• Course begins March 19, 2026

  • Live sessions with the instructor from 6:00 - 8:00pm Eastern U.S. time

  • All sessions are recorded so you can watch them at your convenience

Hidden Forces and Authorized Enchantment

Discover how medieval Europeans believed music activated hidden forces in the cosmos, body, and soul. Explore sacred chant and healing or ritual songs and learn how sound shaped morality, health, and devotion.

Dangerous Enchantment: Dance, Desire, and the Devil

Examine music’s feared powers when it escaped control. From lively dance and secular love songs to instruments associated with excess or demonic influence, explore why religious authorities worried about emotional, physical, or moral disruption.

Meet your Instructor

Sonja Maurer-Dass

Dr. Sonja Maurer-Dass is a Canadian musicologist and harpsichordist. She holds a PhD in Musicology from The University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada) and a master’s degree in Musicology specializing in late medieval English music from York University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Sonja has taught Baroque music history at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) and undergraduate tutorials on different topics in musicology and music theory at The University of Western Ontario. Her work has been published in the Medieval Magazine, Ancient History Magazine, Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and Medievalists.net

  • Start Learning

    First live session is March 19, 2026 at 6:00pm Eastern U.S. time

  • Continued access to the course materials is available for 2 weeks from the last course session