Course Texts
The Aberdeen Bestiary. http://www.clues.abdn.ac.uk:8080/besttest/alt/comment/best_toc.html
Bolter, J. David. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. 2nd Ed. Mahwah, NJ and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.
Bland, David. A History of Book Illustration: The Illuminated Manuscript and the Printed Book. Cleveland: World Pub. Co., 1958. (Text supplied by instructor.)
A Brief History of Illuminated Manuscripts: http://www.historicpages.com/texts/mshist.htm
De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. 2nd Ed. London : Phaidon Press, 1994. (Text supplied by instructor.)
Drucker, Johanna. The Visible Word: Experimental Typography and Modern Art, 1909-1923. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 1994.
Gardner, Helen. Gardner's Art through the Ages. 11th Ed. Eds. Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, Richard G. Tansey. Fort Worth, TX : Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. (Text supplied by instructor.)
Illuminated Manuscripts: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09620a.htm
Medieval Writing: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/
Semiotics Websites (various):
Tutorial: Signs and Language
http://www.rdillman.com/HFCL/TUTOR/Semiotics/sem1.html
Semiotics
http://www.uta.edu/english/hawk/semiotics/
An Introduction to Semiotics
http://www.merz-akademie.de/projekte/george.legrady/theory/semiot/anintro.htm
Structuralism and Semiotics
http://www.geocities.com/kristisiegel/theory.htm#Structuralism
and Semiotics
Introductory Models and Basic Concepts” Semiotics
http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/semiomean/semio1.html
Iconography: The Icon FAQ
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/icon_faq.htm
Iconography: A Short Essay on Names and Terminology
http://www.pinfold.com/icons/glossary.htm
Home Page for Iconography Links
http://www.icons.org.uk/
Description of Christian Iconography
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07625a.htm
Further Study of Semiotics:
Constructivism at Work
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Sections/textan07.html
Sites of Significance for Semiotics
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/as-sa/EngSem3.html
Orientale Lumen: Sources for Further Reading on Iconography
http://www.mliles.com/jimcndf/icons/
Strickland, Stephanie. The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot. http://wordcircuits.com/gallery/sandsoot/.
Course Requirements
- Weekly group assignments followed up by, at times, class questions and answers. The assignments will involve summarization and analysis of texts.
- A midterm and final exam, essay in format, open-book.
- Two papers. The first paper should be no less than 500 words in length. The end-of-term research paper should be no less than 3000 words in length.
See the course Calendar, Writing Guidelines, and Housekeeping, Coursework in Discussions for further details.
Course Schedule (See the Course Calendar for Dates and Deadlines of All Assignments)
Week I: Introduction to the course. Discussion of art and literature as separate processes and their possible interactions. Discussion of course assignments and goals. Discussion of WebCT.
Week II: Discussion of Writing and Hypertext. Bolter: pp. xi-76.
Week III: Discussion of Writing and Hypertext. Bolter: pp. 77-160.
Week IV: Discussion of Writing and Hypertext. Bolter: pp. 161-215.
Week V: Introduction to Semiotics:
Tutorial: Signs and Language
http://www.rdillman.com/HFCL/TUTOR/Semiotics/sem1.html
Semiotics
http://www.uta.edu/english/hawk/semiotics/
An Introduction to Semiotics
http://www.merz-akademie.de/projekte/george.legrady/theory/semiot/anintro.htm
Structuralism and Semiotics
http://www.geocities.com/kristisiegel/theory.htm#Structuralism and Semiotics
Introductory Models and Basic Concepts” Semiotics
http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/semiomean/semio1.html
Iconography: The Icon FAQ
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/icon_faq.htm
Iconography: A Short Essay on Names and Terminology
http://www.pinfold.com/icons/glossary.htm
Home Page for Iconography Links
http://www.icons.org.uk/
Description of Christian Iconography
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07625a.htm
Optional Reading:Week VI: Discussion of Modernist typographical experimentation: Drucker, pp. 49-105.
Constructivism at Work
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Sections/textan07.html
Sites of Significance for Semiotics
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/as-sa/EngSem3.html
Orientale Lumen: Sources for Further Reading on Iconography
http://www.mliles.com/jimcndf/icons/
Week VII: Discussion of Modernist typographical experimentation: Drucker 105-168; Paper (500 words) on the Semiotics of the Modern Word and Image Due.
Week VIII: Discussion of Modernist typographical experimentation: Drucker 168-222
Week IX: Midterm Exam
Week X: Discussion and examinations of medieval illuminated manuscripts and writing generally. De Hamel 9-13 (on-line); Gardner (14, 24-25, 283-88, 297-99, 323-28. on-line); Bland (15-19. on line); Illuminated Manuscripts: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09620a.htm; A Brief History of Illuminated Manuscripts: http://www.historicpages.com/texts/mshist.htm; Medieval Writing: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/
Week XI: Analysis of the Aberdeen Bestiary. http://www.clues.abdn.ac.uk:8080/besttest/alt/comment/best_toc.html. Term Research Paper Announcement Due (consisting of a working title, one-sentence [only] thesis statement, one-paragraph description of project, and a bibliography of at least three secondary sources).
Week XII: Discussion and analysis of Strickland, The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot (http://wordcircuits.com/gallery/sandsoot/).
Week XIII: Virtual Museums due (Presentations of Virtual Museums comparing medieval and postmodern multimedia)
Week XIV: Class Analyses of Virtual Museums
Week XV: Final Exam; Term Paper Due.
COURSE GRADE
Weekly Group Work, 20%
Virtual Museum Group Work, 10%
Term Paper Announcement, 5%
First Paper, 10%
End of Term Research Paper, 15%
Midterm Examination, 10%
Final Examination, 30%