Graduate Minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

While most students still choose to study in a traditional disciplinary framework, a MARS minor allows students to expand the breadth of their studies and research by taking coursework in several different departments on campus. So much of the research on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is interdisciplinary in nature, and the MARS minor helps students gain expertise in areas outside of their home discipline while simultaneously offering a quick and comprehensive way for prospective employers to understand their specialization and background.

Requirements

Courses that may be applied toward this minor are taught by faculty members from the departments of Art History and Archaeology, Classical Studies, English, Germanic and Russian Studies, History, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Romance Languages and Literatures. Under certain circumstances, a minor in Medieval or Renaissance studies may also be arranged for MA programs. A student must be accepted for advisement by the major department. Then, in consultation with the major advisor, who must be a specialist in the medieval or Renaissance period, an interdisciplinary curriculum for the minor is prepared and submitted to the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Committee for approval.

• A doctoral candidate in one of these departments offering a PhD may elect a minor concentration in interdisciplinary Medieval or Renaissance Studies by taking at least three appropriate courses outside the department, as well as all appropriate ones within it. Thus one earns, for example, a PhD in Art History and Archaeology with specialization in Medieval Studies, or a PhD in History with specialization in Renaissance Studies.
• At least nine (9) hours in relevant 7000 or 8000 level courses outside the major department are required to constitute the minor.
• Because the program places considerable emphasis on foreign languages, all doctoral candidates must study at least two languages.

Perks

• The Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies consortium
• MU graduate Association for Medieval and Renaissance studies
• Renaissance reading group
• A listserv announcing campus-related activities for MARS members

For more information contact:
Prof. Johanna Kramer
kramerji@missouri.edu