Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Concentration

The concentration in medieval and Renaissance studies investigates the shared enterprise of these two time periods: the attempt to forge a union out of the impressive remnants of ancient, but pagan, civilization and the living traditions of thought and piety associated with biblical (Jewish and Christian) religion.

Medieval and Renaissance Studies

If the period commonly referred to as the Renaissance marks the beginning of the Early Modern period in European history, it nonetheless exists in profound continuity with the Middle Ages. The two periods share common theses, issues, auctores and institutions and participate in a common enterprise: for they both attempt to forge a union out of the impressive remnants of ancient, but pagan, civilization and the living traditions of thought and piety associated with biblical (Jewish and Christian) religion.

Even when the Renaissance writers do distance themselves from late medieval practices and thinking, often enough what they are doing is reviving the spirit and language of an earlier Middle Ages in preference to more recent developments. Hence the appropriateness of combining the study of the Renaissance with that of the Middle Ages in a single concentration.

Concentrators are free, of course, to emphasize one period more than the other if they choose.

Concentration Requirements:

Through a consortium agreement with Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Dallas, it is possible for students pursuing the concentration to take courses in medieval subjects not usually offered here but available at the other institutions, with the approval of the director.

The concentration requires the completion of six three-credit upper-division courses, in four different fields, from the list below or otherwise approved by the director and distributed according to the following principles:

1. History (two courses)
2. English, modern languages or classics
3. Philosophy or theology
4. A fifth course in a field other than history and other than the fields chosen in /admissions-aid/index.php and #3.
5. A sixth course in any field.

Approved Medieval-Renaissance Courses:

ART 5356  Italian Renaissance Art 1300–1600 
ART 5365  Medieval Art 
ART 5367  Northern Renaissance 1400–1550 
DRA 3335  Theater Literature I 
ECO 4343  Western Economic History I 
ENG 3323  Medieval Literature
ENG 4359 Shakespeare
ENG 4370  Dante
ENG 5312  The English Renaissance
ENG 5320  Arthurian Romance 
CLL  3334  Augustine
CLL  3335  Medieval Latin Readings 
MFR 3322 Medieval and Renaissance Literature 
MFR 5V50  Old French
MGE 3321  German Literary Tradition I
MFR 5V50  Old Occitan
MSP 3320  Spanish Literary Tradition I
MSP 3327  Golden Age Drama/Poetry  
MSP 3328  Golden Age Novel
MSP 3338  Medieval Literature in Spain 
MSP 3340  History of Medieval Spain 
MSP 3341  History of Habsburg Spain
HIS 3307  Medieval Europe I
HIS 3308  Medieval Europe II
HIS 3309  Topics in Medieval History  
HIS 3310  The Renaissance 
HIS 3311  The Reformation