Department of Classical Studies

In Spring 2022, L540 has a new topic!

Did women write Latin? Of course they did! This course considers women’s writing from the first century BC through late antiquity and the middle ages, paying attention to literature as a mark and medium of status. We will examine the apparent “explosion” of women’s literary production as the Roman Empire waned in the West, and read from women’s writings from the first through the twelfth centuries. Authors will include Sulpicia, Perpetua, Egeria, Dhuoda, Hroswitha, Heloise, and Hildegard of Bingen. Questions considered will include male “ventriloquism,” cultural supports for women’s writing, control of manuscript production, and other matters. Intermediate Latin proficiency (i.e., a previous course reading Latin literature) required.