MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES
Director: Blake de Maria
The minor in Medieval and Renaissance studies offers students from all departments a cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary program of study in Europe’s Middle Ages and Renaissance. These periods lay on the edge of modernity, when the distinctive characteristics of the contemporary world began to form and when major new connections were made between Europe and Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, and the Americas. Study of these periods from many different points of view affords an opportunity to gain valuable perspectives on the ways that Medieval and Renaissance persons, events, and institutions helped to shape the modern world. Completion of the minor is noted on the student’s transcript, and students receive a certificate acknowledging their accomplishment.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINOR
Students must complete the following requirements for a minor in Medieval and Renaissance studies:
- Seven courses selected from three different departments with a maximum of three lower-division courses
- One of the upper-division courses must require an interdisciplinary research paper based on source materials and secondary works dealing with a topic rooted in the Medieval and/or Renaissance periods. The research paper requirement may be fulfilled by enrolling in MRST 199 under the supervision of an affiliated faculty member and the program director.
- The study of French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, and/or Spanish is strongly recommended but not required. Students should consult with the program director to determine the cluster of courses best suited to their personal interests and preparation.
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES COURSES
199. Independent Study
Directed reading and research in source materials and secondary works dealing with selected problems rooted in the Medieval and/or Renaissance periods, culminating in an interdisciplinary paper. Prerequisite: Permission of program director and instructor. (2–5 units)
Note: In addition to the courses listed below, many departments offer occasional special topics, directed reading/directed research, and seminar courses on Medieval and Renaissance topics. Students should consult with the program director to determine the applicability of these, as well as of courses taken at other institutions or while studying abroad, to the minor.
ANTHROPOLOGY COURSES
- ANTH 146. Perspectives on the Spanish and Native American Experience
ART HISTORY COURSES
- ARTH 11. Western Culture: Art History I
- ARTH 12. Western Culture: Art History II
- ARTH 110. Early Christian and Byzantine Art
- ARTH 114. Early Medieval Art
- ARTH 116. Romanesque and Gothic Art
- ARTH 120. 15th-Century Florentine Art
- ARTH 121. Venice and the Other in the Renaissance
- ARTH 122. The Art of Early Modern Rome
- ARTH 123. Architecture in Early Modern Europe
- ARTH 128. 17th-Century Italian Painting and Sculpture
- ARTH 164. Islamic Art, 600-1350 CE
CLASSICS COURSES
- CLAS 112. World of Augustine
- CLAS 119. History of Early Christianity
- CLAS 135. Medieval Latin
ENGLISH COURSES
- ENGL 12. Western Culture: Literature II
- ENGL 41. Survey of English Literature I
- ENGL 54. Shakespeare
- ENGL 116. Shakespeare’s Tragedies
- ENGL 117. Shakespeare’s Comedies
- ENGL 118. Shakespeare Studies
- ENGL 141. Medieval Literature
- ENGL 142. Chaucer
- ENGL 143. Renaissance Literature
- ENGL 144. Seventeenth Century Literature
- ENGL 145. Milton
- ENGL 162. Comparative Humanism
- ENGL 188. Senior Seminars (on Medieval and Renaissance topics)
HISTORY COURSES
- HIST 12. Western Civilization: Medieval and Early Modern
- HIST 45. Introduction to African History and Cultures
- HIST 57. Rajas and Sultans in Medieval India
- HIST 61. Latin American Origins
- HIST 103. History of the Jesuits
- HIST 117. State and Church in the Middle Ages: 1000–1450
- HIST 118. Renaissance and Reformation: 1350–1560
- HIST 119. Sex, Family, and Crime in Mediterranean Europe, 1300-1800
- HIST 121. Interpreting the English Reformation
- HIST 122. Pirates of the Mediterranean
- HIST 126. Conflicts in Medieval Christianity
- HIST 127. The World of St. Francis
- HIST 129. Special Topics in Ancient and Early Modern European History
- HIST 146A. Medieval and Early Modern Japan
- HIST 147A. Premodern China
- HIST 154A. Ancient and Classical India
- HIST 154B. State, Religion, and Gender in Medieval India
- HIST 160. Mexico: Colonial and Early National Periods
- HIST 192. Seminar in Medieval or Early Modern Europe
HONORS COURSES
- HNRS 12. Medieval and Early Modern Culture
MODERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES COURSES
- FREN 115. Major Works of French Literature I
- FREN 120. Moyen Age
- FREN 130. Humanism and the Renaissance
- ITAL 110. Italian Civilization I
- ITAL 120. Survey of Italian Literature I
- ITAL 130. Dante, La Divina Commedia I
- ITAL 131. Dante, La Divina Commedia II
- ITAL 140. Duecento, Trecento
- ITAL 150. Quattrocento, Cinquecento (Rinascimento)
- SPAN 120. Major Works of Spanish Literature I
- SPAN 122. The Spanish Picaresque Novel
- SPAN 123. Siglo de Oro Drama
- SPAN 130. Survey of Latin American Literature I
- SPAN 165. Cervantes: Don Quijote
MUSIC COURSES
- MUSC 11. Performance and Culture I
- MUSC 12. Performance and Culture II
- MUSC 101. Music History I: Antiquity Through Renaissance
PHILOSOPHY COURSES
- PHIL 11. Western Culture: Philosophy I, Classical and Medieval
- PHIL 12. Western Culture: Philosophy II, Early Modern
- PHIL 132. Medieval Philosophy
RELIGIOUS STUDIES COURSES
- RSOC 65. Early Christianity
- RSOC 144. Gender, Body, and Christianity
- SCTR 126. Sufi Mysticism
- SCTR 132. Apocalypse Now
- TESP 82. Witches, Saints, and Heretics: Religious Outsiders
- TESP 143. Theology and Ethics of Thomas Aquinas
THEATRE COURSES
- THTR 11. Performance and Culture I
- THTR 12. Performance and Culture II
- THTR 110. Medieval Theatre
- THTR 112. Topics in Theatre and Drama prior to 1700
- THTR 120. Acting Styles I: Shakespeare
- THTR 151. Social History of Fashion I
- THTR 187. Seminar in Theatre and Dance before 1700
