Introduction to British literature and culture before 1500. Students will read a wide variety of texts from this period while developing their broader knowledge of premodern literary cultures, including issues of media and materiality, medieval literary theory, and cultural contexts. Students will learn to read Middle English texts in the original language; texts from other languages (Old English, Latin, insular French) will be encountered in translation. Authors studied will include Chaucer, the Beowulf-poet, and Marie de France.