This course is open to all post-secondary students as well as the general public.
The course will be delivered in a hybrid format (synchronously online and in-person).
For more information, please email Hélène Doré-Lavigne at hlavigne@ustpaul.ca.
Course description
Established in the Middle Ages following the discovery of the relics of the Apostle James in the 9th century, the Camino de Santiago became in the 11th century a rich network of pilgrimage roads connecting shrines and churches mostly from France and Spain, which culminated in the Shrine of St James, the Cathedral of Compostela. In the 15th century, the “Reyes Catolicos,” Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castille, declared the Camino one of the three main Christian pilgrimage sites, along with Jerusalem and Rome. In 1987, the European Council asserted the Camino as a cultural itinerary. Since 2013, more than 200,000 pilgrims per year have walked on the various official routes leading to Compostela. Recent statistics also demonstrate that 50% of the pilgrims/tourists on the Camino are women, mostly from Spain, and aged between 30- and 60 years old (Pilgrim’s Office, Annual Report 2021). With the growing numbers of women on the Camino, this course fills a representational gap; it reclaims the voices of the women who walked the Camino since the Middle Ages and sheds light on female iconography and its socio-historical, religious context while promoting regional culture, history, heritage, art and local economy.
The course addresses five themes:
- Medieval visual culture related to female figures and their meaning (i.e. Eve, Mary,
Luxury, Sirens, queens, nuns, mythological figures, etc.); - Primary source materials related to medieval women experiencing the Camino compiled
from regional archives; - Narratives related to women from Ancient Roman settlements along the Camino;
- Vernacular literature, local legends, stories and musical compositions involving women
through primary and secondary source materials; and - Traditional businesses (for the majority owned and/or managed by women) along the
Camino that promote a local economy and culture, linking the past to the present.
* The language of instruction is English, but in-class discussions may be conducted in either English or French.
Course material
REQUIRED READINGS
Listed and marked as mandatory in the Course Outline for specific lectures, the required readings will be available as downloadable PDFs. Optional readings are also available in the Course Outline for specific lectures. The lecture slides will be available online after each class.
USEFUL REFERENCES
TBD
Course intructor
Anna-Maria Moubayed is a medieval art historian whose current research focuses on representations of Eve in Romanesque sculpture, women on the Camino de Santiago, digital humanities, Romanesque architecture, semiotics, narratives, issues of spolia in Christian and Islamic medieval architecture, time, space, and performance in medieval art and thought. Click here to access her publication list.
Course Schedule
* May be subject to change
Online – Tuesdays | 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Evaluation
30% Weekly Forum Responses
10% Class participation and engagement in discussion
10% Creative writing Assignment
20% Final Oral Presentation
30% Knowledge Mobilization Final Project
* Please note: All exams and assignments can be submitted in English or French.
30% KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION FINAL PROJECT
This final exam project leads to the establishment of rich cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural dialogues contributing to a global understanding of the socio-cultural repercussions of artistic representations of the female body along the Camino. Students will be invited to research a specific theme and present their findings using the reel story feature on Instagram, in 3 parts. Their knowledge mobilisation project will be published on the official website and interactive map dedicated to the FRQ-funded project “El Camino de las Mujeres,” in partnership with the University of Navarra, the Ministerio del Turismo de Navarra, and Saint Paul’s University. The project will not only broaden the student’s understanding of the medieval influence on our contemporary society and gender discourses, but it will also mobilise knowledge outside of the academic bubble as their findings will be accessible to a non-academic audience.