Spring Quarter
Honors Book Seminar
Text: Everyman and Medieval
Miracle Plays
(available at the O.S.U. Bookstore)
Seminar Date: Thursday, May 11, 2-4pm
Public Services Building, Room 213
Join Dr. Deborah Burks (English) for a study of Medieval drama. The plays we will be reading melded popular entertainment with spiritual enrichment as they retold Biblical stories from Creation to Judgment. This drama was literature-for-the-masses, much like television entertainment today in its appeal to ordinary people with ordinary interests and senses of humor. In our age of televised Biblical epics (Noah), Disney-ized Old Testament heroes (Moses), and religious satire (from the Church Lady to "God, the Devil, and Bob"), some elements of our popular culture still assert that the Bible can be brought to bear on everyday life -- and that everyday life may interrogate traditional assumptions about religion and the Bible. In these Medieval plays we see the writers grappling with similar issues of relevance as they seek to find the sacred in day to day English life.
In conjunction with our discussion of the text, we will view video excerpts from two modern productions of the plays.
For those interested in medieval drama and English history: The Ohio State University at Lima is sponsoring a Study Tour to York and London (July 10-21, 2000). The tour will include this year's special millennial production of the York cycle plays. For more information, contact Pam Joseph in the OSU Office of External Relations (419) 995-8332 or Jan Laibe at Northwestern Travel Service, Inc. (419) 227-2335.