Class Description
Defying age, gender, and status, Joan of Arc, a peasant girl in fifteenth century France, became one of the most famous women in the medieval world. During Joan’s time, the English had conquered much of France. Claiming that she was called to defend France by St. Michael, St. Katherine, and St. Margaret, Joan convinced the Dauphin to give her an army and turned the tide of the war before she was captured, put on trial by the English, and burned to death at the age of nineteen in 1431. This class will present Joan’s story and then the impact she had in the centuries after her death, ending with the impact of Joan of Arc today.
The first week of the class will concentrate on the actual Joan and religion and politics of her age. The second week will examine the variety of ways Joan’s story has been retold over the last six centuries in history, drama, poetry, art, and film and how these representations reflect the different historical eras in which they appeared.
Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History Emerita at the University of Nebraska. She specializes in fifteenth to seventeenth centuries cultural, political, and women’s history. She is the author or editor of twenty-one books, most recently Creatively Expanding the Premodern (2025).
What to Expect
Format: In Person
Class Capacity: 28
Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged
Materials List
Required
- Digital Course Packet
First Assignment
- Please read excerpts from Christine de Pizan's “Song of Joan of Arc” and the trial transcript
Cost and Registration
2 Sessions, $125 ($112.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($125), Community Supported ($115), and Sponsor ($135).Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.
RegisterThe views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.
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