Medieval Sex (330-0-20)
Instructors
Dyan H Elliott
847/491-7652
Harris Hall Room 337
Meeting Info
Annenberg Hall G30: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Christian theorists were convinced that human sexuality underwent an irreversible debasement as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Their negative assessment has remained with us until the present day. This course will grapple with the both the origins of this negative bequest as well as some of the anomalies of the medieval tradition. For example, despite the insistence that heterosexuality was ordained by God, the disparagement of physicality and women led to the institutionalization of clerical celibacy in the West. This, in turn, fostered a gay subculture. Likewise, despite the theoretical insistence on a separation between the sexes that was even present in the afterlife, these same theorists not only praised "virile women," but occasionally celebrated cross-dressing in female saints! This course will examine the institutions and ideas that dominated the construction of gender in the Middle Ages. It will also lend insight into not one, but many "sexualities."
Learning Objectives
The readings in this course introduce students to an array of primary sources: theology, canon and civil law, legal proceedings, autobiography, fiction, medical treatises, and inquisitorial manuals -- to name but a few. The diversity of these texts will provide a textured and multi-vocalic perception of the Middle Ages that resists being flattened out into a simplistic narrative. Secondary sources will be used to contextualization medieval documents and provide models for constructing historical arguments through the application of appropriate methodologies and a judicious assessment of evidence. Discussion sections will focus on primary sources. Students will engage in the joint analysis of historical documents, learning to recognize and respect the alterity of the historical past, while at the same time respecting one another. Course assignments are designed to develop students' historical skill set. The two essay assignments (ca. 5-8 pp. each) raise provocative questions to be addressed through primary sources (appropriately contextualized by secondary readings). These assignments will help foster analytical abilities, writing skills, and stimulate the historical imagination. The midterm and final exams contain broad essay questions, cultivating a capacity for historical synthesis. This course also emphasizes scholarly mechanisms for documentation, such as footnotes and bibliography.
Evaluation Method
midterm exam (15%); final exam (30%); papers based on source analysis: 1st paper (15%); 2d paper (25%); attendance and participation (15%)
Class Notes
Concentration: European
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area