This course will focus on selected themes in the study of European popular culture(s) during the late medieval and early modern period. We will begin with the methodological problem of defining and studying culture before focusing on these particular topics: popular stories and folk tales; witchcraft and popular religion, the Reformation and religious change; literacy and reading (including oral history and traditions); gender roles; the state, resistance, and popular culture. Requirements include running weekly discussion, two short theses-based papers, and one longer review of the literature.