Specialized courses offered periodically on specific aspects of the art of the medieval world. Courses are normally research-led topics on an area of current academic concern.
May be taken more than once for credit with different topics.

Satisfies "the Medieval World" core course requirement for Art History majors

The course explores medieval visuality through a topical focus on art produced at “limits and margins,” defined ideologically, physically, and geographically.

The course material centers on four main themes. The first of these addresses images located at the edges and ancillary areas of church spaces and manuscripts, and how the character of these images shifts as one moves toward the “margins.” Topics to be studied include the iconographic programs of thresholds, depictions of the apocalypse, and the irreverence and humor of manuscript marginalia. A second theme introduces students to how medieval viewers imagined their world through maps, and specifically how the edges of society, the “monstrous,” and the unknown came to be depicted and conceptualized.

A third theme deals with art that flourished in locations with significant cross-cultural contact, and how this visual evidence pushes against anachronistic ideas of “borders” or constructs of “center/periphery.” Topics for this section of the class include rock-cut or “cave” churches in Anatolia and Southern Italy, as well as art produced in medieval Ethiopia and under the medieval Serbian Empire. The fourth theme concentrates on medieval imaginings of the “Other,” and includes discussions on crusader views of the Islamic world and the politics of Christian visual representations of Judaism.

As a complement to the four broad themes described above, the course concludes with a final section on “medievalisms.” Considering topics such as Gothic Revival, the Neo-Medieval architecture of Rome, and the use of medievalisms in modern nation-building, this final focus of the course asks how “the Middle Ages” itself has been construed in terms of its “alterity.”

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
- Recognize key works of medieval art and architecture.
- Analyse the visual material within its social and historical contexts.
- Demonstrate awareness of significant primary source texts.
- Evaluate secondary literature critically and individuate various scholarly approaches.
- Identify key aspects of the notions of “borders,” limits, margins, and alterity in and of the Middle Ages; interpret individual works of art in relation to these ideas.
- Cultivate oral communication skills by discussing art and readings in the classroom.
- Develop writing skills that include: the formation of clear arguments; effective organization and structuring of material; visual analysis; and the incorporation and evaluation of primary and secondary sources.

Absence from class
- The content of the exam assessments for this course is lecture based. As such, excessive absences and/or repeated lateness will have a negative effect on your ability to successfully study the course material.
- Make-up work is not offered for unexcused absences.
- Excused absences may be obtained either through permission of the Dean’s Office or at my discretion.
- Absences due to observance of a religious holiday will be excused. Please inform me by the end of Add/Drop period so that we can make arrangements to make up any missed work.

Absence from exams
- Major examinations (midterms, finals) may only be re-administered, or otherwise excused or accommodated, with the permission of the Dean’s Office. The standard for justifying an absence from a major examination is evidence of a serious difficulty preventing attendance.
- Students seeking an excuse for an absence from a major exam must notify their Instructor or the Dean’s Office prior to the exam, and submit the Excused Absences Request form.