Medieval Studies Graduate Courses

The wide variety of research interests among the faculty participating in the Center for Medieval Studies results in an array of courses available to graduate students in the program. Find out more about current course offerings below as well as upcoming and past courses from the links on the left.

Notice: The Modern Languages and Literatures Department administers Foreign Language Proficiency Assessments for enrolled, degree-seeking graduate students who have a foreign language proficiency requirement as part of their degree program. The assessments are offered as an alternative to coursework (5090 and 5001-5002 reading courses) for those students who have reading proficiency in a language but may not have a documented means of showing it.

Assessments are offered in French, German, Italian and Spanish (they may also be offered in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Russian, depending on availability). Assessments are offered twice each semester and once in the summer. Please contact Ms. Maria Totino at [email protected] or 718-817-2651 for further information.

Spring 2024 | Upcoming Courses | Past Courses

MVST 5400 R01 (4) Courtly Culture | Hafner, Paul
W 2:30 - 5:00 | CRN 49655
Courts, as spaces of political power, intellectual activity, and social influence, have long been a focus of both scholarly inquiry and the popular presentation of the medieval world. Courts across medieval Afro-Eurasia shared literary traditions and cultural forms, exchanging and adapting songs, stories, objects, fashions, and ideas. This course will address some of the central themes of scholarly inquiry into courtly culture including the phenomenon of courtly love, debates about the “civilizing process” of courtly manners, and the evolution and diffusion of courtly themes and literary forms. The course will also evaluate the potential for the study of courtly culture to reshape the field of medieval studies and the wider understanding of the Middle Ages as interconnected, diverse, and truly global. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

HIST 5203 R01 (4) Medieval Hagiography | Bruce
F 2:30 - 5:00 | CRN 49634
This research seminar introduces students to the challenges and pitfalls of using saints' lives and other hagiographical writings (miracula, furta sacra, etc.) as sources for medieval history. It aims to familiarize students with competing historical approaches to these genres and to provide a practical guide to the scholarly resources necessary to exploit them as historical sources. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

HIST 8024 R01 (4) Seminar: Making Money in the Middle Ages | Comuzzi
T 2:30 - 5:00 | CRN 49637
This is the second half of a two-semester proseminar/seminar course, and is a continuation of HIST 7024. Students will primarily work on their individual original (article or M.A.-thesis length) research projects. Class time will primarily be devoted to discussing and overcoming research problems, and workshopping early findings. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

EN 5135 R01 (3) Paleography | O’Donnell
R 2:30 - 5:00 | CRN 49683
This course offers an in-depth introduction to the history of handwriting and book production (“paleography” and “codicology”) in western and central Europe during the years 400 to 1500—a critical period for the creation of the book as we know it. Students will receive training in the handling and interpretation of rare materials from across the whole medieval period and will have the option to complete a manuscript description as their final project. Students will learn how to read and transcribe ancient and medieval writing (a set of skills that will transfer to later periods of handwriting); how to determine the place and date of production of a book based on its script, material, or decoration; and how to interpret the manuscript book as a primary source for the study of society, politics, and culture. Trips to special collections and visits from period experts are a feature of the course. No prior knowledge of Latin or another medieval language is required or assumed, and specialists of any historical period are welcome.

PHIL 5010 R01 (3) Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas | Davies
W 6:00 - 8:00 | CRN 47796
This course will be a general introduction to Aquinas's philosophical thinking.We shall pay special attention to his philosophy of God. We shall also turn to what he says about questions such as the scope of human knowledge, the nature of the human being, and the nature and significance of human action. As well as being expository, the course will consider the cogency of Aquinas's position on various topics. It will also try to relate what Aquinas says to what other philosophers, especially modern philosophers, have had to say. The course will not presuppose any previous detailed knowledge of Aquinas on the part of students.

THEO 6367 R01 (3) Byzantine Christianity: History and Theology | Demacopoulos
T 4:00 - 6:00 | CRN 49793
The graduate-level survey course introduces students to the theological ideas and historical transitions that captivated the minds of Eastern Christians from the 8th to the 15th centuries. Through a careful reading of primary sources (in English translation) and the scholarly debates about those sources, we will explore the Iconoclastic controversies, the expansion of Christianity to the Slavs, the experience of Christians living under Islamic authority, and a host of issues related to rupture between Eastern and Western Christianity. In most circumstances, successful completion of this course authorizes doctoral students in Theology to teach the undergraduate cognate course.