A new graduate-level course at Boston University examining transgender themes in medieval texts has ignited debate among scholars, who accuse it of imposing modern interpretations on historical sources.
Boston University is offering a graduate-level “Medieval Trans Studies ” course for the upcoming spring semester that explores how “medieval texts speak to the historical, theoretical, and political concerns that animate contemporary trans studies .” The course has drawn criticism from scholars who argue that it reflects modern ideological biases rather than historical accuracy.
It considers “the deep histories of transgender embodiment” through an examination of texts stemming from the Middle Ages, according to the university. Students will read about “alchemical hermaphrodites, genderfluid angels, Ethiopian eunuchs, trans saints, sex workers, and genderqueer monks,” according to the university.The College Fix via email, “It is a mistake for the course to misinterpret Medieval texts by indulging modern obsessions.” He said it is permissible for universities to study how Medieval writers understood their fantasies regarding gender. However, BU’s course is “a distraction from better emphases.” “In the Middle Ages there was no rational doubt that humans were created only male and female. The people knew that freaks of nature were abnormal,” Kissel said. “Medieval studies resisted the woke turn in the humanities but eventually succumbed to it. The academic humanities need to be rebuilt from the ground up” as they “are largely self-indulgent activism,” he said.The College Fix she is not surprised that Boston University would implement a course of this nature. Brown explained the course’s title is likely “intended to get people’s attention.” “ degraded to the point…that we don’t take its intense power as seriously,” Brown said
Medieval Studies Trans Studies Academic Controversy Historical Interpretation Gender Studies
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