The Christian Tradition II: From Charlemagne to Chaucer, (HSHU 102)

This course is  the second of four courses in the Honors Humanities Sequence which aims to provide basic knowledge of major topics, figures, problems and developments of medieval Europe.   Designed in a thematic rather than chronological format, the course explores the role and influence of medieval Christian institutions, thought, spirituality and religious practices within the context of social, political and economic institutions.   In addition to weekly lectures, our discussions analyze primary sources drawn from a wide variety of genres and historical circumstances, which aid each participant to develop the critical skills that scholars of the humanities bring to bear on textual and contextual analyses.  Topics include: institutional authority; war and peace; varieties of Christian experience; Christianity and its “others;” wealth and poverty; men and women; daily life.