This course, required for all Medieval Studies Minors and recommended for all Medieval Studies Majors, will be taught in concert with the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium Seminar.
We at Sewanee are familiar with the concept of wellness as something more than just physical health; our own Wellness Center promotes that mental health, sexual health and identity, relationships, and spirituality also factor into one’s overall sense of “wellness.”
In the medieval period, the term phisik might have substituted for our concept of wellness, as phisik broadly included the study not just of the physical body but of the forces that affected or otherwise interacted with the body and thereby created a sense of “selfhood.” This course will enjoy exploring the medieval consideration of questions such as how does the body work? What causes illness? What’s the interaction and relationship of the body with the natural world? How do supernatural forces affect the body? What is the relationship between body and soul? Are we bodies, or do we only inhabit them?
The class will be highly interactive and dedicated to informed discussion. We will enjoy guest speakers who are involved in the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium; as a class, we will prepare for and attend the special seminar of the Colloquium on “Caused Selves.”
Tuesday, Thursday 8:00 – 9:15
Scheduled to meet in person
