2025-2026 Courses

Fall 2025 (2026)

Please find below a selection of courses of interest to graduate students in Medieval Studies that will be taught in Fall 2025-2026. Note that the list is incomplete.

* indicates that the course is open to undergraduates and graduate students.

ENGLISH

*Professor Martin Foys, Engl/Medieval 520 Really Old English (T-Th 2:30-3:45pm, HUM 2637)

Old English is the earliest form of English – over 1,000 years old, it is the language of Beowulf and Grendel, of saints and sinners, of farmers, seafarers, and a surprising number of animals and objects that can talk. It is a language that is uncannily strange, alien, yet at the same time the backbone, the muscle, of modern English. This course will teach you an awful lot about the language we use every day: in the first half of the semester, we will study basic pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, with short translation exercises due in most class meetings; in the second half, we will put the skills you’ve learned to work, reading Old English texts and poems in the original — a rare opportunity. Because this is a principally a language class, no research papers will be required. Instead, there will be translation exercises, quizzes, a midterm exam, and final translation projects. No previous experience required, though some familiarity with studying another language at any level can be helpful.

HISTORY

*Professor Elizabeth Lapina, Hist 600-Middle Ages in Film (Seminar, Tue 11:00am – 12:55pm Humanities 5257)

In this course we will watch, read about and discuss a series of films on various medieval subjects. Some of these films will be blockbusters, but most will be films that are little known to the general public. Some of them will be recent, but most will date from the middle to late 20th century. Some of them will be American, the rest European and Asian. We will gain an awareness of medieval realities and medieval texts on which these films are based. However, we will move beyond simply noting whether each film is offering a faithful or an unfaithful representation of historical events and will attempt to understand what attracted modern filmmakers to medieval history in the first place and what concerns – be they artistic, political, social, religious, etc. – made them represent it in the ways that they did. Two topics in particular will be at the center of our discussion: violence and gender. The students will have to choose a film, a cluster of films, or a topic that runs across a series of films, which they will analyze in their essays and oral presentations.

ITALIAN

Professor Jelena Todorovic, Italian 659, Dante’s Divina Commedia, Thur 2:25pm – 4:55pm, Van Hise 599 (Graduate course, open to non-Italian-speaking graduate students)

This is a discussion-based course that will investigate thoroughly a selection from Dante’s masterpiece, the Divine Comedy. From close readings of the selected cantos, we will branch out to discuss the literary, historical, political, social, and theological contexts behind this text.

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

*Professor Kirsten Wolf, 410 Introduction to Scandinavian Linguistics (Tue/Thur 9:30-10:45am, 487 Van Hise Hall)

The course is intended to give students an overview of the development of the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese) from Proto-Germanic to modern times, focussing on phonological and morphological changes. The emphasis will be on Proto Scandinavian (ca. 200-ca. 600), Common Scandinavian (ca. 600-ca. 1050), and Old Scandinavian (ca. 1050-1350). The course is a combination of lecture and seminar. Following a general introduction to and a brief survey of the various methods of study, the development from Indo-European to Proto-Germanic will be considered. By the end of the semester, students will have a good overview of the development of the Scandinavian languages and understand the main differences between East Norse (Danish and Swedish) and West Norse (Faroese, Norwegian, and Icelandic).

*Professor Kirsten Wolf, 511 Paleography and Philology – Old Norse (Tue/Thur 11:00am-12:15pm, 483 Van Hise Hall)

This is a history of writing in Iceland ca. 1150-ca. 1700 on the basis of manuscripts as principal sources for Old Norse-Icelandic. The course builds on 407 Old Norse I and 408 Old Norse II and must be regarded as a continuation of the two courses. It provides a survey of the development of the Icelandic language from the 12th century until a couple of centuries after the Reformation and introduces students to the field of codicology. The history of writing and writing materials are treated in detail. The development of writing in Iceland and Norway from the introduction of Christianity (1000) until around 1700 will be examined on the basis of exercices in transcribing medieval manuscripts. Students will be trained in dating manuscripts on the basis of paleographic and orthographic features and introduced to the methods and principles of editing a medieval text. By the end of the course, students will be able to transcribe an Old Norse-Icelandic manuscript and present both a diplomatic and normalized edition.

_ _ _ _ _ _