August
25: Introduction to
course. The
August
27: Visigoths and Germanic
Tribes. History and Myth
READ: Isidore of Seville (3-4 MI); “Lives of Holy Fathers of Merida (5-11 MI); “Visigothic Conversion to Catholicism” (12-20 MI); Poetic Epitaphs (24-25 MI); “Two Accounts of the Muslim Conquest” (29-36 MI); Accounts of the Fall of Spain (On-line)
September
1: LABOR DAY
September 3: ****We will meet in the MAK 2064 Computer Classroom in the Language Resource Center
Early Christian Church
READ: Golden Legend: Mary of Egypt; Miracle Tales of Saint James (Course Pack); “Christian Martyrs” (51-55 MI); “The Pilgrimage to Santiago ” (137-142 MI); “Two Arguments in Support of Christian Faith” (143-151 MI); Optional Reading: The Golden Legend: St. James the Greater
September
8: The
Muslim
Empire and Coexistence: Contributions. Discussion of Averroes, Avicenna and
Maimonides
PREPARE: Brief
informative report on 1) Averroes, 2) Avicenna and 3) Maimonides. (Each student will
be assigned one of the three)
READ: “A
Christian Account of the Life of Muhammad” (48-50 MI);
“On the Inconsistencies of the Four Gospels” (81-83 MI);
“Jewish Listeners and an Arab Astrologer” (198-202 MI)
September
10: Islamic and Jewish
Culture and Scholarship. Hispano-Arabic and Early lyric
poetry:
Concepts of love
READ: Poetry Selections and homework questions (on-line); “The Unique Necklace” and "Hispano-Arabic Poetry (62-67; 180-184 MI); “On Forgetting a Beloved” The Ring of the Dove (77-80 MI) and selection in course pack
September
15: Convivencia: The Epic
and the Medieval Hero
READ: The Epic: Song of Roland (course pack) and answer these questions
Background
reading: “A Jewish Vizier Describes the
Battle” (84-90 MI);
“Three Views of Samuel and Joseph Ibn Naghrela” (91-102 MI)
September
17: Reconquista: Uneasy
Alliances. Song of the
Cid
READ: “Exile of the Cid” (111-117 MI); Song of the Cid (course pack); Background Reading: “The Political Dilemma of a Granadan Ruler” (103-107 MI) and “Redeeming a Captive” (131-132 MI);
September
22:
The Cultural Enterprise of Alfonso X the
Learned: A period of convivencia.
Marian Miracle Collections: Cantigas
de
Santa
Maria
READ: “The
Christian Conquest of Seville” (217-222 MI);
“The King and the Cortes” and “The Proper Qualities” (250-261 MI);
“The Legal Staus of Jews and Muslims” (269-275 MI)
September
24: The Rise of Narrative:
Petrus Alfonsus and Don Juan Manuel
READ: Petrus Alfonsus, “Tales of Instruction for Life” (152-55 MI); Don Juan Manuel, “Positions at the Royal Court ” (262-268 MI) and Count Lucanor (course pack): "The Prologue" and the First, Sixth, Thirteenth, Thirty-Sixth, Forty Fourth, and Fiftieth Tale.
September
29:
The Black Death and an Artistic Response: The
Dance of Death; Boccacio, The
Decameron; Juan Ruiz, Book of
Good Love
READ:
Boccacio, The Decameron (course pack); Book
of Good Love (288-291 MI)
October
1:
Boccacio, The Decameron
"Day 4 Novel 4"; Chaucer and the
READ: Chaucer, “Prologue”; “The Prioress Tale”; “The Pardoner’s Tale” (course pack)
October
6: Autobiography.
Leonor
López de Córdoba and Margery Kemp
READ:
Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath Prologue" and "Tale"
(course pack);
Margery Kemp (course pack)
Background reading: “Love Lyrics by a Catalan Queen (292-93 MI); “The Convent and the World” (302-306 MI)
***Respond to the Discussion Board in Blackboard before class today
October
8: The Renaissance:
Dante
READ: Selections from Petrarch The Secret, and Dante (course pack and on-line);
Discussion Questions on Petrarch's Sonnets (please print out a copy for class today)
Background reading: ”Pageants and Festivities" (317-322 MI); “Marriage and Divorce in Muslim Granada (323-326 MI)
October
13: Ferdinand and
Isabella: The Reunification of Spain and the Creation of Marginal
Voices: the context of Celestina
READ: Petrarch,
The Secret, "Dialogues Two and Three", “Heresy
and Inquisition” (330-337 MI);
“Expulsion of the Jews” (352-63 MI)
October
15: Inquisition and
Expulsion. Celestina
READ:
Celestina (Acts I-II);
Answer Questions;
Frontier Ballads: “Abenamar”;
“Conquest
of
October
20: Prostitutes and
Witches: Celestina
Read: Celestina (Acts III-V); Study questions
Background
reading: “Magdalena de San Jerónimo, Vagabond Women”
(141-142 EM); “Confessions of
a Muslim Prostitute” (340-42 MI)
October
22: Imaginative Fiction:
The Books of Chivalry to Picaresque Fiction: Lazarillo
de Tormes
READ: Lazarillo
de Tormes (Prologue; Chapters 1-2, pp.23-48); “Laws of Hapsburgh Monarchy” (193-202
October 27:
Lazarillo de
Tormes
READ:
Lazarillo de Tormes (Chapters
3-7, pp.49-79)
October 29: The Protestant Reformation; Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus
READ: Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (course pack)
November
3: Catholic Reform
(Mysticism): Saint
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582); Fray Luis de León (1527-1591); St. John of the Cross
(1542-1591)
READ: St. John
of the Cross; Fray
Luis de Leon
“The Perfect Wife” (117-125
Compare and contrast in writing the works of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and Fray Luis de Leon. What differences do you note in their descriptions of the mystical experience? What similarities do you note? Would you describe Fray Luis as a mystic?
November 5: The Counter-Reformation: The Baroque and Desengaño. The Swindler (El Buscón) by Francisco de Quevedo
READ:
Cervantes (Chapter VI-IX, 331-338 course pack); The
Swindler
November
10:
The Swindler
READ: The
Swindler
(Book I, Chapters 2-13; 88-154); “The
Restoration of the Republic” (133-140 EMS)
November
12: The Inquisition and
Marginal Groups
READ: The
Swindler (Book II, Chapters 1-10; 155-214) 
November
17: Cervantes and Don
Quijote
READ: Cervantes
(Chapter XXXVII-XLII; Part II, Chapters VIII-LXV course pack); “The Moriscos of Granada” (143-151 EM)
November
19: The Merchant of Venice
READ: Chronology of Jews in England; Anti-Semitic legends; The Merchant of Venice Act I (course pack)
READ: The Merchant of
November 26: THANKSGIVING BREAK
December
1: The Merchant of Venice; Spain’s
Decline
READ: The Merchant of Venice
December 3: Conclusions
Finals Week: Brief Presentations (5-8 minutes) of Research Paper to Class: Tuesday, December 9 4-5:50 and Wednesday, December 10 at 4-5:50