Course Description
The ideas about and images of women throughout the medieval period. The issues of political, economic, and social rights of women of different classes. The presence of misogyny will be questioned.
Athena Title
Wenches Witches Damsels Nuns
Prerequisite
Any HIST course or ENGL 1101 or ENGL 1101E or ENGL 1101S or ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1102S or POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about the history of women in medieval Europe by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of women in medieval Europe has shaped social and cultural identities and attitudes, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
- The Classical Inheritance
- The Religious Inheritance
- Conditions of Life: Upbringing & Marriage
- Conditions of Life: Home & Family
- Peasant Women
- Urban Women
- Aristocratic Women
- Courtly Love, Chivalry, and Romance
- The Religious Life: Nuns & Nunneries
- The Religious Life: Lay Women
- The Religious Life: Saints and Mystics
- Medicine, Reproduction, and Sexuality
- Heretics and Witches
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
