PROPHETS AND POETS: WOMEN, WRITING AND RELIGION IN A TIME OF WAR, 1642-1660
How does the study of religion affect the ways we interpret the past? Can we ever recover and understand the beliefs and values held by people who lived in different countries and previous centuries? Draws on the disciplines of religious studies, history and literature to evaluate the different frameworks that scholars have used in their investigations of women's spiritual writing during the turbulent English civil wars (1642-1660). Unable to fight with swords or speak out in church because they were denied ordination, women raised their pens to express their partisanship in the conflict. Positioning themselves as faithful spouses and devout Christians, these women endorsed religious injunctions about feminine modesty and spirituality at the same time as they secretly worked as messengers and spies. Involves some discussion of violence concerning the ways in which this period of conflict and religious turmoil paradoxically accorded some women a powerful literary voice.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Satisfied Communications A and sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Breadth - Humanities Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Learning Outcomes: 1. analyze the major forms, techniques, social conditions, values, and genres that shaped English literature and language in the early modern period, specifically in relation to religious studies and the study of the English civil wars Audience: Undergraduate 2. utilize a variety of resources and methods of research across disciplinary lines, including, especially, the disciplines of religious studies, and literary and historical research; Audience: Undergraduate 3. compare divergent and contradictory critical perspectives; Audience: Undergraduate 4. question critical and historical assumptions; Audience: Undergraduate 5. write original, coherent, and compelling arguments that push beyond summary to analysis and independent and critical thinking in clear prose that meets expectations for grammatical correctness. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. analyze the major forms, techniques, social conditions, values, and genres that shaped English literature and language in the early modern period, specifically in relation to religious studies and the study of the English civil wars Audience: Undergraduate 2. utilize a variety of resources and methods of research across disciplinary lines, including, especially, the disciplines of religious studies, and literary and historical research; Audience: Undergraduate 3. compare divergent and contradictory critical perspectives; Audience: Undergraduate 4. question critical and historical assumptions; Audience: Undergraduate 5. write original, coherent, and compelling arguments that push beyond summary to analysis and independent and critical thinking in clear prose that meets expectations for grammatical correctness. Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027