Undergraduate Course: Art, Illness and Death in the Middle Ages (HIAR10178)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will consider medieval images and representations of the body, death, illness, and disease, and will draw on visual material found in medical manuscripts, wall paintings, stained glass and sculpture. The course will consist of lectures and seminars with at least one visit to a local manuscript depository. |
| Course description |
This course will explore artistic and social responses to the body, illness, and death in medieval Europe. Through consideration of illustrations included in medical treatises and depictions of bodies in other contexts, we will study how health and illness were understood by medical practitioners and religious scholars, as well as laymen. We will explore the use of images and material culture for healing purposes, as well as the status of medical practitioners and how they used visual material to establish authority. Through case studies focusing on particular artworks we will explore specific social, religious and civic responses to illness and death.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse the ways in which the body, health, and illness were understood in medieval Europe and rendered in contemporary images.
- Show how death and dying were understood and rendered within diverse medieval visual cultures.
- Explore the ways in which art was used as a response to catastrophic disease, illness, and death.
- Demonstrate the ability to analyse visual material with reference to appropriate contemporary sources.
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Reading List
Carole Rawcliffe, Medicine and Society in Later Medieval England, Sutton Publishing (1995)
Jack Hartnell, Medieval Bodies, London: Wellcome Collection (2018)
Peter Murray Jones, Medieval Medicine in Illuminated Manuscripts, London: The British Library (1997)
Beryl Rowland, Medieval Woman's Guide to Health Burt Franklin (1981)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Visual and critical analysis; Clear thinking and the development of an argument; Independent research; Presentation and communication skills; Organisation and planning. |
| Keywords | Europe,Late Medieval,Medical Humanities,Medical History,History of the Body |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sara Oberg Stradal
Tel:
Email: sara.oberg.stradal@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: Sue.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk |
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