Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Overview

This interdisciplinary program is focused on the critical period in Western history between the end of antiquity and the birth of modernity (roughly, 400 to 1600 C.E.). The periods of the Middle Ages and Renaissance encompass vast and exciting transformations that saw the creation of many of the institutions and habits upon which our world and worldview rest. Study of the period will provide students with a valuable perspective on the contemporary scene that can only be acquired at a considerable distance. In some cases, students with interests in this period will be best served by concentrations such as Literature or History; an interdisciplinary approach, however, recognizes that the modern division into academic disciplines does not adequately reflect premodern European culture, when theology might be argued in verse or in painting, and when history, literature, and religion were inextricably entwined.

Faculty

Carrie Beneš, Professor of History (On Leave)
Magdalena Carrasco, Professor of Art History
T. J. H. McCarthy, Professor of Medieval History (On Leave)
Nova Myhill, Professor of English and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies/Director of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
Nassima Neggaz, Associate Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies (On Leave)
Eric Nemarich, Visiting Assistant Professor of History
Christopher Noble, Assistant Professor of Philosophy (On Leave)
David Rohrbacher, Professor of Classics
Jing Zhang, Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Culture/Director of International and Area Studies

Requirements for the AOC in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

A minimum of eleven (11) academic units.

Course List
Code	Title
Required Courses
Select one relevant course in Art History and/or Music, such as:
ARTH 3750	Saints and Sinners: Image, Gender, and Spirituality in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras*
ARTH 2500	Masterpieces: Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque*
HIST 2400	The Sixth Liberal Art: Music, Ritual and Performance in the Middle Ages and Renaissance*
Select one relevant course in History, such as:
HIST 2300	The Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern World*
HIST 2325	Kingdom of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Conquest of Jerusalem*
HIST 2450	Early Modern Europe: The World in Maps*
HIST 3870	The Black Death
Select one relevant course in Literature, such as:
LITR 2180	Imagining and Reimagining Early England*
LITR 3210	Chaucer: Imaginary Persons and Narrative Form
Select one relevant course in Philosophy and/or Religion, such as:
RELI 3440	Jewish Scriptures*
PHIL 4150	Early Modern Women Philosophers
PHIL 3305	Spinoza*
Select two more courses in any one of the prior four field categories, to provide a disciplinary “base” for the student’s work
Select at least two courses in related fields, such as:
Classical Antiquity, for example:
HIST 2260	Ancient Rome: History and Legacy*
LITR 2045	Classical Myth and Mythology
Early Judaism and Christianity, for example:
RELI 3200	Christian Scriptures
Islamic Studies, for example:
HUMN 3140	Empire, Power, and Culture: The Mongols*
HUMN 3145	Islamic History 500-1500*
Premodern China, for example:
HIST 3800	Chinese History to 1800*
LITR 2680	Classical Chinese Literature: A Survey*
The Seventeenth Century, for example:
LITR 2075	Fantastic Tales and Idle Talks in Traditional China*
Museum Studies, for example:
ARTH 2260	Worlds of Wonder: A History of Museums
Select three semesters of a foreign language. Normally this will be Latin, but for some circumstances another language might be substituted at the sponsor’s discretion.
Additional Requirement
Senior Thesis in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Baccalaureate Exam

Requirements for the Joint AOC in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

A minimum of nine (9) academic units plus the thesis.

Course List
Code	Title
Required Courses
Select one relevant course in Art History and/or Music, such as:
ARTH 3750	Saints and Sinners: Image, Gender, and Spirituality in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras*
ARTH 2500	Masterpieces: Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque*
HIST 2400	The Sixth Liberal Art: Music, Ritual and Performance in the Middle Ages and Renaissance*
Select one relevant course in History, such as:
HIST 2300	The Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern World*
HIST 2325	Kingdom of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Conquest of Jerusalem*
HIST 2450	Early Modern Europe: The World in Maps*
HIST 3870	The Black Death
Select one relevant course in Literature, such as:
LITR 2180	Imagining and Reimagining Early England*
LITR 3210	Chaucer: Imaginary Persons and Narrative Form
Select one relevant course in Philosophy and/or Religion, such as:
RELI 3200	Christian Scriptures
RELI 3440	Jewish Scriptures*
PHIL 4150	Early Modern Women Philosophers
PHIL 3305	Spinoza*
Select two more courses in any one of the prior four field categories, to provide a disciplinary “base” for the student’s work
Select three semesters of a foreign language. Normally this will be Latin, but for some circumstances another language might be substituted at the sponsor’s discretion.
Additional Requirement
Senior Thesis with some relevance to Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Baccalaureate Exam

Note: Requirements for the Joint AOC in Medieval and Renaissance Studies are not much reduced from those of the full AOC, since students are generally able to count most of their courses for both parts of their AOC, for example Art History/Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Requirements for the Secondary Field in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

A minimum of six (6) academic units.

Course List
Code	Title
Select one relevant course in Art History and/or Music, such as:
ARTH 3750	Saints and Sinners: Image, Gender, and Spirituality in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras* (Select one relevant unit in Art History and/or Music, such as:)
ARTH 2500	Masterpieces: Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque*
HIST 2400	The Sixth Liberal Art: Music, Ritual and Performance in the Middle Ages and Renaissance*
Select one relevant course in History, such as:
HIST 2300	The Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern World* (Select one relevant course in History, such as:)
HIST 2325	Kingdom of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Conquest of Jerusalem*
HIST 2450	Early Modern Europe: The World in Maps*
HIST 3870	The Black Death
Select one relevant course in Literature, such as:
LITR 2180	Imagining and Reimagining Early England*
LITR 3210	Chaucer: Imaginary Persons and Narrative Form
Select one relevant course in Philosophy and/or Religion, such as:
RELI 3200	Christian Scriptures
RELI 3440	Jewish Scriptures*
PHIL 4150	Early Modern Women Philosophers
PHIL 3305	Spinoza*
Select two more courses in any one of the prior four field categories, to provide a disciplinary “base” for the student’s work

Note: Students opting for a secondary field are not required to complete the language requirement. Transfer credit may not be applied toward a secondary field in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and course substitution will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.

Representative Senior Theses in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

For the Love of the Gods: The Rhetoric and Reality of Religious Authority in Late Antiquity
Imagining Heaven and Earth: Cosmology and the Irish Tradition in the Saltair na Rann
Bohemond and the Byzantines: The Political Career of Bohemond of Taranto,1096-1108
Romanization and Reform: Liturgy as a Mechanism of Change in Leon-Castile in the Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries
Norsemen without a King: An Analysis of Executive Authority in the Icelandic Commonwealth
Reconsidering Humanism: The Life and Works of Poggio Bracciolini