Courses

Instructor: Will Hasty

In this online course, you will learn about technological innovations and the basic physical principles underlying them (e.g., force, work, and energy) in the cultural domains of power generation, agriculture, sacred spaces, warfare, and textiles and how these innovations interacted with belief- and value systems to shape the European Middle Ages.

Instructor: Mary Watt

What happens when emperors and popes battle for power, and writers, artists, and cities are caught in between? This course traces the origins and evolution of the Holy Roman Empire while uncovering how its political ambitions shaped the literature and culture of Medieval and Renaissance Italy. From the dazzling and controversial reign of the flamboyant Emperor Frederick II, known as Stupor Mundi (“the Wonder of the World”), to the later extravagance and cultural patronage of the Medici popes, students will examine how struggles for authority sparked artistic innovation, intellectual transformation, and some of the most influential cultural developments of the period.

Instructor: Richard Wang

Pre-modern Chinese narrative from its philosophical and historical origins to the fiction at the turn of the 20th century. Emphasizes the 16th and 17th centuries when Chinese vernacular fiction flourished. (H and N)

Instructor: Florin Curta

https://people.clas.ufl.edu/fcurta/courses/high-middle-ages/ 

Instructor: Yehoshua Ecker

A survey of major transformations in Jewish life in the Early Modern period, from the demographic transitions and expulsions of the 15th century to the major political shifts of the late 18th century. Including: Dispersion and Resettlement; Interactions between disperse communities; Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim interactions; Impact of modern statebuilding; Social, political, economic, cultural, legal and religious developments; Demographic trends; Diffusion of knowledge and information; Intellectual trends, controversies and conflicts.

Instructor: Mary Watt

This course will take students on a semester-long journey through the underworld as imagined by the fourteenth century writer Dante Alighieri. The primary source will be Dante’s Inferno but the course will be enhanced with visual materials and will make full use of the many digital resources devoted to the study of Dante and his world. Special attention will be paid to the political, historical and religious context in which Dante was writing and to the reception of his epic by subsequent generations.

Instructor: Sarra Tlili

This course explores the Qur’an from a literary standpoint, focusing on its structure, style, and themes to uncover how it generates meaning and produces literary effects. Beginning with an overview of the historical, religious, and cultural context in which the Qur’an emerged, the course provides a foundation for understanding its unique composition. We then focus on distinctive features of Qur’anic style, such as ambiguity and repetition, which contribute to its layered and multifaceted nature. Through close readings of selected sūras and passages, we analyze their structure, themes, characterization, and stylistic elements, while also exploring intertextual connections within the Qur’anic text and across other scriptural traditions.