2026-2027 Courses

Berke Çetinkaya, Hist/Relig St 205: The Making of the Islamic World: The Middle East, 500-1500 (May 26-June 21, Online Asynchronous)

The course examines major transformations in the Middle East from Late Antiquity to the early modern period, with particular attention to the rise of Islam and the formation of Muslim societies and empires. We will begin with the religious and cultural landscape before Islam, then trace the rapid Arab-Muslim conquests that, within a century, expanded a small polity in western Arabia into an empire stretching from Iberia to the Indian subcontinent. Rather than providing a simple political survey, the course focuses on how large-scale changes affected everyday life. Topics include the development of Islamic law and its implications for women and religious minorities, the influence of Greco-Roman thought on medieval Muslim intellectual life, Jewish merchant networks, Muslim responses to the Crusades, and Latin Christian perceptions of Muslims and Islam. We will also cover competing caliphates, the Crusader states, and the impact of Turkic and Mongol expansions to the regions, concluding with the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the take over of Constantinople. Throughout, we will approach the Middle East and Islam as a dynamic, diverse, and interconnected world shaped by interaction, conflict, and exchange.

Tiffany Van Winkoop, History 229, History of Palace Culture (June 15 – August 9 Online Asynchronous)

Spanning the premodern world from the Palaces of Sumer to the Court of Louis XIV, this class examines palaces and palace culture across time and space. This class considers not only the social hierarchies that exist within palace life, but also the physical and architectural history of palaces. Students will confront questions such as: what actually is a palace? How doe palaces reflect the core values of each specific peoples? Who enters palaces? How are social relationships constructed or hindered by palace structures? This course serves as a great travel guide for students who may be abroad over the summer, or help students imagine the history of their next travel destination!

Benjamin Wilson, Medieval/Scand Studies 430, The Vikings (Jun 15 – Jul 12 Online Asynchronous)

The Vikings begins with modern portrayals—from popular media to nationalist appropriations in the 19th and 20th century—and examines how these images have shaped and sometimes distorted our understanding of early medieval Scandinavia. From there, the course turns to historical sources and archaeological evidence to explore the legendary origins of the Scandinavian peoples, the consolidation of their kingdoms, and the far-reaching impact of Viking expansion. Students will study the conversion to Christianity, which marked the end of the Viking Age, alongside the rich cultural legacy of Norse mythology, runic writing, skaldic poetry, and Icelandic sagas. Viking art, warfare, and environmental interactions are also considered. Weekly reaction papers and group projects encourage critical thinking and collaborative inquiry, while two comprehensive essays assess students’ engagement with both historical and modern narratives. By tracing the evolution of Viking identity, students gain insight into the medieval world and the forces that continue to shape cultural memory today. Open to undergraduate and graduate students, junior standing required.

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Fall 2026 (2027)

Please find below a selection of courses eligible for the Undergraduate Certificate in Medieval Studies that will be taught in Fall 2026 (2027). Note that the list is incomplete, and there are many other courses that are eligible.

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

ART HISTORY

Professor Thomas Dale, Art Hist 318/715, Romanesque and Gothic Art and Architecture (Tuesdays/Thursdays, 1:00-2:15pm)*

Knights besieging the Castle of Love, shimmering golden reliquaries, soaring, light-filled Gothic Cathedrals, mystical feminized visions of the Apocalypse by Hildegarde of Bingen, macabre images of the Three Living and the Three Dead Kings—these are among the many images that will engage students in the art of the later Middle Ages. This course explores art and architecture as agents and reflections of significant social and religious change, globalization and trade, scientific and technological change that shaped an emergent European identity from the second half of the eleventh century to the beginning of the fifteenth century. Focusing principally on England, France, Germany, Northern Spain and Italy, we will consider such topics as sculpture in relation to the senses and religious experience, the architecture of pilgrimage, monsters, gender, and alterity, portraiture and the commemoration of the dead, female mysticism and devotional images, mappaemundi and cartography, technological innovation and visionary experience in the architecture of Gothic cathedrals, the world of nature in medieval scientific manuscripts, and the macabre arts of late medieval funerary culture. In addition, particular emphasis will be placed on the interaction of Western Europe with the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean through trade, pilgrimage, conquest and crusade.

Professor Thomas Dale, Art Hist 603/800, (Curatorial Studies Colloquium Exhibition Practice): Illuminating the Word: Image and Story, Ritual and Prayer in Premodern Manuscript Books (Tuesdays 4:30-7:00pm)*

One of the most significant technological innovations in late antiquity was the replacement of the papyrus rotulus (roll) by the parchment codex or manuscript (hand-written book) as principal vehicle for the dissemination of the written word. Habits of reading and organizing knowledge were transformed in ways comparable to the digital revolution in our own time. Script was transformed into art by the introduction of decorated or inhabited letters, and complex image programs offered visual interpretations of the texts they accompanied. Focusing on global manuscript culture of distinct religious traditions, this course will prepare a physical exhibition for UW Special Collections, showcasing the history of premodern books using examples from campus collections and some private collections. The purpose of this class is threefold: 1) to explore the history of the premodern book within multiple cultural and religious traditions, examining the interpretive role of images and script 2) to consider the afterlife of the premodern book in both early printed books and modern recreations and facsimiles 3) to learn the craft of preparing an exhibition of physical objects, including issues of display, accessible label copy, publicity and public programming.

ENGLISH

Professor Lisa H. Cooper, English 241: Literature and Culture 1: To the Eighteenth Century (TR 11-11:50am, Educational Sciences 204 + discussion section)

What is a person, a home, a nation, a world? What we now call “English literature” begins with these questions, imagining a cosmos filled with gods and heroes, liars and thieves, angels and demons, dragons and dungeons, whores and witches, drunken stupor and religious ecstasy. Authors crafted answers to these questions using technologies of writing from parchment to the printing press, and genres old and new, from epic and romance to drama and the sonnet. Emphasis will be on developing the skills of close reading, critical analysis, and writing that are of use for majors and non-majors alike, and on thinking about what it means to participate in a community (or several communities) of readers. We will think frequently as well about the consolations (and disappointments) of literature. What does premodern literature, in particular, offer us as we consider what it means to be human on the shared space of the Earth? What does it offer us as we think about what it means to live, and what it means to die? What do works written at such a chronological (not to mention geographical) distance from us teach us about what it means to care, in all the potential resonances of that word?

Professor Jordan Zweck, English/Hist/Relig Studies 360, Early Medieval England, (Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:45am, Humanities 2637)

Who were the people who lived in what is now England over 1000 years ago? This class explores the history, literature, religion, art, and culture of the early medieval English (c.450-c.1100). We explore a wide range of texts originally written in Latin and Old English that include fights with monsters, heartbreaking elegies, dirty riddles, bombastic sermons, and medical treatises. Over the semester, we will learn about how Early Medieval England came into existence, how it became Christianized, how it fought, assimilated, and fought again with Vikings, and how it all ended (or didn’t!) with the Norman Conquest. As a framework for the class, we will study the literature of the period (in modern translation), but we will also explore the period’s history, art, religion, architecture and everyday culture. We will also consider how Old English and Anglo-Latin literature has been adapted by modern writers, and why this early medieval culture continues to appeal to people today.

Professor Lisa H. Cooper, English/Medieval Studies 425: Medieval Romance (TR 1-2:15, Helen C. White 6118)

Knights, tournaments, adventures; damsels in distress; star-crossed lovers; talking animals; forests, wastelands, tempestuous seas; magical potions; elaborate feasts and even more elaborate clothing; King Arthur, Lancelot, Gawain, Guinevere, and, of course, Merlin and a curious object called the Grail. All this and so much more come together in the genre known as romance, one of the major literary forms of the high Middle Ages. This course will read across what were essentially the popular “best-sellers” of their day, from the late twelfth century in France to the end of the fifteenth century in England. Issues we will explore include: the way the romance genre draws upon and breaks with the traditions of both classical literature and medieval epic; the relationship of romance and history-writing; the medieval definitions of authorship and the intersection of the oral and the written in medieval culture; the legend of Arthur, the nature of kingship, and the meaning and function of knighthood; the chivalric ideal and the (rather vexed) concept of “courtly love”; the complications of human desire and sexuality; the place of the human in the natural world; and, last but not least, the romance’s regular juxtaposition of the public arena and the private self. No previous knowledge of medieval literature is required.

Professor Martin Foys, Engl 520: Really Old English, (Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:15 PM, Van Vleck B 115)*

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 Michael Martoccio, Hist 500: The Trials of Joan of Arc, (Tuesdays, 11:00-12:55 PM, Levy Hall 1214)

Brief course description: In this course, students will examine the religious, military, economic, cultural, legal, and gender history of fifteenth-century Europe through the life and trials of Joan of Arc. Known as the Maid of Orléans, Joan’s transformation from peasant girl to savior of France to martyr was rapid. But was her life, in fact, remarkable? Beginning with the Greco-Roman and Christian traditions, students will explore ideas of masculinity and war in the context of late medieval Europe in order to contextualize Joan’s life, trial, and death, an exercise which culminates in an intensive, student-led reenactment of her trial. Students will then explore the many, often contradictory, legacies of Joan in later centuries in visual, literary, poetic, and social media.

ITALIAN

Professor Jelena Todorovic, LitTrans/Medieval/Religious 253, Of Demons and Angels. Dante’s Divine Comedy in Translation (Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:15pm)

Through readings, videos, and original images, we explore the most significant episodes from one of the greatest world literary classics, Dante’s Divine Comedy. From Hell, through Purgatory to Paradise, we travel together with Dante in a universal tale of the journey of the human soul. The course is based on a discussion of specific themes, characters, phenomena, that define and contextualize Dante’s work. This course consists of a detailed and guided close reading and discussion of Dante’s Divine Comedy. During the semester, students learn about Dante, his life and his works, development of literary history, historical and socio-political context of medieval  and early-modern Europe. Furthermore, students are invited to ponder universal concepts and patterns in the development of Western civilization that had repercussions on centuries of world history and that can still be observed today. Students make connections that cross geographic and cultural lines in an exploration of literary topics, the history of ideas, and shared history. A Canvas page has been created for this course that contains all additional materials (readings, videos, links, etc). It counts towards the Italian major and the Italian certificate.

JEWISH STUDIES

Professor Nina Caputo, Jewish 431 Intermediate Topics in Jewish History: The Jews of Medieval Spain, (Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:15 Vilas Hall 4008)*

This course will explore the history of Jewish communities in the Iberian peninsula from the early middle ages through the Expulsion of 1492. We will examine broad questions related to Jewish life and culture during this period, as well as more specific questions about the unique characteristics of Sephardic Jewry. Through a close study of primary sources and recent secondary scholarship, students willanalyze the impact of Muslim and Christian Iberian society on the cultural and religious life of Sephardic Jewry and the role Jews and Judaism played in shaping Spanish society and culture.

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

Professor Kirsten Wolf, 407 Introduction to Old Norse, (Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:45)*

The course has a linguistic purpose and is designed to give students a reading knowledge of Old Norse through the study of Old Icelandic grammar and selections of Old Norse-Icelandic texts. By the end of the course, students will have a basic understanding of Icelandic phonology and grammar with a focus on nominal and verbal inflection. Students will have sufficient vocabulary to be able to read and understand basic texts in normalized editions and access more challenging texts with the help of a dictionary. The course is open to both undergraduates and graduates.

Professor Kirsten Wolf, 409 Survey of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature, (Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15 pm)*

The course is intended to give students an overview of Old Norse-Icelandic literature from the earliest times until the Reformation. The course is a continuation of 407 Introduction to Old Norse and 408 Intermediate Old Norse and requires familiarity with Old Norse-Icelandic grammar and a basic reading knowledge of Old Norse-Icelandic. By the end of the course, students will have been introduced to the various genres of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. Through translation work, they will have solidified their knowledge of Old Icelandic grammar and expanded their lexicon. The course is open to both undergraduates and graduates.

Professor Scott Mellor, Scand/Hist 431, History of Scandinavia to 1815, (Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:45 pm, Educ Sci 212)*

This course provides an analytical survey of the Nordic region from the Viking Age to 1815, emphasizing the major political, social, and religious transformations that shaped Scandinavia prior to modern state formation. It begins with the economic structures, external networks, and ideological frameworks of the Viking Age (c. 750–1150) and examines the region’s transition into the medieval period, when stable Scandinavian kingdoms emerged. The course then considers the impact of the Lutheran Reformation on governance, religious culture, and intellectual life, followed by an assessment of the early modern rise of Denmark‑Norway and Sweden as imperial powers and the administrative and military systems that sustained them. It concludes with the Nordic Enlightenment and the geopolitical pressures that led to the dissolution of these imperial formations by 1815.