Medieval Studies
Steve Terry
Hello Gentlefolk
I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
Steve
Jeff Heinen
My first bit of advice is to avoid a medieval studies major. Rather get a
degree in history with a concentration in medieval history. Most graduate
schools don't hold the medieval studies major in high esteem. The history
degree will get you farther and still allow you to study the things you
want. If you can, try double-majoring in history *and* medieval studies.
The University of California at Santa Barbara offers both majors, and with
the recent aquisition of Prof. Carol Lansing, UCSB offers a top-notch
program.
One other piece of advice - learn languages NOW! If you're son wants to
go to graduate school languages are essential. A graduate degree in
medieval history requires, at minimum, Latin, French, and German, with a
high degree of skill in Latin absolutely crucial. If you do not have
these three languages down pat by the time you apply to grad school, many
schools won't even consider you, and if you do get in, it will take
forever to get your degree because you will have to take crash courses in
languages just so you can begin to do primary source research.
If you or your son have any questions, fell free to e-mail me.
-Jeff
+--------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Jeff Heinen | "Neccessitas non habet legem." |
| jhe...@mcl.ucsb.edu | -St. Augustine |
| http://www.calpoly.edu/~jheinen| |
|================================+==================================|
| Department of History | Senior Consultant |
| University of California | Microcomputer Lab |
| Santa Barbara | UCSB |
+--------------------------------+----------------------------------+
Jeff Heinen
> Hello Gentlefolk
>
> I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
> to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
> have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
> college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
> you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
My first bit of advice is to avoid a medieval studies major. Rather get a
degree in history with a concentration in medieval history. Most graduate
schools don't hold the medieval studies major in high esteem. The history
degree will get you farther and still allow you to study the things you
want. If you can, try double-majoring in history *and* medieval studies.
The University of California at Santa Barbara offers both majors, and with
the recent aquisition of Prof. Carol Lansing, UCSB offers a top-notch
program.
One other piece of advice - learn languages NOW! If you're son wants to
go to graduate school languages are essential. A graduate degree in
medieval history requires, at minimum, Latin, French, and German, with a
high degree of skill in Latin absolutely crucial. If you do not have
these three languages down pat by the time you apply to grad school, many
schools won't even consider you, and if you do get in, it will take
forever to get your degree because you will have to take crash courses in
languages just so you can begin to do primary source research.
If you or your son have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
Jeff Heinen
Sorry for the double postings. Newsreader glitch.
D. Peters
In article <jheinen-2409...@d-35.home-ip.as.ucsb.edu>,
Jeff Heinen <jhe...@mcl.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>In article <527dgj$4...@ns1.cet.com>, apo...@cet.com (Steve Terry) wrote:
>
>> Hello Gentlefolk
>>
>> I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
>> to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
>> have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
>> college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
>> you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
>
>
>My first bit of advice is to avoid a medieval studies major. Rather get a
>degree in history with a concentration in medieval history. Most graduate
>schools don't hold the medieval studies major in high esteem. The history
>degree will get you farther and still allow you to study the things you
>want. If you can, try double-majoring in history *and* medieval studies.
[some stuff snipped for brevity's sake]
I mostly agree with what you said, especially the part about learning
languages, but I do have one small quibble. Namely, there's more to
medievalism than history! One could just as easily double major in
medieval studies and comparative literature, philosophy, theology, et
multae cetera.
BTW, other good schools for medieval studies are Notre Dame, Cornell, and
Western Michigan....
Hope this helps.
D.Peters
LK
Steve Terry wrote:
>
> Hello Gentlefolk
>
> I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
> to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
> have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
> college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
> you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
>
I am in deep agreement with the other posters' responses in reference to
the learning of languages and choosing a general history major.
As for schooling, there are a few universities that qualify:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Western Michigan, University of Toronto, Notre
Dame, UofConnecticut, and I believe Ohio State has something to offer.
You may consider posting your request in soc.history.medieval
Regards,
Liza
Elaine Ragland
On 24 Sep 1996, Jeff Heinen wrote:
> In article <527dgj$4...@ns1.cet.com>, apo...@cet.com (Steve Terry) wrote:
>
> > Hello Gentlefolk
> >
> > I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
> > to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
> > have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
> > college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
> > you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
>
>
> My first bit of advice is to avoid a medieval studies major. Rather get a
> degree in history with a concentration in medieval history. Most graduate
> schools don't hold the medieval studies major in high esteem. The history
> degree will get you farther and still allow you to study the things you
> want. If you can, try double-majoring in history *and* medieval studies.
> The University of California at Santa Barbara offers both majors, and with
> the recent aquisition of Prof. Carol Lansing, UCSB offers a top-notch
> program.
>
Since I have a BA in Medieval Studies, I couldn't help responding to this.
First of all, no graduate school I've ever applied to has looked down its
nose at the BA in Medieval Studies. I have an M.Div. from Union
Theological Seminary, a year of graduate work at Fordham University, and I
am now a candidate in the Ph.D. program in History at the City University
of New York Graduate Center.
Second of all, you assume that the young man wants to get a graduate
degree in Medieval History. The original poster did not say this. It
only said that he wanted to major in Medieval Studies. Most of my friends
who majored in Medieval Studies went to Law School. It worked very well
for them. It was a basic liberal arts major, with language requirements,
and they already had Latin, so legal terms were very easy for them.
When I applied to seminary, it was a similar situation. The admissions
department said that I wouldn't have any trouble with the Church History
requirement, and that I had already fulfilled the language requirement.
When I started to apply to graduate programs in History, the only question
was how many of my courses from seminary would count towards the Ph.D.
Also, not all Medieval Studies majors are interested in history. At
Barnard, where I attended undergrad, we had a choice of concentrations in
literature, art history, history, music, or philosophy. Most people chose
history or literature. I did know one woman who concentrated in art
history, and then went on to do graduate study in art history at Yale.
As for schools which have a Medieval Studies major. Cornell and UCLA are
the big name schools. SUNY Binghampton used to have a program, but I
believe it was lost to budget cuts last year. City College of New
York has a program, but it is in Harlem, and you may have second thoughts
about sending your son there. My roommate, Lady Sunny of Somerset, went
to Vassar, and majored in Medieval Studies there. She now has her masters
of Library Science from Columbia, so it is a marketable degree. Vassar
has a lovely campus, a sound academic reputation, and an active SCA
chapter (Shire of Frosted Hills). Alas, you can't send your son to my
alma mater, because Barnard is still an all-female college. Do you have
any daughters?
Happy hunting. If you have any more questions about Medieval Studies, or
Medieval History in general, feel free to e-mail me.
Elaine Ragland
aka Melanie de la Tour
Craig Levin
In article <jheinen-2409...@d-35.home-ip.as.ucsb.edu>,
Jeff Heinen <jhe...@mcl.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>In article <527dgj$4...@ns1.cet.com>, apo...@cet.com (Steve Terry) wrote:
>
>> Hello Gentlefolk
>>
>> I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
>> to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
>> have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
>> college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
>> you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
Well, there are plenty of graduate programs out there, but as to
undergrad, I can't think of any outside of the Ivies and William
and Mary. Thanks about the Tulane discovery.
>My first bit of advice is to avoid a medieval studies major. Rather get a
>degree in history with a concentration in medieval history. Most graduate
>schools don't hold the medieval studies major in high esteem. The history
>degree will get you farther and still allow you to study the things you
>want. If you can, try double-majoring in history *and* medieval studies.
>The University of California at Santa Barbara offers both majors, and with
>the recent aquisition of Prof. Carol Lansing, UCSB offers a top-notch
>program.
Or, if his interest is in literature, an English degree or a
French degree wouldn't be amiss. Besides, you can teach a
language while going to school, and Heaven knows it's expensive
at grad school, so having a lucrative job like language teaching
is a nice out.
--
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html
cle...@ripco.com
Craig Levin
Jeff Heinen
> I mostly agree with what you said, especially the part about learning
> languages, but I do have one small quibble. Namely, there's more to
> medievalism than history! One could just as easily double major in
> medieval studies and comparative literature, philosophy, theology, et
> multae cetera.
How to you contextualize medieval art, poetry, music, etc. without a firm
background in the history of the period? History is the framework which
gives everything else meaning. Studying medieval literature, art, music,
etc. wiithout a solid background in history is like practicing medicine
without knowledge of anatomy. You'll note that in my original post I did
say that the ideal was a double major. :)
-Gottfried
lisa
greetings!
another option is attend a college or university which doesn't necessarily have a
medieval studies major, per se, but which allows interdisciplinary majors. i
designed my own major in medieval and renaissance studies that way - one primary
advisor from the history department, one from the english department. and i
worked independently with professors in the religion, classics (for background)
and physics (yes, physics - he had an interest in medieval astronomy, and my
thesis was on dante & medieval astrology) departments, among others.
i wasn't planning a career as a medieval historian, so i honestly don't know
what kind of reception i would have gotten from grad schools (altho my advisors
didn't think i'd have any trouble whatsoever). and it does require that you
have an almost fanatical interest in the subject coupled with an ability
to talk professors into overseeing all sorts of curious independent-study
courses... *grin*
(one quick caveat - i was at a small, private college, the kind where there are
20 students per class rather than 200). i'm not sure how well this kind of thing
would work in an environment where students aren't privileged to have as much
individual interaction with their professors.)
another advantage to a self-directed interdisciplinary major is that it looks
good on a resume. people who take initiative and do something unique are
valuable in almost any field - i certainly didn't end up a webmaster / sysadmin
based on my field of academic study! *grin*
feel free to email me directly if you have particular questions about what i did
& how i did it...
in service,
melys
angharad melys, scholar
windmaster's hill / sacred stone, atlantia
li...@privnet.com
http://www.privnet.com/lisa/
Susan Carroll-Clark
Greetings!
I think the answer to this question depends a lot on how far one wants to
go in one's studies. If, for instance, one plans on going all the way
through the doctorate, I would recommend doing a more general degree at
the undergrad level (English, History, music, or whatever general field
one is interested in), with specialization within that field in medieval
things and a concerted effort to try to learn as many languages as possible
(Latin is a priority, French and German help) while still an undergrad.
Then, when you get to the MA/PhD level, pursuing the Medieval Studies
degree, continuing to specialize in one's main field of interest.
If, however, one is not planning on grad school, or is planning on professional
school, the Medieval Studies degree would probably be a good choice at the
undergrad level as a terminal degree.
Notre Dame, I believe, still has a good program in medieval studies; so
does my university, the University of Toronto, but that does require
registration as an international student. (U of T also has a Celtic Studies
degree).
My own background is a BA in Classics and Ancient History, followed by
the MA in History and the PhD in progress, also in history. I chose history
over medieval studies because I wanted to do minor fields which weren't
medieval. But I've been able to take most of the "important" classes
which a history specialist in medieval studies at U of T would take, including
medieval Latin and palaeography.
Hope this helps!
Nicolaa de Bracton
Susan Carroll-Clark
scl...@chass.utoronto.ca
Ferret
>In article <jheinen-2409...@d-35.home-ip.as.ucsb.edu>,
>>> I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
>>> to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
>>> have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
>>> college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
>>> you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
Penn State has an excellent Medieval Studies program at the undergraduate
level.
Ferret
eril...@win.bright.net
> Steve Terry wrote:
> >
> > Hello Gentlefolk
> >
> > I could not think of a better place to ask this than here. My son wants
> > to major in Medieval Studies in college. We have no idea which schools
> > have the best to offer in Medieval Studies. We only are aware of one
> > college that even has a Medieval Studies degree - Tulane University. If
> > you have recommendations, we would love to hear them. Thank you.
> >
> > Steve
>
I have an M.A. in Germanic Philology myself(University of Minnesota), and
wish I had had the opportunity to add some systematic study of history to
it. But to really get to know the cultures one needs to read some of the
writing in the original languages, in my opinion. Languages are important.
erilar
--
|\ /|\ | |\ |\ |\
| \/ |/ | | |\ |/
| |\ | | | |\
deyr fe', deyra fraendr,
deyr sjalfr et sama;
ek veit einn at aldri deyr:
domr of daud-an hvern.
---Havamal
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Translation of the verse in Old Norse as well as other words of wisdom are among the treasures hidden in Erilar's Cave Annex:
http://www.win.bright.net/~erilarlo
Patricia Hefner
Another good place for this gentle to post this note is soc.history.
medieval. After all, a bunch of those folks are university professors and
graduate students! ---Isabelle
Morgoth
How about a semi-chater school. Sort of a medieval academie..
Universitae or some such..
Fr. Morgoth
If you think I'm scary, you should see me kids (grin).
JkrissW
In article <Pine.SUN.3.93.960930...@dwarf.nome.net>,
Morgoth <mor...@nome.net> writes:
>How about a semi-chater school. Sort of a medieval academie..
>Universitae or some such..
>
>Fr. Morgoth
A school with an emphasis on conversation?
Daveed of Granada, AoA, CHA
From the Barony of Lyondemere in fair Caid
mka J. Kriss White in smoggy L.A.
jkr...@aol.com
Sharon Krossa
[My apologies for the volume and belatedness of these postings -- but I
have only just got my posting ability back after some technical
difficulties, and my posts have been piling up since I finished the thesis
;-)]
In article <52h20n$f...@chass.utoronto.ca>,
scl...@chass.utoronto.ca (Susan Carroll-Clark) wrote:
I'd say Nicolaa has this backwards, personally (YMMV, of course ;-).
Consider that as you advance each level of school, you increasingly
specialize. Therefore, it makes more sense (intellecutally, at least) to do
the broad in discipline (dare I say it, inter-disciplinary, even) course at
the undergraduate level, and then, at the graduate level, when you have to
specialize anyway, to choose one discipline to concentrate on. The
undergraduate medieval studies major allows you to get a broad background
in many aspects of the medieval period, which should also better prepare
you to decide what you want to concentrate on in graduate school. Perhaps
it will turn out your great love is medieval literature -- how will you
discover you want to specialize in that if you have already specialized in
history at the undergraduate level?
Again, personally, I can see very little point in majoring in history (or
any other discipline) as an undergraduate, and having to study a good 500
years of history that fall after one's period of interest, and which have
no impact on one's period of interest, if you already know that what you're
interested in is the medieval period -- especially if you're interested in
medieval language, art, music, philosophy, religion, etc., as well as
history. It makes even less sense, to me, to purposely study only history
(a great deal of it irrelevant) at the undergraduate level, and then try to
follow graduate level non-history courses in a medieval studies graduate
program.
Also, if, as some report, graduate schools look askance at medieval studies
majors applying to their graduate programs, wouldn't universities looking
to hire new lecturers/professors look even more askance at those who did
medieval studies for their M.A./Ph.D.? Anyway, if you have a good first
degree, especially from a good liberal arts college, any graduate program
worth its salt isn't going to quibble over your choice of major. Nicolaa
herself, after all, did classics and ancient history before moving on to
graduate school in history ;-) How is that significantly different from a
medieval studies major, except in period?
Effric neyn Kenyeoch vic Ralte
mka Sharon Krossa, skr...@svpal.org
B.A. 1987 (Mount Holyoke College, Medieval Studies & Physics)
Ph.D. expected 1996 (University of Aberdeen, History)