Department of English

In this course we will read a variety of medieval and early modern texts that take into account the whole world. We will trace the "geographical" imagination of early writers across different genres, from travel narratives, such as the voyages of Marco Polo and John de Mandeville (one of Christopher Columbus's favorites), to monstrous encyclopedias and books of beasts, such as the Old English "Wonders of the East," to saints' lives and Arthurian romances.