ARTH 4352 - Medieval Cosmologies: Text, Image, and Music

(crosslisted)
(also CLASS 4753, MEDVL 4352, MUSIC 4352, NES 4352, RELST 4352, STS 4352, VISST 4352)(HB) (CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits.

Undergraduates by permission only. Co-meets with ARTH 6352/CLASS 7753/MEDVL 6352/NES 6352/RELST 6352/STS 6352.

B. Anderson, A. Hicks.

Cosmology can be understood as the search for order in the universe, for an underlying logic that structures and renders intelligible the raw chaos of sensory experience. In this sense, the production of cosmologies is not only a scientific or theoretical enterprise, but also has direct implications for religion, politics, and social ideology. We will adopt a broad approach to the study of the dominant cosmological models in the medieval Mediterranean (ca. 500-1500 C.E.), considering both their sources (Greco-Roman science, mythology, revealed religion, etc.) and their expressions in literature, art, and music.