Fall/Winter 2025-26 Courses

> Art History
> Classical Studies
> Comparative Literature and Culture
> English Studies

> French Studies
> German
> History
> Latin

> Medieval Studies
> Music
> Philosophy
> Religious Studies
> Theological Studies

See Western Academic Timetable for course delivery details.

Medieval Studies

Medieval Studies 1022 - Introduction to Medieval Studies
The medieval aesthetic, political and moral outlook, sense of the divine and (most obviously) languages all frustrate modern expectations. To study the Middle Ages, therefore, the modern student must engage with the academic disciplines (art history, philosophy, theology, comparative literature, etc.) which seek to illuminate these points of contrast.

This course will not attempt to survey the entire 1000 years of European history, literature, and culture that constitute the medieval world. Instead, we will focus on four topics: early monks and nuns (400-700), the age of Vikings (800-1100), tournaments and courtly society (1300s) and the fall of Constantinople (1453). We will approach each topic from a variety of points of view, using a variety of academic disciplines. The course will introduce you to some of the topics that define the Middle Ages and it will provide training in some of the many disciplines necessary to understand the medieval world. 1.0 course

Instructor: M.J. Toswell
Syllabus

Medieval Studies 3022G - Introduction to Medieval Manuscripts
Using materials in the Rare Books Room and private collections, this course will familiarize students with medieval manuscripts. It will introduce issues of provenance, date and style. Students will also consider the preparation of ink and pigments and the kinds of illumination and decoration employed throughout the medieval period. 1.0 course

Instructor: K. Gervais

Classical Studies

Classical Studies 2200 - Classical Mythology

Classical Studies 2480A - Roman Emperors: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Classical Studies 3450E - Roman History

Classical Studies 4585F - Vindolanda Field School

English Studies

English 3300 (001) - History of English Language
A study of the historical development of English phonology, morphology, orthography and syntax from Old English to the modern period. At the same time, we examine the changing roles of English (commercial, literary, and administrative) and the different varieties of the language available to its many speakers.

English 3316E (001) - Love in the Middle Ages
This course explores representations of love and desire in the culture of Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. While introducing the Middle English language, we will read romances, dream visions, mystical visions, love letters, and plays in their scientific, historical, and religious contexts.

English 3321F - Paradise Lost
This half-course will examine such topics as Milton’s grand style, Satan, epic heroism (is Paradise Lost an epic or anti-epic?), the nature of innocence, what it means to “fall,” and whether there can be a “fortunate fall.” Attention will also be paid to seventeenth-century politics, science and astronomy

English 3326F (001) - Death in the Renaissance
This course considers literary and cultural responses to death from the period 1590 to 1670. It explores the philosophical and theological understandings of death in the period, funeral and mourning customs, and then the literary treatment of death in such writers as Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Sir Thomas Browne.

Course listings are subject to change. See Western Academic Timetable for date, time, and location of specific courses. See Undergraduate Sessional Dates for more details and deadlines.