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.

Recent PhD Dissertations on Medieval Topics

The Immateriality of the Intellect in Thomas Aquinas’ Philosophical Psychology
By Adam N. Wood (2012)
PhD Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Gyula Klima

 Seizing Liberties: Private Rights, Public Good and Right of Marque in Medieval Marseille
By Christopher Beck (2012)
PhD. Dissertation – History
Mentors:  Maryanne Kowaleski and Daniel Smail

 Between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages: The Struggle for Ravenna in the Eighth Century
By Nicole Lopez-Jantzen (2012)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

 The Mystical Daydream: Fictive Being and the Motive of Evil
by Krik Kanzelberger (2011)
Ph.D.Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor :Joseph Koterski,S.J.

A Commentary on Ibycus of Rhegium
by Raymond Lewis Capra (2011)
PhD. Dissertation – Classics
Mentor: David Sider and Robert Penella.

 Between Beguines and Burghers: Civic Authority and the Changing Fortunes of Beguines in German Towns
By Heidi Febert (2012)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Wolfgang Mueller

 'De novo modo': The Birth of Fashion in the Middle Ages
By Laurel A. Wilson (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

 Penitential Reform and Canon Law in Piers Plowman B and C Texts
By Arvind Thomas (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - English
Mentor: Eve Keller

 The Mystical Daydream: Fictive Being and the Motive of Evil
By Kirk G. Kanzelberger (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, SJ

 'Carving Nature at its Joints': The Platonic Method of Division in Plato, Aristotle, and their Neoplatonic Commentators
By Gary Gabor (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Dana Miller

 Creating the Medieval Reader: Old Media, New Media, and Textual Interactivity, 1380-1500
By Heather Blatt (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - English
Mentor: Mary Erler

 Virtuous Vengeance: Anti-Judaism and Christian Piety in Medieval England
By Maija Birenbaum (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - English
Mentor: Mary Erler

 Mothers of Exile: Gender and Identity in Medieval Narratives of Foundation
By Rebecca June (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - English
Mentor: Katherine Little

 Justice, Jurisdiction, and Choice: The Fifteenth-Century Church Court of Carpentras
By Elizabeth Hardman (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Daniel Smail

A Matter of Time: Church, Civic Administration, and the Idea of the Hour in Medieval France
By Kenneth Mondschein (2010)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

 Politics and Emotion in Thirteenth-Century Iberia
By Jennifer M. Speed (2009)
Ph.D. Dissertation – History
Mentor: Daniel Smail

 Philipp Melanchthon and the Cappadocians: The Reception of Greek Patristic Soures in the Sixteenth Century
By H. Ashley Hall (2009)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

 Intellectus and Induction: Three Aristotelian Commentators on the cognition of first Principles, Including an Original Translation of John Buridan's Quaestiones in Duos Aristotilis Libros Posteriorum Analyticorum
By Ariane E. Economos (2009)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Gyula Klima

 Spaces and Practices of Religious Reclusion in Medieval Studies
By Allison Diane Clark (2009)
Ph.D. Dissertation – History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

 A Reappraisal of the Christology of St. Justin Martyr
By Carl F. Baechle (2009)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

 A Philological and Theological Analysis of the Ancient Latin Translations of the Vita Antonii
By Lois Gandt (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

 Aristocratic Male Friendship in the Anglo-Norman World
By Rebecca Slitt (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

 The Foundation of Universal and Necessary Propositions in Select Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
By James Stone (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

 Aquinas, God, and Ontotheology
By Joseph G. Trabbic (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

 A Philological and Theological Analysis of the Ancient Latin Translations of the Vita Antonii
By Lois Gandt (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

 The Foundation of Universal and Necessary Propositions in Select Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
By James Stone (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

 Aquinas, God, and Ontotheology
By Joseph G. Trabbic (2008)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

Damsels in Distress or Partners in Crime? The Abduction of Women in Medieval England
By Caroline Dunn (2007)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

Alexander Neckman's Encyclopedias: Work at a Juncture-Point in Medieval Intellectual and Social History
By Tomas Zahora (2007)
Ph.D. Dissertation – History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

Prosper of Aquitaine:  A Study of His Life and Works
By Alexander Hwang (2006)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

Prime Matter According to St. Thomas Aquinas
By Matthew Kent (2006)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

The Use of Maximus the Confessor's Writing on the Filoque at the Council of Ferrara-Florence
By A. Edward Siecienski (2006)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Theology
Mentor: Joseph Lienhard, S.J.

St. Thomas Aquinas's Confrontation with Neoplatonic Thought in Three Commentaries and in the Treatise on Separate Substances
By John Stefancyk (2006)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

Social Resources and Institutional Change in the Dominican Province of Aragon
By Michael Vargas (2006)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

Of Ministers and Mistresses: Henry Bradshaw's Abbesses and the Hagiography of the Household
By Christina Carlson (2005)
Ph.D. Dissertation - English
Mentor: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne

 Libido Dominandi: Augustine’s Geneaology of a Fallen World
By Brian Harding (2005)
Ph.D. Dissertation – Philosophy

Chronicle and Community in Northern Italy, 1270-1360
by Laura Morreale (2004)
PhD. Dissertation – History
Mentor: Daniel Smail

Monarchy and Military Practice During the Reign of Alfonso XI (1312-1350)
By Nicolas Agrait (2003)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Joseph O'Callaghan

Urban Lordship in England: Lay Seigneurs in the West Midlands and Welsh March, 1066 - 1348
By Steven Spishak (2003)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

St. Elizabeth of Hungary and the Franciscan Tradition
By Lori Pieper (2002)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

Aquinas and the Free Will Defense
By W. Grant (2002)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Brian Davies

Aquinas on Human Survival After Death
By Silas Langley (2002)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Brian Davies, O.P.

Hospitality, Conviviality, and the English Gentry: Social Networks of the Landed Elite in Late Medieval Suffolk
By Elizabeth Kunz (2001)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

The Power of Liturgy and the Liturgies of Power in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
By Louis I. Hamilton (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

Social Commentary in the Works of Theodulf of Orleans: A Study of Carolingian Humanism
By June-Ann T. Greeley (2001)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Classics
Mentor: John Clark

The Fontalis Plenitudo in Bonaventure as a Symbol for His Metaphysics
By Janet Kvamme (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Theology
Mentor: Ewert Cousins

Lyrical Dialectic as Historiographical Discourse in the Italian Dialogues of Giordano Bruni
By Gilmar Visoni (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentors: W. David Myers; H. Wayne Storey

The Heart of Christ at Helfta
By Paul Zarowny (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - Theology
Mentor: Ewert Cousins

Transformation in the Thoughts of Martin Luther
By Peter Breitsch (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Louis Pascoe, S.J.

Sanctifying the World: Ritual Blessing and Lay Piety in Medieval Religion and Culture
By Derek Rivard (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Richard Gyug

A Medieval Maritime Community in England: The Ancient Town of Winchelsea and the Cinque Ports
By David Sylvester (2000)
Ph.D. Dissertation - History
Mentor: Maryanne Kowaleski

The Doctrine of Transcendentals in Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart
By Robert Dobie (2000)
Ph. D. Dissertation - Philosophy
Mentor: Joseph Koterski, S.J.

Last modified: January 2013
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