Matter, Body, and Gender in the Thought of Hildegard of Bingen, Bemardus Sylvestris

This course explores the themes of matter, body, and gender In selected works of Hildegard of Bingen, Bemardus Sylvestris, Alan of Litle and Thomas Aquinas. It explores the use of myth or religious story within the construction of theoretical understanding. It does so in terms of the "story of origin" as It comes to expression within the Latin Christian world of the twelfth century in schooled creation poems and in contrast to the thematization of creation in the contemporary monastic discourse of Hildegard of Bingen and the scholastic thematizations of the next century represented by Thomas Aquinas.