Program in Medieval Studies

Director

D. Vance Smith

Executive Committee

Marina S. Brownlee, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

Daniel Heller-Roazen, Comparative Literature

William C. Jordan, History

Sarah Kay, French and Italian

Gideon A. Rosen, Philosophy, ex officio

D. Vance Smith, English

Associated Faculty

Peter R. Brown, History

Marina S. Brownlee, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

Mark R. Cohen, Near Eastern Studies

Kathleen M. Davis, English

Pietro Frassica, French and Italian

John F. Haldon, History, Hellenic Studies

Andras P. Hamori, Near Eastern Studies

Daniel Heller-Roazen, Comparative Literature

Peter G. Jeffery, Music

Sarah Kay, French and Italian

Thomas F. Leisten, Art and Archaeology

Simone Marchesi, French and Italian

Janet M. Martin, Classics

Sara S. Poor, German

Peter Schäfer, Religion

Ronald E. Surtz, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

Rob C. Wegman, Music

Nino Zchomelidse, Art and Archaeology

Sits with Committee

Giles Constable, Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study

Colum P. Hourihane, Index of Christian Art

Donald C. Skemer, Firestone Library

Alan Stahl, Firestone Library

 

The Program in Medieval Studies seeks to encourage interdisciplinary study of the medieval period in Europe and adjacent Mediterranean cultures (c. 500–1500): its art, literature (Latin and vernacular), music, religion, philosophy, science, politics, and economic and social structures. Accordingly, it includes faculty members from the Departments of Art and Archaeology, Classics, Comparative Literature, English, French and Italian, German, History, Music, Near Eastern Studies, Politics, Religion, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

The program sponsors a lecture series and organizes special events such as short-term visits by eminent medievalists and one or two conferences a year. It also supports an interdisciplinary graduate colloquium and an annual conference arranged by graduate students. As well, it offers one course of its own, “Topics in Medieval Studies,” with different interdisciplinary topics taught by different members of the faculty every year. All other courses of interest are offered through departments. Students interested in interdisciplinary medieval studies should consult departmental advisers as well as the director of the program or members of the program committee.

Courses

MED 500 Topics in Medieval Studies

Staff

An interdisciplinary seminar devoted to a particular major aspect of European medieval life and culture, for example, Literature and the Visual Arts, the Growth of Literacy, Monastic Culture and its Achievements, and Marginal Groups in Medieval Society. Topics and instructors change yearly.

Courses of Interest

Art and Archaeology

535 Problems in Late Antique and Byzantine Art and Architecture

536 Art in Late Medieval Italy

537 Seminar in Medieval Art

538 Medieval Manuscript Illumination

539 Seminar in Iconography

540 Art and Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

542 Art and Society in Renaissance Italy

544 Seminar in the Northern Renaissance

Classics

541 Survey of Early Medieval Latin Literature

552 The Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages

Comparative Literature

543 Topics in Medieval Literature

English

501 Old English Period

502 Old English Poetry

510 Old Norse

511 Special Studies in Medieval Literature

512 Chaucer I

514 Middle English Religious Literature

515 Chaucer II

French and Italian

506 Medieval French Readings

510 Seminar in Medieval French Literature

551, 552 Medieval Italian Literature

German

505 Structure and History of the German Language

508, 509 Middle High German Literature

History

542 Problems in Byzantine History

543 The Origins of the Middle Ages

544 Seminar in Medieval History

592 Science in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

598 History of Technology

Music

503, 504 Medieval Musical Style and Notation

511 Problems in Early Christian Music

512 Topics in Medieval Music

Near Eastern Studies

502 An Introduction to the Islamic Scholarly Tradition

508 Readings in Medieval Hebrew Literature

521, 522 Readings in Classical Arab Historians and Biographers

523 Readings in Judeo-Arabic

531, 532 Readings in Classical Arabic Literature

539, 540 Studies in Persian Literature

545 Problems in Near Eastern Jewish History

571 Problems in Early Ottoman History

Politics

512 Ancient and Medieval Political Theory

Slavic Languages and Literatures

507 Old Russian Texts

513 Russian Literature Before 1800

Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

532 Medieval Epic Literature

534 Seminar in Medieval Spanish Literature