HIST 310(F) Women in the Traditional West: Ideal and Reality

This course explores the society and culture of Western Europe by focusing on attitudes toward, and the position of, women from the late Roman Empire through the Later Middle Ages. We will begin with the three major sources for attitudes toward women in Western culture: Greek medicine, Roman literature and law, and the teachings about women found in the Old and New Testaments. We will then trace the impact of these attitudes on the position of women in such areas as: religious authority and devotional practices, marriage laws, political power of queens and noblewomen, the persecution of witches, and the role of women in commerce and industry. Reading and discussion format. Evaluation will be based on class attendance and participation, two short (5-7 pages) papers, and a final essay (15 pages) on an assigned topic. Groups B and D

Hour: BERETZ