2017-18 Academic Catalog

Arising over a period of two medieval centuries, the gothic cathedrals of Europe symbolize at once faith, political and economic power, local identity, and technological and artistic achievement. Later generations commemorated them in literature and art, destroyed them in their political and religious zeal, and restored them (and continue to restore them) out of different sort of political zeal as well as a sense of duty and opportunity to preserve a national and European cultural inheritance and tourist treasure. In this course, we seek to understand the cathedral and its enduring legacy in Europe, and especially in France, from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and using a variety of media and sources.