Gender
and
Sexuality in the Middle Ages
HIST 280b
Fall
Semester 2007
Tuesday 6-8:50
Office: TAH 3059
Candace Gregory
Tel# 278-3824
Email: cgregory@csus.edu
Office
Hrs: MW 2-3 pm
Webpage: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gregoryc/
Tues 4-5
pm
By
Appt
Course Description:
Survey of theories about masculinity and
femininity in the
European Middle Ages, c. 500-1500. Diverse readings in the ideals of
gender
behavior and roles, as determined by secular and ecclesiastical
authorities and
with considerations of class, occupation, and cultural expectations.
Course Content and Objectives:
This course is examines the construction of
gender, what
behaviors were expected of men and women, and of the relationship
between and
within the two genders. It will
include readings in gender theory, sexuality, and primary source
studies of
male specific and female specific texts (namely manuals for men and for
women). The course attempts to
answer the questions: What did it
mean to be a man? and What did it mean to be a
woman in the Middle Ages?. We will
also compare the expectations
of secular culture and the church, and how those expectations sometimes
conflicted with one another. We will examine how complex the
definitions of
gender were for both men and women, and how nuanced gender relations
were. The course will also examine how the
definitions and views of gender changed over the period.
Students will read extensively on the
subject in both primary and secondary sources, discuss assigned
readings in
each class, write three book reviews, and give an oral presentation on
one
topic to the class. Finally, the
class will culminate in a research paper.
Required Texts:
Gender
& Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha Brozyna
Gender
& Difference in the Middle Ages, Sharon Farmer
and Carol Braun Pasternack
Meanings
of Sex Difference in Middle Ages, Joan Cadden
Becoming
Male in the Middle Ages, Jeffrey Jerome
Cohen and Bonnie Wheeler
Medieval
Masculinities,
Clare Lees
Sexuality
in Medieval Europe, Ruth Karras
Knight's
Own Book of Chivalry, De Charny
Book
of City of Ladies, Christine de
Pizan
Romance
of Rose by
De Lorris/De Meun, edited by Horgan
Women
in Dark Age and Early Medieval Europe C .500-1200, Helen Jewell
Women
in Late Medieval and Reformation Europe 1200-1500, Helen Jewell
Christianity,
Social Tolerance & Homosexuality, John Boswell
Additional readings (books and articles) may be
assigned to
individual classes.
Requirements:
This is a discussion seminar.
As graduate students you are expected to come to each class
having read the assigned material and prepared to discuss it. Readings
are
assigned daily and are to be done BEFORE you come to class. All work is due on the assigned date;
NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Assignments:
One Oral Report
15%
Each
Three Book Reports
15%
Each
Research Paper
20%
Each
Seminar Participation
20%
Each
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory and will be checked daily. You are allowed to miss Two classes over the course of the semester.
Each
subsequent absence will result in a loss of FIVE points from your final grade. If you miss more than four classes, you
will receive an F for the course.
Naturally, there are sometimes extenuating circumstances. Each student must see me personally (or
via email) if that is the situation.
The book reports should be 4-5 pages each (typed,
natch) and
are due when the book is scheduled to be read. The
research paper should be 15-20 pages (ditto). The
oral report will be 15 minutes on a
particular week's topic. Some
weeks there will be more than one oral report; I will divide up the
topics
accordingly. In your oral report you
should briefly summarize the topic and then present the assigned
readings for
that day's class. Explain the
argument or thesis of the assigned reading, and discuss what evidence
the
author used to prove his / her argument.
Or, if you feel the author was unsuccessful, explain why.
Tardy:
Tardiness will not be tolerated.
You are allowed to be tardy three (which is defined as
arriving after the class roll has been called); after three, you will
lose five
points from your final exam grade for each subsequent tardy. More than five tardies will result in
an F for the course. If you are
late to class, or must leave class early, please be as quiet and
unobtrusive as
possible.
Grading Scale:
A-
90-92
C- 70-72
B+
88-89
D+ 68-69
B
83-87
D
63-67
B-
80-82
D- 60-62
C+
78-79
F
59
and below
Cell Phones:
Please turn off all cell phones or beepers before
class
begins. If your cell phone rings
in class, you will be asked to leave and will be counted absent for
that day's
class.
Integrity and Scholarship:
DO NOT CHEAT!
If you are caught cheating on a writing assignment, test, the
final
exam, or a daily quiz, or any other assigned work, you will receive an
F for
the course. You are held
accountable for all university guidelines in regard to plagiarism and
cheating.
Plagiarism:
University policy on plagiarism states, "Plagiarism is a form of cheating. At CSUS
plagiarism is the
use of distinctive ideas or works belonging to another person without
providing
adequate acknowledgement of that person's contribution. Regardless of
the means
of appropriation, incorporation of another's work into one's own
requires
adequate identification and acknowledgement. Plagiarism is doubly
unethical
because it deprives the author of rightful credit and gives credit to
someone
who has not earned it. Acknowledgement is not necessary when the
material used
is common knowledge. Plagiarism at CSUS includes but is not limited to:
1.
The act of incorporating into one's
own work the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or
the
specific substance of another's work without giving appropriate credit
thereby
representing the product as entirely one's own. Examples include not
only
word-for-word copying, but also the "mosaic" (i.e., interspersing a
few of one's own words while, in essence, copying another's work), the
paraphrase (i.e., rewriting another's work while still using the
other's
fundamental idea or theory); fabrication (i.e., inventing or
counterfeiting
sources), ghost-writing (i.e., submitting another's work as one's own)
and
failure to include quotation marks on material that is otherwise
acknowledged;
and
2. Representing as one's
own another's
artistic or scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer
programs,
photographs, paintings, drawing, sculptures, or similar works. For
more
information on plagiarism, and how to avoid it, go to: read the
University
Policy Manual, at http://www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/Uma00150.htm
Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments:
4 September: Introduction to Course
Readings: Meanings
of Sex
Difference in the Middle Ages,
Joan Cadden
Feminine
and Masculine Types
Mary or Michael? Saint-Switching, Gender, and Sanctity in a Medieval
Miracle
of
Childbirth, Katharine Allen Smith
Assignment of
Topics for Oral
Presentations and Book Reports
18 September:
Gender in Theory
Sex
and the Middle Ages
Gender and Sexuality
in the
Middle Ages, Martha Brozyna
On
the Usefulness of Parts of the Body Galen
Part IV: Law
25 September: Masculinity in Practice
Readings: From
Boys to Men, Ruth Mazo Karras
Becoming Male in the Middle Ages, Cohen and Wheeler
Body
Doubles:
Producing the Masculine
Where the Boys Are: Children and Sex in the Anglo-Saxon
Penitentials
Medieval
Masculinities, Clare Lees
Burdens
of Matrimony
On
Being Male in the Middle Ages
2 October:
Masculinity and the Phallus
Readings: Gender
and Difference, Sharon Farmer and
Carol Braun Pasternack
On
the History of the Early Phallus
Reconfiguring
the Prophet Daniel
Becoming
Male
in the Middle Ages, Cohen and
Wheeler
Abelard
and (Re)Writing the Male Body
Origenary
Fantasies: Abelard's Castration
and Confession
Eunuchs
Who Keep the Sabbath
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
Church
History Eusebius
9 October: Masculinity and Literature
Reading:
Becoming Male in the Middle Ages,
Cohen
and Wheeler
Wolf
Man
Erotic
Discipline
The
Pardoner, Veiled and Unveiled
Marie
de France: Bisclavret (On
Reserve)
Medieval
Masculinities, Clare Lees
The
Male Animal in the Fables of Marie de France
Men
and Beowulf
16 October: Men, the Manual
Reading: A
KnightÕs Own Book of
Chivalry, Geoffroi de Charny
Reading: Christianity,
Social Tolerance &
Homosexuality,
John Boswell
Chapter
2: Definitions
Chapter
5: Christians and Social Change
Chapter
8: The Urban Revival
Chapter
9: The Triumph of Ganymede
Chapter
11: Intellectual Change
Becoming
Male
in the Middle Ages, Cohen and
Wheeler
The
Vicious Guide: Effeminacy, Sodomy,
and Mankind
Gender
and Difference, Sharon Farmer and
Carol
Braun Pasternack
Male Friendship and the Suspicion of Sodomy in 12th Century
France
Re-Orienting
Desire
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
The
Book of Gomorrah Peter Damian
Same-Sex
Love Poetry
30 October:
Masculinity and Diversity
Reading:
Becoming Male in the Middle Ages,
Cohen
and Wheeler
Transvestite
Knights in Medieval Life and Literature
Outlaw
Masculinities
Gender
and Difference, Sharon Farmer and
Carol
Braun Pasternack
Gender
Irregularity as Entertainment
Sexuality
in Medieval
Europe, Ruth
Karras
Men
Outside of Marriage
6 November: Femininity in Practice
Reading: Gender
and Difference, Sharon Farmer and
Carol Braun Pasternack
Manual
Labor, Begging, and Conflicting Gender Expectations
Women
in Dark Age and
Early Medieval Europe C .500-1200, Helen
Jewell
Women in Late
Medieval and
Reformation Europe 1200-1500, Helen
Jewell
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
Germania
Tacitus
History
of the Franks Gregory of Tours
13 November: Femininity and the Vagina
Reading:
Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages, Joan Cadden
Sterility: The Pursuit of Progeny and the Failure of
Reproductive
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
Old
Testament
Letter
to Eustochium St. Jerome
History
of the Lombards Paul the Deacon
The
Topography of Ireland Gerald of Wales
Secret
History Procopius of Caesaria
Medieval
WomenÕs Guide to Health
Casua
et Curae Hildegard of Bingen
Riddles,
Songs and Stories
Hadiths
Reading:
Gender and Difference, Sharon
Farmer and
Carol Braun Pasternack
Female Homoerotic Discourse + Religion in Medieval German
Culture
Nonviolent
Christianity and the Strangeness of Female Power
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
The Life and Conduct of the Blessed Mary Who Changed Her
NameÉ
Sexuality
in Medieval
Europe, Ruth
Karras
Women
Outside of Marriage
27 November:
Women, the Handbooks (Part I)
Book of City
of Ladies, Christine de
Pizan
4 December:
Women, the Handbooks (Part II)
Book of City
of Ladies, Christine de
Pizan
11 December:
The Debate
Reading:
Romance
of Rose by De Lorris/De
Meun
Gender
and Sexuality in the Middle Ages,
Martha
Brozyna
On
the Apparel of Women Tertullian
Archpriest
of Talavera or Whip Alfonso Martinez de Toledo
Selections
from Jahiz
21 December: Final Paper Due, by 5 PM