4:00-6:00P      M         LH019

Above section open to freshmen, sophomores and juniors only
Above section COAS intensive writing section and also
Requires registration in COAS W333

The seminar will examine the history of reading in the Mediterranean
and West European world from antiquity to the Enlightenment, with most
of our attention on late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the
Renaissance and Reformation.  We shall look at the use of different
writing materials, scripts, and the scroll or book forms; the role of
libraries (private, institutional, and public, including architectural
considerations); and principles of selection, canons of books,
censorship, and the Index of Prohibited Books.  We shall attempt to
recreate how individuals read texts or heard them read by others.

Course requirements include the regular reading of the assigned texts
and participation in our weekly discussions of them.  There will of
course be a major seminar paper based on original research.  There may
be a few quizzes, but there will be no hourly exams or final.