In addition to the interdisciplinary and archival courses offered by our institute, a full schedule of medieval courses is offered in other participating academic departments. Approximately 65 medieval courses are offered here each year, not including the many courses in language instruction and independent research that student medievalists frequently take. Many students participate in medieval studies courses without enrolling in our formal degree programs. For students pursuing a medieval studies minor or certificate, questions about courses not listed here can be directed to mest@iu.edu
Courses
Fall 2026 Courses
Note: 6 credit hours of language above the 100 level in Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, or Persian may count towards the Area Certificate. Please, do search for these additional courses using the College Bulletin or the IU iGPS system https://sisjee.iu.edu/sisigps-prd/web/igps/course/search/.
Ancient and Medieval Art (3 credits)
ARTH-A 101 with Diane Reilly
This survey course will examine the history of the visual arts in the Western world from Ancient Egypt (ca. 3000 BC) to the end of the Gothic era in Europe (ca. 1400 AD). The course will focus primarily on developments in the major arts of architecture, sculpture and painting, although other media, such as ceramics, jewelry and small-scale metalwork, and textiles will also be addressed. In lecture and discussion sections, we will approach the individual works of art with two specific goals in mind: 1) to understand the works of art in terms of their formal structure, artistic innovations, and stylistic development, and 2) to situate the works into their specific historical and cultural contexts in order to better understand how different societies lived and perceived the world around them.
British and American Authors: Mystical Writing (3 credits)
ENG-L 450 with Rebekah Sheldo
Mysticism is an ancient and modern form of philosophical thought and religious experience that presents as a paradox. Beginning from an understanding of the world as radically separate from the divine source, mystics work to negate, silence, and unknown the world in order to better experience that which is beyond the veil of the senses, and yet they do so through writing. This paradox takes form in the rhetorical figure of apophasis or writing which states what it will not state. In the first half of this class, we will read deeply into the mystical tradition for its metaphysics and its rhetoric, with particular attention to the medieval female mystics such as Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and Hildegard of Bingen and their contemporary interpreters. We will then explore apophasis as it is used by 19th-21st century writers and theorists. This list may include fiction such as 19th-century supernatural literature, 20th-century surrealist writers, and 21st-century new weird writers as well as critical schools such as Lacanian psychoanalysis, queer and feminist theories, and new materialism.
Chinese Painting (3 credits)
ARTH-A 363 with Weitian Yan
A survey of key monuments in the history of painting in China, from the 4th to the 20th centuries. Students will examine paintings of varied mediums, including murals, handscrolls, hanging scrolls, screens, album leaves, fans, and illustrated books. In lectures, we will explore the context in which these paintings were made, the development of personal styles, as well as the reception of these paintings. Additionally, students will discuss and analyze recent scholarly literature on Chinese painting. The course includes object-based study sessions at the Lilly Library and the Eskenazi Museum of Art.
Celtic Narratives (3 credits)
ENG-L 338 with Joey McMullen
From giants who must have their eyes propped up with forks, warriors whose battle-frenzy distorts their bodies into Tasmanian-Devil-like whirlwinds of fury, and old hags who transform themselves into beautiful young women, early Irish and Welsh narrative literature rarely disappoints and always entertains. Structured as a triad, this course revolves around three crucial literary personae: the bardd / fili (poet), the hero, and the sovereignty goddess. We will work our way through the foundations of early Celtic cultures--the bardic order and poetic grades, the institution of warfare and its development after the Norman Conquest, and the sacral function of kingship--as we also consider how these early texts speak to contemporary concerns about power, gender, ethics, and the environment.
Celtic Narratives (3 credits)
ENG-L 338 with Joey McMullen
From giants who must have their eyes propped up with forks, warriors whose battle-frenzy distorts their bodies into Tasmanian-Devil-like whirlwinds of fury, and old hags who transform themselves into beautiful young women, early Irish and Welsh narrative literature rarely disappoints and always entertains. Structured as a triad, this course revolves around three crucial literary personae: the bardd / fili (poet), the hero, and the sovereignty goddess. We will work our way through the foundations of early Celtic cultures--the bardic order and poetic grades, the institution of warfare and its development after the Norman Conquest, and the sacral function of kingship--as we also consider how these early texts speak to contemporary concerns about power, gender, ethics, and the environment.
Introduction to Jewish History: From the Bible to Spanish Expulsion (3 credits)
HIST-H 251/ JSTU-J 251 with Jeremiah Lockwood
Topics include the origins of Judaism, Jewish life in ancient Israel and the Diaspora, Judaism and the origins of Christianity, Jewish society and culture under Christian and Muslim rule in the Middle Ages.
Koranic Studies (3 credits)
MELC-M 370 with Asma Afsaruddin
The course introduces the Qur'an in its historical role as the Islamic revelation. It covers its formation and compilation, the structural and stylistic characteristics of the text, and its role and function in Islam. Discusses the major themes of the Qur'an and explores the different schools of interpretation throughout history.
Literary History 1: Beginnings Through the Seventeenth Century (3 credits)
ENG-L 310 with Michael Adams
This course will explore a variety of different texts, beginning and ending with epic poems (Beowulf and Paradise Lost), medieval romance, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, drama of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (but not Shakespeare), and lyric poetry from Chaucer to Milton, with focus on the sonnet. Coursework will include midterm and final examinations, as well as two relatively brief (5-8 page) essays. Our only text will be Volumes A and B of the Norton Anthology of English Literature.
Medieval Heroes (3 credits)
HIST-B 204 with Leah Shopkow
Examination and evaluation of various aspects, periods, and manifestations of medieval civilization. Student will be interdisciplinary, focusing on such subjects as Jews, Moslems, and Christians in the Middle Ages; the Carolingian Renaissance; multicultural Provence and its diaspora.
Medieval Philosophy (3-4 credits)
MEST-M 390 with Rega Wood
Examination and evaluation of various aspects, periods, and manifestations of medieval civilization. Student will be interdisciplinary, focusing on such subjects as Jews, Moslems, and Christians in the Middle Ages; the Carolingian Renaissance; multicultural Provence and its diaspora.
Performance Practices Before 1750 (3 credits)
MUS-M 435 with Joanna Blendulf
Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque repertory studied in light of historical performance procedures, instruments, tuning, rhythm, notations, and other theoretical areas of importance for performance. Some consideration is given to the recreation of historical music by employing modern instruments.
Prophets, Poets, and Kings: Iranian Civilization (3 credits)
CEUS-R 351 with Jamsheed Choksy
Traces the history of Iranians from ancient times through the Arab conquest to today. Focuses on institutions, religious, secular and ecclesiastic hierarchies, minorities, devotional and communal change, and Iranian influences on Islam. Visual and archaeological aids used. No previous knowledge of subject matter required.
Songs of Ecstasy: Loving God in Medieval India (3 credits)
INST-I 371 / REL-D 375 with Rebecca Manring
The devotional literatures of India have remained popular for centuries. Cutting across religious boundaries, these writings present us with a wide range of views of the Divine and can help us to appreciate the richness and diversity of Indian civilization and culture. We'll read works by such writers as Antal, Kabir (whose followers still can't agree on whether he was Muslim or Hindu!), Mirabai, and Jayadeva, and look at contemporary treatments of these writers and of devotion. Other resources we'll use include recorded versions of many of these pieces, devotional films, and contemporary Bollywood cinema.
Studies in East Asian History: Japan in the Age of Shogun, 1467-1600 (3 credits)
EALC-E 352 with Morten Oxenboell
In this semester, the course will focus on the world of the recent Emmy-winning TV drama "Shogun," offering an in-depth exploration of late 16th-century Japan. Each week focuses on a different theme, shedding light on the complexities and nuances of this transformative era. Topics will of course include all things samurai, but also the dynamic life in urban centers, the spread of Christianity, the relentless Warring States period, the unification under the future shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the nature of samurai warfare. We'll also explore the life of peasants, the codes governing warlord households, and the cultural practices surrounding tea, poetry, and ¿ ritual suicide. Beyond Japan’s borders, we’ll examine its place in East Asia and the impact of Europeans. This course combines historical facts with critical reflections, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the world that shaped "Shogun."
The Gothic Cathedral (3 credits)
ARTH-A 224 with Diane Reilly
This course will survey the development of one of the most important cultural institutions of the Medieval era, the Gothic Cathedral. Starting in the Ile-de-France around 1140, the cathedral became the most important innovating force in Europe, leading the way in the development of architecture and the visual arts, as well as education and music. The centrality of the cathedral in the later medieval world reflects a fundamental change in the structure of medieval society, which changed from being primarily rural to urban in the course of only a century. A study of the Gothic cathedral therefore provides an ideal jumping off point to examine the most important trends of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. These include the use of complex stone vaulting and stained glass, the primacy of the university school and the acceptance of secular learning, and the conflict between ecclesiastical and secular authority in the newly empowered medieval city.
The Mongol Century (3 credits)
CEUS-R 393 with Michael Brose
In-depth exploration of Chinggis Khan's Mongol Empire from its origins in the twelfth century in the continent-wide breakdown of the 1330s-1370s. Primary sources (Mongolian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European) in translation, including many of the medieval era's greatest histories and travelogues.
Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages (3 credits)
HIST-B 351 with Deborah Deliyannis
After the "fall of the Roman Empire", western Europe and the Mediterranean experienced invasion, plague, religious conversion, and other upheavals that shaped entirely new political, social, and cultural systems. In the year 500, new kingdoms and identities were still very closely associated with the Roman world that continued in the eastern Mediterranean, but by the year 1000, western Europe was divided into many different political units, with two dominant religions, Christianity and Islam, no longer unified with the eastern and southern Mediterranean areas. Europe in 1000 contained many of the political, cultural, religious, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries that we know today, and thus the Early Middle Ages can be regarded as the period in which the foundations of modern European society were put into place. We will be examining the different ways that Roman, Germanic, Christian, and Islamic traditions interacted to produce this new world.
Writing in History: Early Medieval England (3 credits)
HIST-J 300 with Deborah Deliyannis
When the Roman legions pulled out of Britain in the early fifth century, the island entered a "dark age", during which groups of people from outside the island entered Britain and became its rulers. In this course, we will examine the history and culture of Anglo-Saxon England from 400 to 1100. We will consider a variety of issues such as the history of Christianity in England, social and political development, contacts with other islands and the continent, the repeated waves of invaders, the gradual unification of the island, and finally the Norman conquest of 1066. We will read extensively in both primary and secondary sources, and we will also examine archaeological material in detail. In this Writing Intensive seminar, in addition to discussing the history of Anglo-Saxon England, we will be discussing historical methodology and historical writing, both through discussion of your own writing projects and through discussion of books and articles written by modern historians about Anglo-Saxon England.
I took Professor Diane Reilly's "The Medieval City" course through the Art History department in the fall of 2016, and I absolutely loved it. Though I was just taking the course as part of my major requirements, I completed the class with a love for everything medieval. I credit this to Professor Reilly's enthusiasm for and superior knowledge of anything and everything medieval; it was such a pleasure to learn from her, and I suggest that students from any field of study take this class with her if the opportunity arises.
Amelia Berry (Art History, class of 2018)
The College of Arts