and
cities from the Indus Civilization to the twentieth century in South Asia. Through these
forms, we will explore the cultures that developed in the countries of India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and their interaction with each other through the
transmission of artifacts, ideas and belief systems.

ART/ASIA 154: Introduction to the Art & Architecture of the Islamicate Lands (7th – 16th c. CE)

Instructor: Glaire Anderson
Time: 12:30 -1:45 Tu,Th
Hamilton Hall Rm 0100
This course introduces medieval Islamicate civilization through its rich and diverse art and architectural traditions. Following a chronological framework organized by political dynasty and region, we will begin with the seventh-century establishment of the early empire, which stretched from the Mediterranean to the borders of South Asia, and end with the sixteenth-century expansion of the so-called Gunpowder Empires in present-day Turkey, Iran, and South Asia. By the end of the course students will understand the general socio-historical contexts within which Islamicate art and architecture developed, know the major dynasties of the pre-modern Islamic lands, and be able to identify the canon of Islamic art and architecture. Course requirements include quizzes and three short papers. Basic art historical methods and writing, critical reading, and humanities research skills will be emphasized throughout the term.

ART 450: The City as Monument: Urbanism in the Medieval Islamicate Mediterranean

Instructor: Glaire Anderson
Time: 9:30-10:45 Tu,Th
Hanes Art Center, Rm 218
What is the medieval Mediterranean? How do we define the city? Can we speak about “the” Islamic city? Taking these questions as central issues in the course, we will consider medieval Islamicate cities, with a special focus on those around the Mediterranean. We will emphasize the use of theoretical frameworks along with visual, material, and textual evidence to understand medieval urbanism and social history. We will begin by examining conceptions of the Mediterranean and of urbanism, then use a thematic structure to explore some of the major centers. Cordoba and Qayrawan, Baghdad and Samarra, Cairo and Constantinople, among other major cities, will be the focus of our readings and discussions. Class requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments and participation in discussions, and a research paper.

CHIN 361: Chinese Traditional Theater.

Instructor: Li-ling Hsiao
Time: 4:30-5:45 MW, fall 2008
This course surveys the history of Chinese traditional theater from its
early days to modern period. The course material will include texts, dance,
and music which are the essential features in traditional operatic theater.
The traditional theater of China represents a crucial intersection of many
elements within the culture. Theatrical texts include prose, poetry, and
illustration, while performance is enlivened by music and dance. During the
Ming era especially, drama culture reached beyond the theatre to embrace a
huge constituency of readers, importantly influencing the development of the
publishing industry. We thus need to draw together poetry, prose, criticism,
music, dance, art, and history to develop a clear picture of traditional
Chinese drama. In class we will examine performance footage, visual art and
dramatic texts. Knowledge of the Chinese language is not a requirement. VP,
WB, BN. [A&S Aesthetic perspective.]

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 121: Romancing the World

Instructor: Professor Marsha S. Collins
Time: MW 12:00 (plus recitation section on Th or F), 116 Murphey Hall
What do Heliodorus’ Ethiopica, Chretien de Troyes’ Yvain, Murasaki’s Tale of Genji, Cervantes’ Don Quijote, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and the Star Wars movies all have in common? The all bear the indelible, lasting imprint of romance. In this course, we will explore the enduring, diverse, and surprisingly complex literary world of romance. We will examine the conventions typical of romance-adventures, marvels, wonders, exotic lands, and the remarkable heroes and heroines who inhabit these fictional worlds-from classical antiquity to the present. We will also see how these conventions change within different sociohistorical contexts, and how authors revitalize romance traditions for a variety of purposes and effects. Our course will also focus on how the literary mode of romance is tied to changing representations of the “exotic” or the “foreign” in both the European and non-European literary traditions.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 490: The Arts in Court Culture

Instructor: Professor Marsha S. Collins
Time: T 2-4:30 pm, 313 Dey Hall
The great courts of Early Modern Europe were lively centers of cultural activity and social interaction. This course focuses on literature and the visual arts produced in and around the Spanish Hapsburg courts of the 16th and 17th centuries as a paradigm of courtly cultural production, and as a paradigm of the close relationship between the verbal and the visual at the time. Art and literature of other Early Modern European courts (in Italy, England, etc.) will form an integral part of course study as well. Two visits to the “El Greco to Velázquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III” exhibit at Duke’s Nasher Museum will form a springboard for class activity, as will a visit to the Ackland Museum and to the Rare Book Room in Wilson Library. Students will gain experience in comparative studies involving different artistic media while studying major works of art and literature of Early Modern Europe. Such topics as the system of patronage, imitation of classical models, debates over imaginative literature, the establishment of academies, and the competition between the sister arts will be discussed. Please note that this course meets once a week, Tuesday 2:00-4:30 pm.

ENGL 320: Chaucer

Instructor: Wittig
Time: MWF 11:00-11:50
Section 001
In this course we will read a representative cross-secion of Chaucer’s most important poetry: Troilus and Criseyde, The Parliament of Fowels, and much of The Canterbury Tales. We will read these works in the original Middle English (and students will be expected to give this their best shot). But the emphasis will be “literary,” not linguistic, concentrating on what Chaucer has to say and on understanding him in his historical, intellectual and literary context. Class attendance is expected. Teaching mithor: lecture and discussion. Requirements: Midterm and final exam; weekly modernization quizzes; one term paper. Syllabus (Fall 07) will be online at: http://www.unc.edu/~jwittig/320/en320.htm

ENGL 723

Instructor: Don Kennedy
Time: 3-4:15 MW GL 318
The study of medieval authors and genres of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: authors include Gower, the English Chaucerians Lydgate and Hoccleve, the Scottish Chaucerians Henryson and Dunbar, Margery Kempe, Caxton, and as time permits, English and Scottish chroniclers and drama. Most texts read in Middle English. Texts will include a Middle English reader, and the first part of the course will be devoted to reading late Middle English and Middle Scots. Course open by permission to undergraduates who have taken ENGL 320 (Chaucer).

HISTORY 286 /ASIA 286: Samurai, Peasant, Merchant and Outcaste: Japan under the Tokugawa 1550-1850

Instructor: Daniel Botsman
Time: MWF 10-10:50am (MU 104)
This class offers an introduction to the history of the Japanese archipelago in the age of the Tokugawa shoguns (warrior lords). Sometimes referred to as Japan early modern era, it was in
this period that samurai rule reached its highest level of sophistication, the workings of a dynamic commercial economy began to permeate all aspects of society, and much of what we now think of as traditional Japanese culture was created. Journeying along the great highways of the period to communities ranging in size from small villages to the largest cities in the pre-industrial world, students will be introduced to men and women from all stations of life, and
encouraged to develop their own view of the structures, tensions, and events that shaped Japanese society over these three centuries. Specific topics will include: the bloody battles of the warring states period; the changing role of samurai in an era of peace; persecution of Christianity; womens place in society; the rise of great merchant houses, such as Mitsui and Sumitomo; the vibrant world of Tokugawa popular culture; crime and punishment under samurai rule; patterns of discrimination and the situation of social outcastes; peasant rebellion and resistance; and the rich legacy of social and political thought generated by Tokugawa-era thinkers.

HISTORY 490: Research in Japanese History

Instructor: Daniel Botsman
Time: Tu 3-30-6:20pm (DE 204)
This class aims to provide students with an introduction to the challenges and pleasures of exploring pre-20th century Japanese history using Japanese reference works and original sources. At the beginning of the semester we will concentrate on learning how to use
various kinds of basic reference works, including historical dictionaries, collections of historical maps, guides to place names, and language dictionaries that can help students read older Japanese materials. After this we will gradually move on to the more challenging task of reading historical documents in Japanese. By the end of the semester it is hoped that students will be ready to begin grappling with documents written in the so-called epistolary style, which is particularly important for studying the social history of Japan in the Tokugawa and Meiji periods (17th-19th centuries). Students with interests in particular topics will also be encouraged to try and find materials to read that are relevant to those topics.

HIST 697: Myth and History (a capstone course)

Instructor: Prof. M. Bullard
Time: Tues. 3:30-6:20
This interdisciplinary capstone seminar seeks to explore, define, and advance our understanding of the relationship between myth and history,–how myth and legend have become incorporated into historical narratives, and how historical elements are molded into narratives of belief. We will look at how heroes are born, how posthumous images continue to evolve, and how the intangible factors of memory and belief help shape history. Case studies include medieval legends of the Holy Grail and other foundation stories. We will use a variety of approaches drawn from the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, religion, history, rhetoric, and literary criticism. Students are encouraged to select research topics that accord with their major interests.

MUSC 390H: Hildegard of Bingen

Instructor: Hana Vlhová-Wörner
TR 9:30-10:45
Hill Hall 207

Hildegard of Bingen, the famous medieval German mystic, poet, scientist and reformer, was an extremely influential woman during her lifetime. As a Benedictine nun who spent several decades in strict monastic enclosure, she later raised her voice for the moral renewal of the church, and became an advisor to many influential personalities. In her newly founded monastery, where she invited only daughters from rich noble families, she advocated religious life in contemplation, love, and ‘heavenly joy.’

In this seminar, we will focus on Hildegard’s musical-poetical works (chants for the liturgy, the mystical play Ordo virtutum) and try to understand her unique compositions by reading her letters, mystical and scientific writings (Scivias, Physica), as well as studying remarkable depictions related to her mystical visions. All texts are available in English translations. The ability to read music and knowledge of the Latin language are not required.

GERM 515: Old Norse II

Instructor: Roberge
Time: Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3.30-4.45pm
Reading and linguistic analysis of Old Norse texts, including the first book (”Gylfaginning”) of Snorri Sturluson’s Edda. Review of phonology, morphology, and syntax; comparison with other older dialects of Germanic. Prerequisite: Old Norse I or equivalent. (Graduate students interested in entry-level Old Norse should contact the instructor.)

FREN 370: Survey of French Literature, Medieval and Renaissance

Instructor: Dr. Dorothea Heitsch
MWF 9:00-9:50
Dey Hall 210
In this course we will read French texts from the twelfth to the sixteenth century and discuss what it means to read and write literature. Different genres, such as chanson de geste, fabliau, roman, essai, sonnet will be analysed in their socio-historical context and important concepts such as crusade, nationalism, courtly love, gender, scholasticism, humanism, and scepticism will be defined. Whenever possible, visual aids will be integrated in our analysis. Works will include the =93Chanson de Roland, Aucassin et Nicolette,Contes et fabliaux du Moyen Age, and authors
will include Christine de Pisan, Franois Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard, Louise Lab, and Michel de Montaigne. Dr. Dorothea Heitsch dheitsch@email.unc.edu

FRE 830: Cultural Diversity in Medieval France (Fall 2008)

Instructor: Professor Sahar Amer
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-12:15 in New West 103
This course will introduce you to medieval French literature by focusing on French interactions with the Arab Islamicate world from the 11th to the 13th centuries. We will begin by addressing theoretical and critical issues essential to studying the medieval period in general and multiculturalism in the Middle Ages in particular. We will then turn our attention to a variety of literary genres (epic, romance, lais, lyric poetry) in order better to understand the complex dynamics of power and seduction between the East and the West, between Islam and Christianity, as well as the cultural and literary hybridity of medieval French textuality. As we analyze medieval French texts, we will juxtapose them to medieval Arabic cultural and literary material. This comparative, cross-cultural analysis will help you grasp the process of literary and cultural transmission from the Arab Islamicate world to the West. All texts will be available in either modern French or English translation, and no previous knowledge of Old French or Arabic is required. (However, those who have the linguistic ability will be encouraged to read the texts in the original).

There are two main objectives in this class: One (as the title of the course indicates) is to read and analyze medieval texts in their inherently intertextual and multicultural context; second to develop both a methodology to read medieval literary texts and to learn about the tools of research available to study the Middle Ages from a cross-cultural perspective.

ITAL 241: Italian Renaissance Literature in Translation

Instructor: RAO, E
Time: TR 11:00AM-12:15PM DE 0302
This course is designed to give students an introduction to the Renaissance period of literary production in Italy, with particular attention paid to the historical and social context in which the works were created. Readings from Petrarch, Boccaccio, Alberti, Pico della Mirandola, Leonardo da Vinci, Castiglione, Machiavelli and Ariosto.

ITAL 357: Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio

Instructor: Professor Dino Cervigni
Time: TR 03:30PM-04:45PM
Dey 303

ITAL 534 (134 ): Petrarch & Lyric Tradition

Instructor: Professor Dino Cervigni
Time: M 03:30PM-06:00PM
Dey 102
A reading of Petrarch’s /Canzoniere/ within the context of ancient and biblical love poetry and previous lyric traditions (Provençal, Sicilian School, /dolce stil nuovo/, Dante). According to their own interests, students will be guided to investigate Petrarch’s influence upon lyric poetry throughout Europe (Petrarchism in Italy, France, Spain, and England). All texts will be in their original language and in English translation; discussion in English.

ITAL 751: Italian Renaissance Literature II – Cinquecento

Instructor: Rao, E
Time: TR 09:30AM-10:45AM DE 0202
A survey of 16th-century Italian literature, with close readings of Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, Machiavelli’s Il principe, and Castiglione’s Il cortegiano.

SPAN 371: Survey of Spanish Literature to 1700

Instructor: Professor Carmen Hsu

Time: TTH 11-12:15
An inquiry into the development of Spanish literature in its social-historical context from the Middle Ages to the 1680s. Based on close reading and discussion of some most representative works and authors, the primary goal of the course is twofold: 1) to give students a basic knowledge of and appreciation for the literature of the period proposed; 2) to improve students’ ability to read literature in Spanish, to talk about it, to think about it, to analyze it as well as to write coherent short papers about specific topics. The course will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

SPAN 702: The Trastamara Dynasty: 1369 TO 1504/1516 (3).

Instructor: Frank A. Dominguez
Time: TTh 11:00AM-12:15PM, Dey 210
The final shaping of Castile, the beginning of the Spanish nation, and its early American expansion studied through a variety of texts (chronicles, books of chivalry, travel, and novels, lyric and narrative poems). All texts will be in their original language and provided
through the course website.

SPAN 714 : Golden Age Poetry

Instructor: Professor Carmen Hsu
Time: TTH 12:30-1:45
A comprehensive study of the major developments in Spanish poetry over the course of nearly two centuries from the 1500s to the 1645s through the study of some most representative poets of the period. Based on close reading and analysis of selected poems, the course will examine their cultural, ideological, theoretical, and literary contexts of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain. This graduate seminar will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

Spring 2008

ART 290: Islamic Art in the Age of the Caliphs (7-13th c.): Glaire Anderson

Beginning with the earliest Islamic monument, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the course introduces the art and architecture of the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid dynasties. We will examine the major artistic monuments (primarily architecture, but also calligraphy, painting, ceramics, and other objects) produced around the Mediterranean, in Iraq, and in North Africa. The course uses a combination of lectures and group discussion to emphasize the socio-historical contexts within which the art and architecture of the Islamic lands developed. Required readings, a term research project, and short writing assignments (one based on direct analysis of an object in the Ackland Museum collection) provide an introduction to the major themes and regional variations characteristic of this period, and the opportunity to explore specific issues in greater depth than is possible in the general survey of Islamic art. The course fulfills the VP, BN and WB slots in the General Education curriculum.

ART 956: Graduate Seminar in Islamic Art (Orientalism and Art): Glaire Anderson

This seminar focuses on the conventions and historiography of Orientalism, and the means by which ideology shapes representation. Adopting a flexible thematic framework, our discussions will begin with the critical and theoretical foundations (Said, Foucault) and explore the contours of Orientalism as it has developed as an art historical discourse informed by post-colonial studies and cultural criticism.

We will consider constructs of Otherness as revealed by moments of encounter between Europe and the “Orient” from Antiquity to the present: for example: pre-modern travel literature about the Islamic lands; European and American Orientalist painting and literature; recreations of Islamic architecture in the 19th West; as well as contemporary issues, such as the clash of civilizations, identity, multiculturalism, and hybridity, that shape the ways we see and interpret the world around us today.

Requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments and active participation in discussions. Students will be asked to introduce readings and to post discussion questions to the class Blackboard site. A final research paper will be presented in class before being submitted at the end of the term. CLAS 418/418H:

Introduction to Byzantine civilization: Dr. Carolyn L. Connor

CLAS 245 / WMST 245: Women of Byzantium: Dr. Carolyn L. Connor

A study of women’s roles and influence in the Late Ancient and Byzantine world of the 4th to the 14th century, based primarily on literature and art.

While the medieval culture of Byzantium was dominated by men in the realms of politics, administration and the military, women were active in important areas of culture and society. We will read and discuss a number of contemporary Byzantine texts written by or about women. These and other, secondary sources shed light on issues, such as the options open to Byzantine women, their rights under the law, female asceticism and piety, women’s roles in religious life and communities, domestic life, and the gender roles assigned to ordinary women. Representations of women in art serve as testimony to their creative roles as donatrixes, patterns of life, styles of dress and adornment, and, of course, their actual appearance. Our study will enable us to know and “observe” these culturally remote but fascinating women who shared and contributed to one of the world’s great civilizations.

CMPL 390: Don Quijote and the Birth of the Imagination: Marsha S. Collins

Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote of La Mancha (1605, 1615) is widely known as the first modern novel, and one could say that every novel written since Don Quijote establishes a creative dialogue with Cervantes’ masterpiece. Don Quijote’s influence in revolutionizing our concept of the imagination, and its role in life and literature, is perhaps just as important, but has received far less attention. In this course we will read and analyze Don Quijote, considering this work as a product of its time and culture, as the first modern novel, and as literature that has reshaped our notion of the human imagination. We will consider Don Quijote’s engagement with literary genres current in the 16th century, Cervantes’ experimentation with fictional form, the author’s staging of debates about the imagination and imaginative literature, and the changing reception of Don Quijote in different times and countries, along with the changing critical conceptions of this work. We will also view and discuss illustrations of Cervantes’ novel, and changing visual representations through the centuries. What is the legacy of Don Quijote for the modern novel and the modern concept of the imagination?

ENGL 120: British Literature: Chaucer to Pope: Joseph Wittig

A survey of British literature from the beginnings to the age of Pope and Sam Johnson. The focus will be on narrative and lyric poetry, but we will also read some drama and some prose. (Syllabus from Spring 2007 will be available at: http://www.unc.edu/~jwittig/120/en120.htm); “guest” login to this semester’s version of the course should be available on Blackboard (English 120, Section 1).

Fills requirement for majors. Class attendance is expected. Teaching methods: Lecture and discussion. Requirements: Midterm and final exam. Two short (c. 5 page) interpretative papers.

ENGL 319: Readings in Old English Literature: Joseph Wittig

In this course we will read a selection of Old English and Middle English literature, with hard texts read in modern English translation but with regular exposure to samples in the original. We will look at some of the most famous texts from the medieval period (Beowulf, Gawain and the Green Knight, versions of King Arthur’s story) and some of the best known medieval genres (for example, Old English battle poetry, elegies and riddles; Middle English fabliaux, romances, animal tales, lyrics, writings by and for women). We both read them as literary “entertainment” and try to understand something of their historical and cultural context. The course will be taught as lecture and discussion.

We will have a midterm and final exam, quizzes (as needed), and two short papers. Class attendance is expected, as is participation in the class Blackboard Discussion Forum. For the syllabus and other information still available on the web from a previous version of this course (Spring 2006, under the “old” number of English 51), see: http://www.unc.edu/~jwittig/51/en51.htm

ENGL320: Chaucer: Professor Ted Leinbaugh

FREN 371: Survey of French Literature I: The Middle Ages and Renaissance: Hassan Melehy

FREN 830: François Rabel: Hassan Melehy

GERM 820: Cultures of Emotion in the Middle Ages: Kathryn Starkey

What do our feelings today have to do with emotions represented in historical sources? To what extent does social context govern emotional display? What is the relationship between the performance of emotions and their feeling? In this graduate seminar we will draw on a wide range of readings on emotion from diverse disciplinary fields to explore these and other questions. Our readings will help us to develop an understanding of emotion theory and issues of historical specificity. In addition we will read several important German medieval literary texts including Eilhart’s Tristan, Gottfried’s Tristan, Wolfram’s Willehalm, Hartmann’s Iwein, and the Nibelungenlied.

Prerequisite: Graduate-Level or permission of Instructor.

Readings Available in German or English

HIST 107: Medieval History: Brett Whalen

This course provides an introduction to the history of Europe and the Mediterranean world during the Middle Ages (ca. 300-1500), beginning with the transformations of the Roman world in late antiquity and concluding with the origins of the modern era. As a survey course, the class will explore events and developments in political, social and economic life. Special attention, however, will be paid to topics in religious and cultural history, including the authority of the Roman papacy, the crusades, the problem of heresy and trends in late medieval spirituality. In addition to covering the basic narrative and structures of medieval European history, this course will introduce students to some of the basic skills employed by historians (e.g. how to primary sources; identify and critique scholarly arguments; develop written arguments).

HIST 490: Between Flesh and Spirit: Gender, the Body and the Holy in Medieval Christianity: Brett Whalen

Would men and women be resurrected complete with their sexual identities? Did martyrs feel pain? Could women act as legitimate sources of divine revelation? “Between Flesh and Spirit: Gender, the Body and the Holy in Medieval Christianity” will explore the response to questions such as these from late Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages. Students will explore the gendered language and logic of theological tracts, hagiographies, exegesis, illuminated manuscripts and other materials as they relate to problems of the body and sanctity, including the resurrection of the flesh at the end of time, the act of martyrdom, the cult of relics, the judicial ordeal and claims of spiritual revelation. This class is intended for advanced sophomores, juniors and seniors. Anticipated enrollment will be around 15 students. As a history course, students will be expected to analyze primary source materials (more on this class) and interpret them as part of their broader political, social and cultural context. Although the class will incorporate some formal lecture, the burden will be on the students to participate actively in discussion of the shared readings and to carry out other class-related assignments. Although not required, it is highly suggested that students take one of the following course before enrolling: Introduction to Medieval Europe, Gender and Sexuality in the Western Christian Tradition, or Introduction to the History of Christian Traditions.

PWAD 660/ ENGL 660: War in Shakespeare’s Plays: Christopher Armitage

War has occurred throughout recorded history, and war is a factor in many of Shakespeare’s plays. In some it permeates the action; in others it is secondary but significant. In Hamlet, for example, the prince’s familial conflicts are matched by Norway’s warlike designs on Denmark: our focus will be on the latter, not on Hamlet’s problems with his parents and girlfriend.

Like the work of other great artists who have long creative careers, Shakespeare’s changed over time. We therefore usually take up his plays in the order he wrote them. For some of them, selected readings essential for this course will be announced as we proceed.

RELI 583: Religion and Culture in Iran, 1500-Present: Carl Ernst

RELI 584: Introduction to the Qur’an as Literature: Carl Ernst

SPAN 371: Survey of Spanish Literature to 1700: Frank Dominguez

Prerequisites, SPAN 260 and 300 or equivalent. The literature of Spain through 1700. Representative authors of Spanish literature from the medieval, Renaissance, and Golden Age.

SPAN 371: Survey of Spanish Literature to 1700: Carmen Hsu

An inquiry into the development of Spanish literature in its social and historical context from the Middle Ages to the end of the seventeenth century.

SPAN 650: The Spanish Commedia of the Golden Age: Carmen Hsu

Prerequisites for undergraduates SPAN 371 and 372 or 373. A comprehensive study of the most representative plays of the Golden Age Spanish theater from its Renaissance beginnings through the seventeenth century.