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2018/19 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

HIST5029M Gender, Sex, and Love: Byzantium and the West, 900-1200

30 creditsClass Size: 10

Module manager: Maroula Perisanidi
Email: M.Perisanidi@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2018/19

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module will compare Eastern and Western attitudes to gender, sex, and love as seen through four genres of medieval sources: laws, chronicles, hagiographies, and romances. What did the ideal woman look like? What made for effective flirting? Was sex meant to be enjoyable? Through such questions, students will examine how medieval ideas on sexuality and gender differed in East and West, how this difference affected the personal lives of medieval people as well as their society at large, and how their legacy continues to influence our understanding of sexuality today.

Objectives

This module will help students engage with comparative history in the context of the Middle Ages. It will introduce students to the history of the Byzantine Empire alongside that of the Western world through the lens of gender and sexuality. It will focus on textual evidence of four different genres: (1) laws, (2) chronicles, (3) hagiographies, and (4) romances.

Learning outcomes
- A thorough understanding of the challenges and advantages of comparative history.
- A familiarity with key theoretical debates on gender in the Middle Ages (e.g. the concept of the third gender)
- A historical understanding of the different social and religious contexts of East and West in the High Middle Ages
- Enhancement of research skills through the organisation of student-led seminars


Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction
Weeks 2-4: Chronicles
Weeks 5-7: Hagiographies
Weeks 8-10: Romances
Week 11: Case study on Clerical Marriage

Themes covered will include:
- ideals of masculinity and femininity
- gender, status, and religion
- virginity and abstinence
- licit and illicit expressions of sexuality
- marital relations
- courting
- romantic and divine love

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Seminar112.0022.00
Private study hours278.00
Total Contact hours22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)300.00

Private study

'Private study', which may take the form of group study, will be in preparation for classes.
Independent learning will go mostly towards preparation of assessed work.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student-led seminars as well as participation in class debate.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay1 x 2,000 word essay due by 12 noon on Monday of teaching week 640.00
Essay1 x 4,000 word essay due by 12 noon Monday of teaching week 1060.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 30/04/2018

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