Honors Colloquium Spring 2022
HNRS 195J–014, Special Topics in Humanities: Erotic Medieval Tales
All UA policies pertaining to classes in one location. For my own specifics, see below.
TOPIC: The Experience of Love and God in a Medieval Context: Erotic Tales of Medieval Germany
INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Albrecht Classen, Dept. of German Studies, LSB 318, tel.: 621-1395; email: aclassen@email.arizona.edu; aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu
Office: 318 Learning Service Building
1512 E 1st St., between Vine and Cherry
As we enter the Spring semester, the health and wellbeing of everyone in this class is the highest priority. Accordingly, we are all required to follow the university guidelines on COVID-19 mitigation. Please visit covid19.arizona.edu for the latest guidance
CLASSROOM: Edu 320; sometimes online, via zoom, set up in D2L, or here: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/83645858905
CLASS MEETING TIME: online: Fri 9:00-9:50 a.m.
OFFICE HOURS: Mo and We 12:15 – 1:15 p.m., and most other times during the week; just come by, or give me a call to make an appointment.
CONTENT
We will study a number of short verse narratives by late medieval German authors which I have translated into English to make this material available to you. Just as today, poets at that time engaged intensively with issues pertaining to love, sexuality, marriage, and adultery. Many times, communication enters the picture as a crucial topic behind the erotic. And community and compassion are not far away. We will explore a range of issues associated with love and marriage as reflected by a variety of short readings. Please contact your Honors Academic Advisor to be enrolled in the class.
GOAL
Engaging with an important collection of verse narratives from ca. 1300 to 1400, almost parallel to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio’s Decameron. We will examine how the German poets dealt with a wide range of issues in human life, commonly viewed through an erotic lens, and learn thereby critical issues of human existence throughout time.
Student Learning OUTCOME:
1. Solid understanding of the late medieval discourse on love and sexuality, 2. the ability to discuss central theses critically in class, and 3. a high level of academic writing about these narratives. 4. The final outcome will be a deep concept of profound issues in human life, here seen through a literary-historical lens.
ATTENDANCE:
Although it is assumed that you will attend all class meetings, you are informed hereby that excessive absences will have consequences for your grade.
DISCUSSIONS, ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR, EXPECTATIONS:
Please treat each other with respect and tolerance. People do have different views and opinions, but all these can only contribute to the rich learning experience I hope you all will have in this class. You are strongly encouraged to participate in class as much as possible. The one meeting per week will only be of profit for you if you respond to my questions and those of your classmates, come forward with your own questions, opinions, etc.
NONDISCRIMINATION AND ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY
The University of Arizona is committed to fostering a learning, working, and living environment free from all forms of discrimination, including harassment. The University’s Nondiscrimination and Anti-harassment Policy prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The policy also prohibits retaliation for opposing discriminatory conduct, filing a discrimination-related complaint, or participating in the investigation of a discrimination-related complaint.
For definitions of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, please see the University’s Nondiscrimination and Anti-harassment Policy here or visit the Office of Institutional Equity website.
For information on the University of Arizona Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students, click on this link.
Diversity:
“We seek to create the comprehensively engaged university with the expectation that everyone will make a contribution to inclusive excellence. Diversity and inclusiveness are core values for the University of Arizona and offer a competitive advantage in attracting faculty, staff, students and their partners. Moreover, diversity allows the institution to prepare students to be leaders in global contexts.” It is my personal goal to provide an all-inclusive classroom where everyone is treated equally and has the same opportunity. (http://diversity.arizona.edu/vision-our-campus). Fairness,justice, and transparency are the foundations of the best education.
SPECIAL NEEDS: Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to participate fully in course activities or meet course requirements must register with the Disability Resource Center. (http://drc.arizona.edu/). Students need to submit appropriate documentation to the instructor if they are requesting reasonable accommodations.
WARNING:
If you use secondary material for your journal, make sure that you indicate clearly where you took it from. Plagiarism and cheating violate the Code of Academic Integrity. For further information, see:
http://www.library.arizona.edu/help/tutorials/plagiarism/index.html
Do not ever copy from the work produced by your classmates or by other students who might have taken this course in previous semesters. If you receive help in writing your papers, make sure that the final outcome still represents your own work. You can discuss your papers with your fellow students, but at the end, they need to consist of your own ideas and words! Be advised that the Web is a great search tool, but never, never copy from there without identifying very clearly what you used. At this point, the scholarly value of web-based material still is not totally reliable, and the chances that you might stumble upon a most dubious webpage with untrustworthy information are very high. When you quote from a secondary source, clearly identify the quote and tell the reader in a footnote where you quoted from. Every year more than 100 students at the UA are caught having committed the crime of plagiarism, resulting in penalties that could be as severe as expulsion from the University! You are smart enough not to copy from other people.
If there is any doubt in your mind whether you might commit plagiarism, see:
http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_faqs.html
Plagiarism and the Web
If you commit plagiarism, you could either receive a 0 on your specific assignment, or an F for the entire course. Depending on the gravity of the case, you might even be expelled from the University. Every plagiarism case must be reported to the Head of my depart., to the head of your dept., and to the Dean of Students.
Help with writing: The Writing Skills Improvement Program offers a number of valuable workshops at 1201 E. Helen Street. Please consult with them if you have a need to improve your writing skills (no walk-ins). For perhaps more immediate help, see the Writing Center (walk-ins allowed). Tel.: 621-5849
Writing Center: The Writing Center is a free resource for UA undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff. At the Writing Center, a trained peer consultant will work individually with you on anything you’re writing (in or out of class), at any point in the writing process from brainstorming to editing. Appointments are recommended, but not required. For more information or to make an appointment, visit their website at http://thinktank.arizona.edu/programs/thinktank/services/writing, stop by at Nugent Building, main level, or call (520) 626-0530.
How to declare German Studies as your major or minor: https://german.arizona.edu/declare
Requirements for the major or minor
GRADING:
3 journals: 30% each. With journal, I mean critical responses to our discussion and your reading. You should address major issues, examine the text’s unique aspects and strategies, and engage deeply with the class material.
attendance and participation: 10%
I’ll collect your journals 3 times per semester. Your attendance in the colloquia is assumed; if you have to miss a meeting, please let me know in writing. Excessive, unexcused absences will result in a drop of your overall grade. More than 2 of such absences will lead to an automatic F in this course.
In specific, keep a journal (critical writing) and write ca. 200-300 words or more per week, dealing each time with the respective chapter/story that we are discussing every Friday.
A: good journal, full critical discussion, plus questions and creative responses to the text
B: not always full amount of words, few questions, little critical thinking
C: mostly paraphrasing, too short entries, no comments of your own
D: spotty entries, misunderstandings, faulty grammar, spelling
F: few entries, short texts, no personal responses, or worse, no understanding of the text or the task
SYLLABUS: Please read each story as part of your homework before class
Jan. 14: Introduction, the Middle Ages and Renaissance
https://aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu/sites/aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu/files/amt.classen2016_2.pdf (a text I have borrowed in part from Emily Amt and which I have expanded considerably.
Let’s take a quick look at the text and work on these questions:
1. What major forces (political, religious, military) determined the early Middle Ages?
2. What role did the Christian Church play during the medieval period?
3. What was feudalism? (p. 5)
4. What role did cities play since the later Middle Ages?
5. Jews, crusades, cathedrals, monasticism, mysticism
6. The Paradigm Shifts in the late Middle Ages: a, b, c, d. e, f.
The history of love and sexuality through the lens of literature
Jan. 21: Of the Wise Alexander
Jan. 28: We’ll continue with Of the Wise Alexander, and, time permitting, then discuss Jans der Enikel, “Sir Friedrich”
Feb. 4: Jans der Enikel, “Sir Friedrich”
Feb. 11: Heinrich Kaufringer, “The Search for the Happily Married Couple,” and “The Monk with the Little Goose”; 1st journal is due at 4 p.m. (keep in mind, a critical discussion of the material and our observations in class); maybe a total of 5 x 200 words; include also the first section on history.
Feb. 18: “The Monk with the Little Goose” and “The Knight with the Hazelnuts”
Feb. 25: We continue with “The Monk,” and then turn to “The Knight with the Hazelnuts. Let’s skip this story for this time: “The Knight with the Sparrow Hawk”
March. 04-13: Spring Break
March 18: “The Innocent Murderess”
March 25: “The Nightingale”
April 01: I will be out of town today: Let’s discuss this story: Dietrich von der Gletze: “The Belt” via a google doc, which I will share with you:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mgWCSYiXrzODCb0mcXK9bXNwfqUisKqY64u…
2nd journal is due at 4 p.m.
April 08: cont. with “The Belt,” and then “The Hazelnut Mountain”
April 15: “The Priest with the Rope”
April 22: Ruprecht von Wuerzburg, “Two Merchants”
April 29: Last day of class: Count Froben: “The Disappointed Lover.” 3rd journal is due at 4 p.m.
Student Learning Outcomes; By the end of the semester, students will be able to engage critically with this literary master poet, Kaufringer, and to write about the central points in a critical fashion.
Trigger Warning: These are literary narratives, and some of them contain at times troublesome issues pertaining to violence, sexuality, and crimes. If you have any problems, please let me know so that I can help you.
Possible changes: The information contained in this course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.