Thursday, January 29, 2009

to get one's fill.

I just found MDST, and I don't know how I missed it. The Centre for Medieval Studies, that is, and its small number of extra History subjects, which were hiding from me when I enrolled at uni this year...

So. I am rather excited that I will be picking up 'Medieval Cosmology' next semester, whose sessions look a bit like so:
The antique background 1: Aristotle’s cosmology / The antique background 2: Ptolemy’s astrology / The early Middle Ages 1: Christianity versus Greek learning / The early Middle Ages 2: Astronomy, computus and the microcosm / The rise of universities and the new learning / Aristotelian cosmology and Christian theology / Judicial astrology / Natural philosophy and astrological physics / Magic / Medieval world maps / Medieval cosmology, astrology and the scientific revolution. (And you should see the texts in the reader.)

I know, right! Super happy with this. We'll be looking at ancient ideas/paradigms, along with the other part of our European heritage in what was pre-'civilised' and what was simply 'secular', and how it all fitted together for the certain groups of people who lived there. It will be challenging I think to keep my head in a class full of young medievalists of all kinds, particularly those with a range of opinionated (and to me at times bewildering) ideas that may have created for them as well an interest in this course. I'll just need to stay really on top of the reading and ideas, and I know I'll learn an awful lot historically (and personally, and socially) as well by doing so. I really look forward to it. It's also likely to well compliment the medieval myth and legend literature I'm studying for my English unit next semester. So hopefully next year the Ancient subjects are better than they were this time, but for now I don't mind the lack of competitive options.

Also, there are only four days now till Europe! Perhaps it is right for me to feel rather blessed at present.