Courses Offered
The following are courses I have devised and taught previously that I would love to teach again. Please contact me if you are interested in offering these classes at your college or university.
Attributed to Jean Le Noir (French, active 1331–75) , and Workshop, “Wound of Christ — The Prayer Book of Bonne of Luxembourg, Duchess of Normandy Psalter and Prayer Book of Bonne de Luxembourg,” before 1349, The Cloisters Collection, 1969, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/471883
The Lactating, Menstruating Christ:
Constructing and Depicting Gender in Late Medieval Europe
Throughout the long span of the Middle Ages, gender was a mutable category, dangerous and at times powerful because of its instability. This seminar explores the conceptualization, creation, and demarcation of medieval gender and its continuities and fluctuations into the early modern period. We will study these phenomena by drawing from both historical texts and the physical record — art, architecture, archaeology, and objects — for evidence. In the first half of the course, we will discuss how gender was defined, bounded, and represented. We will draw from the resulting grasp of how gender was constructed and performed in the second half of the course to complicate, nuance, and interrogate how gender operated in particular contexts and for particular purposes.
A selection of comments from previous students
“The professor not only taught us the material, but taught us how to approach the past without imposing our modern conceptions on it. This is incredibly valuable to my study of history going forward.”
“I would definitely recommend this class, especially to art history students. The theory you explore in this class is very different than other art history classes I have taken and I found it allowed me to view the material culture from the time period through a very different lens.”
“This course has been enlightening and engaging. The theoretical readings challenged students to think about subject material in new ways and the assignments allowed students to think through the course content in creative and individualized ways. It is a great course for anyone interested in Medieval Studies, Gender/Sexuality Studies, Art History, and the humanities broadly.”
“[Professor Chilson-Parks] made every effort to respect all members of the class and given the nature of the content, successfully cultivated a classroom environment where all students could feel comfortable expressing their interests and relating modern issues to the premodern content.”
“If you would like to see all your preconceived notions of the past change, this is the course to take!”
Inventions and Interpretations of Landscapes in the Middle Ages
This course examines the multiplicity of the Middle Ages. The landscapes we will explore include imaginary deserts, mental pilgrimages, rabbit warrens, enclosed gardens, and tombs for the living with examples in the Iberian peninsula, Jerusalem, northern Africa, the Alps, Scandinavia, and beyond. The period covered will extend just beyond the Middle Ages to include examples in the Americas and the commodification and dissemination of its landscape across the globe. These broad examples will engage deeply with different forms of evidence to examine how we recreate meaning in the past and to question how we know what we know.
Joachim Patinir, “The Penitence of Saint Jerome,” ca. 1515, oil on wood, Fletcher Fund, 1936, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437261
A selection of comments from previous students
“I would absolutely recommend taking this course for anyone, but especially history students who would like to engage more thoughtfully with material evidence that is sometimes not as emphasized. It changed my perspective on how history is made and helped me to think critically concerning how we use evidence to create different interpretation[s].”
“The different perspectives and topics of our readings felt incredibly nuanced and diverse given the time period and I felt that we approached difficult conversations with grace and respect… discussion was my favorite part of this class and it was fostered in a super effective manner!”
“I really enjoy how the course is divided between background lectures and discussion. I felt the balance was very helpful as the course had a lot of diverse articles that I sometimes did not have the background to engage with. However, after lectures, I always felt that I had a much stronger grasp of the article. I also liked the balance within the discussion between discussing the content and discussing article structure and how the information was presented. Overall, I feel the structure above helped me enter the field of HIAA without much previous experience while still feeling grounding and learning the skills I needed to succeed.”
Other Taught Courses
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This course examines the art, architecture, and decorative arts of the Gothic style from the initial experiments that would eventually define the style to the flourishes that distinguished its final stages. It will also follow the style’s afterlife into the Gothic Revival of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Material covered in the course will explore the expression and invention of the style in different mediums, including portal sculptures, donor portraits, choir screens, castles, houses, tapestries, furniture, stained glass, manuscript illuminations, reliquaries, and jewelry.
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This course provides an introduction to the art and architecture of the world from prehistory (the era that predated written records) to the fourteenth century. It explores the scope and diversity of human expression as well as how that expression both reflected and influenced the way people saw the world.
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This course provides an introduction to the art and architecture of the world from the 15th century to the present. It explores the scope and diversity of human expression as well as how that expression both reflected and influenced the way people saw the world.
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This course examines the art and architecture of the Roman Empire, beginning with the civilizations that preceded (and influenced) it through Constantine’s pivot to Christianity.
A selection of general student feedback:
“I felt that Professor Chilson-Parks was super accessible outside of classtime through email and Canvas. Expectations for class assignments and exams were made super clear and we were notified of due dates multiple times in advance. Also, additional resources were posted for topics we as a class expressed interest in.”
“Professor Chilson-Parks always responded warmly to and engaged thoroughly with all student contributions. Even when I was unsure about a point I was making, she would always know the right questions to ask to clarify my point or was able to explain it in a new way that opened up new ideas to me on the subject. This openness to all contributions and ideas contributed to the development of a inclusive classroom.”
“She is the sweetest and most encouraging person while always fostering interesting discussion and answering the wide expanses of inquiry the class may have.”
“Professor Chilson-Park was super funny, engaging, and supportive of students ideas and interests. I felt that our class time was very well balanced between compelling lectures and group discussions; I learned as much from my classmates as the readings themselves, and never left class feeling confused or unconfident.”
“Engaging, knowledgable, and kind instructor. She chose very interesting readings and provided a workload that was manageable but rewarding.”
“Professor Chilson-Parks fostered an environment where all students, including me, felt treated with respect. She was extremely flexible and adaptable, was open to the opinions and perspectives of others, and was always receptive to feedback given to her by students in the course.”
“Professor Chilson-Park was super funny, engaging, and supportive of students ideas and interests.”