Certificate in Medieval Studies

Description

Medieval studies is essentially an interdisciplinary field. Within the vast temporal and geographic scope encompassed by “the Middle Ages,” medieval scholars specialize in a particular culture. Their comprehensive knowledge of it derives from their hybridized study of its art, history, music, literature, and languages. For a young professional, the Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies would imply to prospective employers that he or she has received the interdisciplinary training distinctive to and expected of medieval scholars.

Minimum Total Credit Hours: 12

Goals/Mission Statement

The goals of the certificate are to encourage conversation across disciplines and enlarge the community of students and faculty with shared interests, and to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship. As a student completes the coursework toward the Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies, he or she would have the opportunity to become familiar with the scholarship and interests of faculty outside his or her home department.

Course Requirements

A student may pursue a Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies if he or she has been admitted in full-standing to a master’s, specialist, or doctoral degree program. Medieval Studies shall be an “add on” (rather than a “stand alone”) graduate certificate. Prospective students will submit a petition to the Medieval Studies Core Faculty after having completed half (6 credit hours) of their coursework toward the certificate. In this petition, the student will describe his or her past study in the field, outline his or her future course work, and explain how the coursework completed for the Medieval Studies Graduate Certificate coheres with his or her scholarship and career plans.

The Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies will consist of 12 credit hours of approved courses from the list below, and a Latin requirement. No course below the 500-level may count towards the Graduate Certificate. A maximum of 6 hours may be taken in the student’s home department. A maximum of 6 hours may count toward both the student’s home degree program and the Medieval Studies Certificate.

Students must satisfy the Latin requirement in one of three ways. First, students with no prior Latin training can take LAT 101 and LAT 102 (or their equivalent). Second, students with prior Latin training can earn a High Pass on a Latin reading exam designed and evaluated by the Medieval Studies Graduate Core Faculty. Any student who does not earn the “High Pass” will have a second opportunity to do so. He or she must get a “High Pass” on the retake before the end of the semester after the initial attempt. If he or she does not earn a High Pass on the second attempt, the student must take a 500-level or 600-level Latin course from the approved list, which will count toward the 12 hours of course work. Third, students with prior Latin training may take a 500-level or 600-level Latin course from the approved list. They must earn a grade of “B” (3.0) or higher in it to satisfy the Graduate Certificate’s Latin requirement. Students who opt to satisfy the requirement by taking this course may count it toward the Graduate Certificate’s 12 credit hours.

Approved Courses for the Certificate in Medieval Studies: