Medieval and Renaissance Studies

The new interdisciplinary minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies amplifies students’ liberal arts educations by focusing on an especially rich and diverse period of cultural history. Examining how medieval and early modern women and men lived, thought, governed, worshiped, and created art, minors apply analytical methods and approaches associated with a range of disciplines to various kinds of early texts. Students who complete the program will emerge with a deep understanding of the differences and continuities between the two epochs, as well as with a clearer idea of how those eras were shaped by antiquity and how they have in turn shaped the modern and postmodern Western world. Medieval and Renaissance Studies minors will:

• demonstrate knowledge of core medieval and Renaissance primary texts, including literary and historical documents;
• articulate an understanding of the cultural changes and continuities between the Middle Ages and Renaissance;
• conduct advanced research in medieval and Renaissance cultural history, using the varied methods of analysis associated with interdisciplinary coursework.