Major and Minor

Goals:

1. Students will engage the fundamental building blocks of civilization and cultural development found in the study of things medieval, such as studying and examining the roles of so-called “barbarians” as the Vikings and the Mongols, the continuation of Mediterranean trade, banking, and production after Rome’s collapse, the Silk Road, China’s breakthroughs in practical technology and money economy, the transmission of Hindu numbers and mathematics to the Islamic and Christian worlds, the medieval European university and its non-European equivalents, and the questioning gender relations first constructed and contested in “courtly love” from Japan to France
2. Students will learn the practice of interdisciplinary approaches and how the nature of the evidence for Global Medieval Studies necessitates genuine interdisciplinarity, not just the accretion of separate disciplines
3. Students will deepen their understanding of the roots and branches of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism in all their diversity, mutual influences, conflicts, and coexistence.

Outcomes:

1. As culturally literate global citizens, students engage with the living influence of the Middle Ages in modern cultures through such institutions as the state, gender roles, law, banking, vernacular literatures, and the university itself. Students can serve a world beyond themselves equipped with a deepened awareness of how much of the medieval survives in current institutions and why it matters.
2. From their academic specialization, students can develop the ability to observe, describe, analyze, and interpret medieval art, artifacts, documents, and literatures both as individual fields of study and as interrelated evidence of past thought, aesthetics, production, and attitudes.
3. Students can deepen their abilities to understand, question, and appreciate societies removed in space and time from the students’ own cultures: the alterity of the Middle Ages equips us to better understand the long history of modern issues of tolerance and difference.

Global Medieval Studies majors may choose either:

Global Medieval Studies Major (B.A.)

Majors are required to complete ten (10) courses, or a minimum of 30 credit hours, which are designated as MVST courses or X-listed with MVST.   Up to 2 language courses can also be given MVST credit upon approval by the Program Director.   Of the 10 courses, at least 2 must focus on a geographical area outside of Europe and an additional 2 courses must focus on a geographical area within Europe.

Honors

To earn the Honors major degree, majors are required to complete eleven (11) courses, totaling a minimum of 33 credit hours, designated as MVST or X-listed with MVST and with the same geographical distribution requirements as above.  Up to 2 language courses can also be given MVST credit upon approval by the Program Director.  The 11 courses for the major must include a 2-course sequence taken in senior year, MVST 348 and MVST 349, Advanced Research in Global Medieval Studies. These courses culminate in a 40-60 page senior thesis, which must receive a grade of A- or higher in order for the student to receive the Honors designation.

All majors are encouraged to study languages relevant to medieval scholarship. If approved by the Program Director, up to 2 relevant language courses (beyond those counted for the College’s Core Requirements) can be counted towards the major course requirements. Relevant languages include those used in the medieval period or languages in which modern scholarship on the medieval world is conducted.

Students interested in declaring the major should consult with the Program Director during their first or second year.

Writing in the Global Medieval Studies Program

The Global Medieval Studies Program at Georgetown University has always put a special emphasis on writing as an integral part of the critical exploration of society and culture, present as well as past. All of our courses are offered by participating regular university departments and, except for some advanced language study, include writing assignments in accord with the standards of the fields and across the geographic spectrum:  art history, cultural studies, history, literature, philosophy, theology. Further, the program’s commitment to developing our students’ writing skills is most evident in the two-semester senior seminar/thesis seminar. 

A minor in Global Medieval Studies is available to students in the College, McDonough School of Business, and School of Foreign Service.

Students are required to take six courses from the list of MVST courses and cross-listed courses that appears in the Schedule of Classes and the program’s website every semester. Of the six courses, at least one must focus on Europe and at least one must focus on a geographical area outside of Europe. At least one of the six courses must be an upper-level course. Students should consult with the director of Medieval Studies about their course of study. 

Please note that a single course cannot count towards both a major and a minor. For example, if you are taking a course for a Classics major, it cannot also count towards a Global Medieval Studies minor.

To apply for the Major or the Minor, please complete the following three steps:

1. If you would like to minor, fill out the minor application form (new window) and send it to medievalstudies@georgetown.edu.

2. If you would like to major, notify your academic dean and reach out to the Global Medieval Studies director at medievalstudies@georgetown.edu.

3. Complete and submit the academic program changes form (new window).

Feel free to contact us with any questions about the minor or major by emailing us at medievalstudies@georgetown.edu!