To satisfy the MEMS Minor, students must complete 6 courses (18 credits) with a “C” or better. You must take 2 English courses, 2 History Courses, and 2 Courses in any of the following: Africana Studies, Ancient Studies, Art, French, Music, Latin, or Philosophy.
AFST 312 West African History Dr. Tarquin Schwartz
Tues/Thurs 1:00-2:15 PM Counts towards: Writing Intensive
History of West Africa from the period of the medieval empires through the era of the slave trade, the revolutionary 19th century, colonial rule, and independence.
Required preparation: completion of ENGL 100 or equivalent with a C or better. Recommended preparation: AFST211 or AFST212 or HIST242 or HIST243 or permission of instructor.
ART 216 Studies in Visual Culture (Prehistory through the 1750s) Dr. Kimberly Anderson
2 sections: Tues OR Thurs 4:30-7 PM Counts towards: Arts/Humanities (GEP), Culture (GEP)
Focused study of six or seven specific, momentous periods in the history of world art dating from prehistory to the mid-eighteenth century. By studying selected moments in the history of world art in some depth, students will gain an awareness of how art objects and visual culture both shape and represent societies and their histories.
Cross listed: ART 329/ART 429 Animating the Middle Ages Dr. James Magruder
Mon/Wed 5:30-6:45 PM
Today we think of animation as moving images, but medieval patrons pioneered narrative programs to engage human movement using new artistic media, such as illuminated books, sculpture, stained glass, and tapestry. This class explores how medieval artisans animated stories, from the Bible to the Trojan War to King Arthur. It will also consider the effect of social rituals and the rise of drama in animating medieval social groups.
Required preparation: completion of ART 216 or ART 221 with a grade of C or better.
ENGL 250 Introduction to Shakespeare Dr. Michele Osherow
Tues/Thurs 2:30-3:45 PM Counts towards: Arts and Humanities (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR)
An introduction to the times and art of Shakespeare through the study of selection of major plays. Students will be given background information necessary to an understanding of the works. The emphasis of the course will be on making Shakespeare and the dramatic form accessible.
ENGL 304 The Renaissance Court Dr. Raphael Falco
Tues/Thurs 8:30-9:45 AM
In this course we will read the literature of the 16th and 17th centuries through the lens of four English courts: that of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I. These four courts, spanning some of Britain's most turbulent political times, witnessed an exceptional period of literary productivity. We will study Elizabethan sonnet sequences, the court masque, pastoral and Cavalier poetry, and tragic drama. Authors include Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Philip Sidney, Mary Herbert, Edmund Spencer, Elizabeth Carey, Shakespeare, Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Wroth, John Donne, Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Katherine Philips, Andrew Marvell, Margaret Cavendish, and John Milton.
Required preparation: completion of a 200 level ENGL course with a C or better.
ENGL 336 Medieval and Early Modern Drama Dr. Kathryn McKinley
Tues/Thurs 11:30-12:45 PM
A study of medieval and/or early modern drama, largely excluding Shakespeare.
Required preparation: You must have completed ENGL 301 with a grade of C or better.
Cross Listed: ENGL 364/GWST 364 Perspectives on Women in Literature Dr. Kathryn McKinley
Tues/Thurs 10-11:15 AM Counts towards: Writing Intensive, Arts and Humanities (GFR)
Boccacio's Decameron showcases the riotous social fabric of late medieval Italy, including family, love, marriage, and desire. This course considers medieval constructions of gender. How do Boccacio's female characters experience desire, love, courtship, marriage, and selfhood? Are their manifestations of agency sometimes (always?) illusory? How do violence and coercion mark some domestic and amatory relationships in Boccaccio? How is courtly love tied to medieval masculinities? Which forms of feminist theory work, and which don't, in examining gender in premodern European culture? How might we read Boccacio's depictions of gender in relation to his narrative experiments with the unreal?
Required preparation: completion of an ENGL 100 or equivalent and any 200 level ENGL course with a grade of C or better.
ENGL 451 John Milton, Radical Poet Dr. Raphael Falco
Tues/Thurs 10:00-11:15 AM
This seminar analyzes the poetry, prose, and political career of John Milton. Like Shakespeare, Milton has had an incalculable influence on English-language literature. A radical Protestant and a revolutionary member of Oliver Cromwell's government, Milton was also a linguistic genius whose poetry earned him a prominent place in a tradition stretching back to Homer. We will read such important works as Lycidas, Comus (a masque), his sonnets, and Areopagitca, Milton's famous call for freedom of the press. The semester concludes with Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, both written after the interregnum when Milton was under house arrest.
Recommended preparation: completion of ENGL 301 with a grade of C or better and senior standing.
HIST 341 The American Colonies Dr. Marjoleine Kars
Mon/Wed 2:30-3:45 PM Counts towards: Social Sciences (GEP)
A history of the American colonies from their founding to 1774, comparing the social and economic development of the West Indies, New England, mainland South and middle colonies. Topics include patterns of settlement, racial and ethnic interaction, labor, religion, family and gender roles, and cultural achievements.
HIST 383 Japan in the Shogun Age Dr. Constantine Vaporis
Tues/Thurs 10:00-11:15 AM Counts towards: Culture (GEP/GFR)
The history of Tokugawa (1600-1868) or early modern Japan: the age of shogun, samurai, castle-towns, kabuki actors, geisha courtesans and woodblock prints. Emphasis will be placed on the problem of how warriors produced more than two centuries of peace. The course also will investigate the political, economic, and cultural patterns that laid the foundation for Japan’s emergence as a modern nation.
Recommended Preparation: Any 100-level social science course.
HIST 445 History of Science to 1700 Dr. Nicholas Bonneau
Mon 4-5:15 PM Counts towards: Social Sciences (GEP/GFR), Writing Intensive
This course examines the growth of scientific knowledge in the World. Topics will include views of nature in traditional societies, Babylonian mathematics and astronomy, Egyptian medicine, the work of the ancient Greeks, medieval European and Arabic science, the Copernican revolution, the relationship between religion and science, and the Scientific Revolution.
Required Preparation: completion of an ENGL 100 or equivalent with a grade of C or better.
Recommended Preparation: Lower level Social Sciences or Culture course (if student has not had one of these courses, it is still possible to take the course with permission of the department).
HIST 470 Tudor and Stuart England: 1485-1714 Dr. Amy Froide
Tues 1:00-2:15 PM
An introduction to British politics, society, economy, religion and culture during the 16th and 17th centuries. It is under the Tudors that England developed into a strong and relatively wealthy nation state. The country also underwent revolutions in culture (the Renaissance) and religion (the Reformation). The 17th century was a turbulent one, with unemployment and poverty, witchcraft accusations and civil wars affecting the British people. But Britain also was emerging as a colonial naval and trading power, as well as a center of the Scientific Revolution.
Recommended Preparation: HIST 100 or HIST 110, or HIST 111, plus junior/senior status.
MUSC 307-07 Collegium Dr. Lindsay Johnson
Mon/Wed 2:30-3:45 PM
This course introduces students to medieval and early modern literature composed for small ensembles. Students will perform with their small ensemble at the end of the semester. This course is repeatable for a maximum of 10 credits.
Recommended Preparation: MUSC 190 or MUSC 193 or MUSC 194 or prior experience playing in an ensemble. Note: Permission of department is required.
LATIN 101 Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs 9:00-9:50
LATIN 101 Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs 11:00-11:50
LATN 102 Dr. Molly Jones-Lewis Mon/Tue/Wed/Thurs 10:00-10:50 AM
LATN 102-02 Dr.Molly Jones-Lewis Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs 11:00-11:50 AM
Counts towards: Language (GFR)
Continuation of LATN 101.
Required Preparation: completion of LATN 101 with a C or better or two years of high school Latin.
LATIN 402 Special Author Seminar Dr. Molly Jones-Lewis
Mon/Wed 1:00-2:15 PM
For a complete list of courses that satisfy the MEMS Minor, consult the website: mems.umbc.edu.
