Table of Contents

Introduction: Cognitive Science and Medieval Studies
Juliana Dresvina and Victoria Blud
I Questions of method
1. How Modular Are Medieval Cognitive Theories? - Jose Filipe Silva
2. An Unrealized Conversation: Medieval Mysticism and the Common Core Thesis - Ralph Hood Jr
3. Questions of Value: Brain Science, Aesthetics, and Art in the Neurohumanities - Matthew Rampley
II Case studies: histories of neuroscience, psychology and mental illness
4. Neuroscience and the Dialectics of History - Daniel Lord Smail
5. Medieval English Understanding of Mental Illness: Terminology and Symptoms In Comparison to Modern Mental Health Conditions - Wendy Turner
6. Attachment Theory for Historians of Medieval Religion - Julie Dresvina
III Case studies: reading texts and minds
7. 'A Knot So Subtle and So Mighty': On Knitting, Academic Writing and Julian of Norwich - Godelinde Perk
8. Making Up a Mind: '4E' Cognition and the Medieval Subject - Victoria Blud
9. Cognitive Approaches to Affective Poetics in Early English Literature - Antonina Harbus
IV Case studies: approaching art and artefacts
10. Medieval Art History and Neuroscience: An Introduction - Nadia Pawelchak
11. Spoons, Whorls, and Caroles: How Medieval Artifacts Can Help Keep Your Brain on its Toes - Jeff Rider
Afterword: The Medieval Brain and Modern Neuroscience - John Onians

Promotional Information

* This study brings together medieval studies and cognitive methodologies in a study specifically aimed at medievalists.
* It presents a longer history of certain mental health conditions and locates contemporary debates about the mind in a broader historical framework.
* It considers both the benefits of incorporating insights from contemporary neuroscientific and cognitive studies into the exploration of the past, and the benefits of employing historical models and case studies in order to reflect on modern methods.

About the Author

Undergraduate students; graduates in medieval studies and in cognitive sciences; general academics with interest in the topic.

Reviews

“This collection strikes out boldly: refusing to prioritise the sciences as automatically primary in epistemological or methodological terms; exposing the central concept of neuromedievalism to critique; and inviting contributors and readers alike to consider the bases, possibilities, and limits of its capacity to enlighten. The result is enlivening. This fascinating collection offers no simple blueprint for applying cognitive sciences to medieval questions (or vice versa) but rather encourages us to consider what value might be added to each by bringing the two together. There will be some dead ends, it acknowledges, but the potential for mutual enrichment is real and exciting.”
 
*Kathleen Neal, Monash University*