Known for its excellence in diverse fields of medieval research, Fordham University offers the master of arts degree in medieval studies and a doctoral-level medieval concentration. Fordham's intimate size and tradition of devotion to teaching offers students an intellectual climate in which faculty members, well-known and active in the scholarly community, encourage and support students in their academic pursuits. The University offers graduate assistantships and fellowships to a limited number of students.

The program is administered through its Director and through the Center for Medieval Studies, located at the Rose Hill campus. The Center houses a small library and discussion area available to students. The main University library is especially strong in its medieval holdings. Fordham's location in New York City affords easy access to other major libraries (such as the Pierpont Morgan and the New York Public Library), museums (for example, The Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and other institutions of higher learning. A University-operated campus shuttle makes regular trips between the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses throughout the day and evening.

The Center supports the exchange of views and information through its annual conferences and speakers series. Fordham faculty are also invited to address colleagues and students informally, and graduate students have also presented lectures.

Selected Areas in Medieval Studies

• Medieval English, Latin, German and Romance Languages
• Medieval Ecclesiastical and Intellectual History
• Medieval Mysticism
• Patristic Studies
• Medieval Art History
• Medieval Scholarly Editing, Manuscript Studies and Paleography
• Women in Medieval History, Art, and Literature
• Spanish, Italian, French, and English Medieval History
• Monasticism and Scholasticism

The Master of Arts Degree in Medieval Studies

The master's degree appeals to those interested in a broader spectrum of medieval subjects than is available within a specific discipline. Its 30-credit requirement allows the serious student to complete course work in one year of full-time study.

Requirements for admission to the MA program are those of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: a bachelor's degree from an accredited American or foreign university; the Graduate Record Examination (General Aptitude Test); and, for foreign students, an English proficiency examination such as TOEFL.

The curriculum for the master of arts degree comprises courses designed especially for the program, as well as a wide variety of offerings in the graduate wings of participating departments. The special program courses are typically interdisciplinary, bringing together two or more subjects or approaches in order to present to students the integrated approach of medieval studies. Students are required to take two of these courses (those with a MVST prefix), one medieval history course, and two courses in each of two additional disciplines or thematic fields (such as art and music history, Latin and Romance literatures, English literature, history, manuscript studies, philosophy, theology, and women and gender). Two medieval courses can be taken as electives. Latin and a second foreign language are strongly recommended. Upon completion of course work, master's candidates may choose to take a comprehensive examination or write a thesis. Those electing to pass the examination must have given evidence in a graduate-level course of their ability to write a developed paper.

Recent Masters' Theses in Medieval Studies

"On Surryens to taken heigh vengeance": Geography, History, and Fourteenth-Century Crusading Ideals in Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale
By Micheal Laney (2012)
Mentor: Suzanne Yeager
Reader: Nicholas Paul

Pierpont Morgan Library MS B.21: A New Edition of English Metric Herbal Verse 2627 Of herbs twenty-three
By Jamie Sanford (2012)
Mentor: Erick Kelemen
Reader: Susanne Hafner

Marvelous Machines inCourt: Conceiving Automata and Constructing Identity in the Courts of the Burgundian Dukes
By Scott Miller (2012)
Mentor: Nina Rowe
Reader: Nicholas Paul

"To carry forth such a carl at close him in silver:" Monstrous Saints and Heroes in the Alliterative Morte Arthure
By Uta Ayala (2012)
Mentor: Mary Erler
Reader: Suzanne Yeager

A Troubadour As Historian: Philip of Novara and the Reframing of the Pullani in the Thriteenth Century Romance World
By Christopher Rose (2012)
Mentor: Nicholas Paul
Reader: Thomas O'Donnell

"Contre Nature": The Rhetorical Uses of Queerness in the Works of Christine de Pizan
By Allen Strouse (2012)
Mentor: Susan Dudash
Reader: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne

Producing and Perceiving Piety: The Senses and Performance in Clemence of Barking's The Life of Saint Catherine and Related Texts
By Sarah Townsend (2012)
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Thomas O'Donnell

"To do the to be wyten as well in Englande": Robert Wyer and the Anglicization of Christine de Pizan's Epistle of Othea
By Caitlin Barr (2012)
Mentor: Erick Kelemen
Reader: Susan Dudash

"Sey this": Unpublished Latin Charms in Plimpton Add. MS 02
By Marjorie Harrington (2011)
Mentor: Susanne Hafner
Reader: Patrick Hornbeck

Lay and Ecclesiastical Powers and the Literature of the Court of Matilda, Countess of Tuscany: John of Mantua's Commentary on the Song of Songs
By William Little (2011)
Mentor: Nicholas Paul
Reader: Richard Gyug

The Economy of Devotion: The Parish of Tilney, All Saints, Norfolk
By Alexandra Christine Plante (2011)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Mary Erler

Epistolae duorum amantium: A Reconsideration of the Purpose of Writing
By Hannah Behrens (2011)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Wolfgang Mueller

Paul Albar’s Apocalyptic Theology in the Indiculus Luminosus
By Margaret Gurewitz (2010)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: George Demacopoulos

Ambiguous Locations: Displacement, Multilocationality and Eschatology in Victricius’ De laude sanctorum
By Nicholas Laccetti (2010)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Franklin Harkins

In Chase of Virtue: Morgan Library M.1044 and the Redemption of Aristocratic Hunting
By Kathryn Treadway (2010)
Mentor: Susanne Hafner
Reader: Nina Rowe

Dispute Processing in Béroul's Tristran and Yseut
By Paul Poppleton (2010)
Mentor: Wolfgang Mueller
Reader: Richard Gyug

Further Thoughts on a Roll Manuscript of the Fifteen Oes of St. Bridget: A Critical Treatment of Plimpton Addition MS 04
By Peter Matthew-Sorensen Slonina, I (2009)
Mentor: Susanne Hafner
Reader: Richard Gyug

London Arms and Armor-Makers in the Fourteenth Century: A Portrait of a Medieval Industrial Sector
By Richard P. Hresko (2009)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Nicholas Paul

Corruption as a Social, Political, and Religious Concept in the Later Roman Legal Codes
By Kevin Mallon (2009)
Mentor: Nicholas Paul
Reader: Richard Gyug

This Hero Has Been Edited for Content: Alterations to the Agency of the Anglo-Saxon Judas
By Adele Metrakos-Ramadanis (2009)
Mentor: Martin Chase, S.J.
Reader: Suzanne Yeager

The Importation of Books into London, 1450-1540
By Yvonne Rode (2009)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Mary C. Erler

Wealth and Status in Pre-Plague London: A Prosopography of the 1319 Lay Subsidy Taxpayers
By Anna M. Moscatiello (2009)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Nicholas Paul

Perspectives on Revenancy in the Twelfth Century: Tales of the Living Dead in William of Newburgh's Historia Rerum Anglicarium and Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium
By Christine James (2008)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Nicholas Paul

The Virtue of Good Taste: A Translation of Antonio Roselli's De Ornatu Mulierum with Historical and Historiographical Commentary
By M. Christina Bruno (2008)
Mentor: Wolfgang Mueller
Reader: Richard Gyug

Christian Chic and Roman Refinement: The Fourth Century Romano-British Villa Mosaics at Hinton St. Mary
By Lauren Teresa (2008)
Mentor: Kim Bowes
Reader: Maryanne Kowaleski

"Because it contains nothing but the truth": Issues of Truth and Authenticity in The Travels of Marco Polo and The Travels of John Mandeville
By Rachel Liptak (2007)
Mentor: Suzanne Yeager
Reader: Richard Gyug

A Call for Paving: Pavage Grants and the Development of Street Paving in Medieval England
By Edward Harvey (2007)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Richard Gyug

The Good, the Bad and the Oral: A Re-reading of the Glosses of Caedmon's Hymn
By James Manning (2007)
Mentor: Martin Chase, S.J.
Reader: Mary Ramsey

Entering a Community of Consumption: Christian Identity and the Perception of “Jewishness” in the Cloisters Crucifixion Group Altarpiece
By Sarah Celentano (2007)
Mentor: Nina Rowe
Reader: Richard Gyug

An Apology for the Plimpton MS 284, Fragments of the Roman de la Rose
By Julie Fifelski (2007)
Mentor: Nina Rowe
Reader: Richard Gyug

"That They May Return to Their Former Works.”  Reform of the Catholic Church Through the Renewal of Traditional Catholic Practices According to Blessed Pierre Favre, S.J. (1506-1546)
By J. Patrick Hough, S.J. (2006)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Mark Lewis, S.J.

Bishops Kings and Kin: Canon Law in Gregory of Tours’ History
By Jessie Spressart (2006)
Mentor: Wolfgang Mueller
Reader: Richard Gyug

Aquinas and Bonaventure: Two Medieval Theories of Divine Simplicity
By John Peter Spear (2006)
Mentor: Christopher Cullen, S.J.
Reader: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

The Unity of Augustine’s Search for True Happiness in The Confessions
By Kevin Lynam (2006)
Mentor: Christopher Cullen, S.J.
Reader: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

Bastards or Princes?  Hidden Illegitimacy in the Portraits of Anthony of Burgundy and Francisco d’Este
By Carolyn Salter (2006)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Libby Parker

The Reputation of Joanna I of Naples
By Ann Aisha Qureshi (2006)
Mentor: Daniel Smail
Reader: Richard Gyug

The Tangibility of Talk: Witness Testimony in the Canonization Proceeding of Peter of Luxembourg
By Kristin Uscinski (2006)
Mentor: Daniel Smail
Reader: Richard Gyug

Bringing Home the Passion of Christ: Eleventh-Century French Copies of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
By Kristin Canzano (2005)
Mentor: Kim Bowes
Reader: Nina Rowe

The Early Christian Sarcophagus: Christian Storytelling on a Pagan Stage
By Heather Burns (2005)
Mentor: Kim Bowes
Reader: Nina Rowe

Reading a Saint: The Case of St. Juliana of the Katherine Group
By Dawn Ritchotte (2005)
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Katherine Little

The Word Incarnate and the Textual Authority of Women
By Morgan Franck (2005)
Mentor: Mary Erler
Reader: Marilyn Oliva

The Late Medieval German Pieta in Context
By Mary Halbach (2004)
Mentor: Elizabeth Parker
Reader: Nina Rowe

Sudden and Un-Glorified: Late Medieval Manuscript Evidence of the Obsession with Death
By Jordan Rosana (2004)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Wolfgang Mueller

Prelate, Lady, Jew: Two Letters Connecting Three Groups in Thirteenth-Century England
By Andrea Allison Lankin (2003)
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Joseph Pearson

John of Gaunt's Urban Affinity in Fourteenth-Century Norfolk
By Louisa P. Wilson
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Marilyn Oliva

History and Romance in Paris, Biblioteque Nationale, f. fr. 1450
By Denise Lynn Griggs
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Thelma Fenster

Sex, Status, and Society: Gendered Morality in the Fifteenth-Century Diocese of Salisbury
By Katharine Brown (2003)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Marilyn Oliva

The Crib of Their Lord: Beguines, Mendicants, and Devotion in Fifteenth-Century Flanders
By Maureen E. Horgan (2002)
Mentor: Elizabeth Parker
Reader: Martin Chase, S.J.

Peace, War, and Murder: Pre- to Post-Conquest Literary Women and Violence
By Kimberly Benard (2002)
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Martin Chase, S.J.

The Influence of and Legacy of the Spiritual Martyrdom of St. Columba of Iona
By Jennifer Scully (2002)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

Foundress, Lover and Widow: Representations of Dido from Antiquity through the Middle Ages
By Abigail J. Weinberg (2002)
Mentor: Thelma Fenster
Reader: John R. Clark

Saints and the Social Order: An Examination of Alexander Barclay's 'Life of St. George'
By Melissa Gallup (2001)
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Reader: Mary Erler

Emendations and Analyses of Oresme, Thabit, and Sacrobosco in Beinecke MS. 335
By Kristina Bohl (2001)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: Dominic Balestra

Pierpont Morgan Library MS M4 and Magdalene College, Cambridge MS Pepys 2011: The Scribe in Fifteenth-Century Vernacular Manuscript Production
By Joanne Filippone (2001)
Mentor: Mary Erler
Reader: Elizabeth Parker

Reflections of Architecture and Religion in the Late Fourteenth Century Poem Patience
By Theresa O. Fleming (2001)
Mentor: Mary Erler
Reader: Maryanne Kowaleski

Love Bound by Doctrine: Andreas Capellanus and the Codification of Romance
By Annika Farber (2001)
Mentor: John Clark
Reader: Thelma Fenster

Reflections of Cultural Attitudes in Didactic Techniques: The Stratification of Glosses in Beinecke MS. 332
By Janine Larmon Peterson (2001)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: M. Michele Mulchahy

Heaven, Earth, and the Terra Sancti Benedicti: Miracles in the Dialogi de Miraculis Sancti Benedicti by Desiderius of Montecassino
By Julian Hendrix (2001)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Wolfgang Mueller

Labourers Asserting Themselves: Labour Mobility in Post-Black Death Lincolnshire
By Daniel Bornstein (2000)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Daniel Smail

Conversio Militum: Knightly Piety in the Life and Letters of St. Bernard
By Jason Teves (2000)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Anne Mannion

Pierpont Morgan Library MS. 487: A Multi-Generational Family Book of Hours
By Christine Clark (2000)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: Elizabeth Clarke

A Liturgical Crib and Women's Spirituality in Fifteenth-Century Louvain
By Kimberly Samuels (2000)
Mentor: Elizabeth Parker
Reader: Maryanne Kowaleski

Jousts of War: Chivalric Ritual on the Battlefield
By Rebecca Slitt (2000)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Dan Smail

Language Studies in the Curricular Reform of Roger Bacon
By George Pehrson (1999)
Mentor: Louis Pascoe, S.J.
Reader: Richard Gyug

Wonders of the East: A Translation of Cotton Vitellius A.xv Text with Commentary
By Damian Fleming (1999)
Mentor: John Kezel
Reader: Martin Chase, S.J.

Tradition and Innovation: Language and Procedure in the Disputing Activity of Bernard of Clairvaux
By Michael Morbach (1999)
Mentor: Daniel Smail
Reader: John Clark

The Audiences of Middle English Romances
By Katrin Sjursen (1999)
Mentor: Richard Horvath
Reader: Thelma Fenster

Context and Anthology: The MS Banco Rari 217 and Thirteenth-Century Italian Lyric
By Rob Vosburgh (1999)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: Attilo Motta

New York Public Library De Ricci ms. 60: The Production, Provenance and Use of a Late Medieval Book of Hours
By Heather A. Wightman (1999)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: Elizabeth Clarke

The Tomb of Ansurez: Its Cluniac Iconography Reconsidered
By Michael S. Carlin (1998)
Mentor: Joel Herschman
Reader: Elizabeth Parker

Ramwold's Reform: The Customary of St. Emmeram and the Gorze Movement
By Steven A. Schoenig (1998)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Louis B. Pascoe

Morgan M. 538 and the Use of the Vernacular in a 16th-Century Book of Hours
By Katherine Yeska (1998)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: John Clark

A Gendered Reading of the Medieval Romance: The Masculine Identity in Chretien, Malory, and Gawaine
By Ilan Mitchell-Smith (1998)
Mentor: Richard Horvath
Reader: Jennifer Goodman

Punctuation Systems in the Codex Egberti
By Andrew Barron Holmgren (1997)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: John Clark

Chaos and Order in Landulph Senior's Historiae Mediolanensis
By Suzanne Gillespie (1997)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: Daniel Smail

The Manuscript Culture of Bodley 130
By Sarah Hull (1997)
Mentor: H. Wayne Storey
Reader: John Clark

Categories of Description in the Liber Sancti Jacobi
By Suzanne J. Clune (1997)
Mentor: Daniel Smail
Reader: H. Wayne Storey

The St. Martial Trope Repertory: Sources in Historical Context
By Laura Morreale (1996)
Mentor: Richard Gyug
Reader: H. Wayne Storey

The Tin Industry of Early Fourteenth-Century Cornwall: Miners, Merchants, and Entrepreneurs
By Brian Klinzing (1996)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: Danial Smail

The Dyestuffs Trade of Fifteenth-Century Southampton
By Claire E. Suplee (1995)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski
Reader: John Clark

Stavelot Triptych: A Medieval Art Object in its Liturgical and Spiritual Contexts
By Lawrence P. Milliken (1995)
Mentor: Elizabeth Clarke
Reader: Ewert Cousins

Margery Kempe's Familial Suffering: Earthly and Spiritual
By Claudine Gandolfi (1995)
Mentor: Mary C. Erler
Reader: John Clark

Empress Matilda: A Case Study in Female Rulership in the Twelfth Century
By Laura L. Gathagan (1994)
Mentor: Vincent J. Gorman
Reader: H. Wayne Storey

Gender, Marriage and Ale Brewing in Small Town and Village Communities in the East Midlands 1287-1312
By Kevin Larkin (1994)
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

The Ethic of Intention of Abelard's Ethica and Its Influence on Concepts of Pure Love in his Romance with Heloise
By Dave Burokas (1994)
Mentor: Deal Hudson

St. Augustine and the Angels
By Louis DiGiorno (1994)
Mentor: Deal Hudon

O Flore Aulorita: A Study of the Narrative Sequence of the Last Days of the Virgin in Duccio's Maesta
By Pamela Shoemaker (1993)
Mentor: Joel Herschman
Reader: Ewert Cousins

Grosseteste and the Grisaille of Lincoln Cathedral
By Holly Hager-Gilbert (1993)
Mentor: Ewert Cousins

Following in the Footsteps of Christ: Humility and Grace in Dante and Giotto
By Susan Harper (1993)
Mentor: Ewert Cousins

Western Art and the Icon: Abstraction, Naturalism, and Symbolism
By Malgorzata Urbanek (1992)
Mentor: Ewert Cousins

Last modified: January 2013
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