FRE 490 - Senior Seminar: The Hidden and the Forbidden: A Study of (Anti-) Inclusion and (Anti-) Diversity in Medieval France

In this seminar, we will study the literary and artistic representation of facts of life that were considered against the “standard” and therefore scorned, repelled, rejected and punished in Medieval France. The purpose of this study is to determine what inclusion and diversity, as we perceive them today, meant then and to understand why certain aspects of our contemporary society are still perceived as threatening.

Three main themes will be approached: homosexuality, slavery and religion. We will study primary texts outside of the main stream of literary production, and accompany them by secondary readings of articles/books addressing our main themes.