Medieval/Renaissance Studies Major

Goals for the Medieval/Renaissance Studies Major

The Medieval/Renaissance major seeks to develop the following areas of knowledge and skills:

Students must take at least nine units of course work from the following list. Of these, at least four must be above the 100 level in an area of concentration, a single department, a geographi­cal location, a topic or theme.

A major in Medieval/Renaissance Studies will normally select her major advisor from the department or area in which she is concentrating. Two units of course work must be at the 300 level, and under normal circumstances, both of these courses must be taken at Wellesley College. Normally, credit/noncredit courses do not count for the major.

Honors in Medieval/Renaissance Studies

The only route to honors in the major is writing a thesis and passing an oral examination. To be admitted to the thesis program, a student must have a grade point average of at least 3.5 in all work in the major field above the 100-level; the department may petition on her behalf if her GPA in the major is between 3.0 and 3.5. See Academic Distinctions.

Graduate Study and Careers in Medieval/Renaissance Studies

Majors who are contemplating postgraduate academic or professional careers in this or related fields should consult faculty advisors to plan a sequence of courses that will provide them with a sound background in the language and critical techniques essential to further work in their chosen fields. We make every effort to accommodate individual interests and needs through independent study projects (350s and senior theses) carried out under the supervision of one or more faculty members and designed to supplement, or substitute for, advanced seminar-level work.

Advanced Placement Policy in Medieval/Renaissance Studies

The Medieval/Renaissance Studies program does not accept Advanced Placement credits to replace course work in the major.

Transfer Credit in Medieval/Renaissance Studies

Under normal circumstances, no more than two courses taken outside of Wellesley College may be counted toward the major, and neither of these can be the required 300-level course for the major. 

International Study in Medieval/Renaissance Studies

There are numerous opportunities for international study for those who wish to broaden their experience and supplement their research skills through direct contact with European and Mediterranean culture. Under normal circumstance, up to two courses in accredited programs abroad may be counted toward the major. Up to three courses in accredited programs abroad may be counted toward the major.

Collegium Musicum

By participating in the Collegium Musicum, students can learn to perform Medieval and Renaissance music; see the departmental entry for Music.

Courses for Credit Toward the Medieval/Renaissance Studies Major

ARTH 110Y Seminar: Michelangelo: Artist and Myth 1.0
ARTH 222 Network Analysis for Art History

1.0

ARTH 227 Art in the Age of Crusades: Visual Cultures of the Mediterranean 1000-1400

1.0

ARTH 229 Islamic Arts of the Book 

1.0

ARTH 244 Art, Patronage, and Society in Sixteenth-Century Italy

1.0

ARTH 246 Collectors, Saints, and Cheese-Eaters in Baroque Italy

1.0

ARTH 247 Islamic Art and Architecture, 650-1500

1.0

ARTH 251 The Arts in Renaissance Italy Before and After the Black Death

1.0

ARTH 299 History of the Book from Manuscript to Print

1.0

ARTH 325 Seminar: Strong Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy

1.0

ARTH 328 Seminar: Dining with Michelangelo: Art and Food in Renaissance Italy

1.0

ARTH 331 Seminar: Rembrandt

1.0

ARTH 347 Seminar: Beyond Iconoclasm: Seeing the Sacred in Islamic Visual Cultures

1.0

ARTH 348 Seminar: The Art of Science in the Islamic World

1.0

CPLT 247 / ENG 247 / MER 247 Arthurian Legends

1.0

CHIN 211 Dream of the Red Chamber in Chinese Literature and Culture (in English)

1.0

CHIN 220 The Fall of the Ming in 1644, An Event in World Culture (In English)

1.0

ENG 112 Introduction to Shakespeare

1.0

ENG 210 History of the English Language

1.0

ENG 212 / MER 212 Monsters, Villains, and Wives

1.0

ENG 213 Chaucer: Community, Dissent, and Difference in the Late Middle Ages

1.0

ENG 221 / HIST 221 The Renaissance

1.0

ENG 222 Renaissance Literature

1.0

ENG 223 Shakespeare Part I: The Elizabethan Period

1.0

ENG 224 Shakespeare Part II: The Jacobean Period

1.0

ENG 227 Milton

1.0

ENG 315 Advanced Studies in Medieval Literature

1.0

ENG 317 The Black, the Lady and the Priest: Medieval Romance and the Politics of Race 1.0
ENG 324 Advanced Studies in Shakespeare

1.0

ENG 325 Advanced Studies in 16th- and 17th-Century Literature

1.0

FREN 210 From the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment

1.0

FREN 217 Books of the Self

1.0

FREN 224 Versailles and the Age of Louis XIV

1.0

FREN 303 Advanced Studies in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

1.0

FREN 333 French Classical Tragedy: Corneille versus Racine: Rethinking the Parallel

1.0

HIST 208 Society and Culture in Medieval Europe

1.0

HIST 211 / LAST 211 The Empire of the Indies: Spanish Rule in America and the Philippines

1.0

HIST 213 Conquest and Crusade in the Medieval Mediterranean

1.0

HIST 214 Medieval Italy

1.0

HIST 222 The Barbarian Kingdoms of Early Medieval Europe

1.0

HIST 232 The Transformation of the Western World: Europe from 1350 to 1815

1.0

HIST 234 The Holy Roman Empire: Religion, Politics, and Culture from Luther to Napoleon

1.0

HIST 246 Vikings, Icons, Mongols, and Tsars

1.0

HIST 279 Heresy and Popular Religion in the Middle Ages

1.0

HIST 352 Seminar: Mental Health in European History

1.0

HIST 354 Seminar: King-Killers in Early Modern Britain and France

1.0

HIST 358 Seminar: Pepper, Silver, and Silk: The Political Culture of Early Commodity Circulation

1.0

HIST 379 Heresy and Popular Religion in the Middle Ages

1.0

ITAS 263 Dante's Divine Comedy (in English)

1.0

MES 261 / REL 261 Cities in the Islamic World

1.0

MES 271 / REL 271 Love and Longing in Middle Eastern and Iranian Literature and Film

1.0

MES 359 / REL 359 Religion, Power and Legitimacy in Muslim Societies

1.0

MES 363 / REL 363 Law and Community in Muslim Societies

1.0

MES 365 / REL 365 Cities in the Islamic World

1.0

MES 367 / REL 367 Muslim Travelers 1.0
MES 371 / REL 371 Love and Longing in Middle Eastern and Iranian Literature and Film

1.0

MUS 200  Early Music

1.0

PHIL 200 Philosophy and Witchcraft

1.0

PHIL 221 History of Modern Philosophy

1.0

PHIL 325 Seminar: The Free Will Problem

1.0

REL 262 The Formation of the Islamic Tradition

1.0

REL 270 Religions of the Silk Road 

1.0

SPAN 241 Spanish Around the World: The Marvelous in Latin American Literature and Culture 1.0
SPAN 252 Christians, Jews, and Moslems: The Spirit of Spain in Its Literature

1.0

SPAN 278 Writing Women, Early Modern Spain 1.0
SPAN 302 Cervantes

1.0

SPAN 307 Seminar: Clothing and Nakedness in Colonial Latin America

1.0

SPAN 308 Masculinities in Medieval and Golden Age Spanish Literature

1.0

SPAN 311 Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

1.0

SPAN 318 Seminar: Love and Desire in Spain's Early Literature

1.0

SPAN 325 Seminar: Candid Cuisine: Food in Latin American Literature and Culture

1.0

WRIT 147

Medieval to Modern: Queens, Knights, and Magical Beasts in the Contemporary
World

1.0
WRIT 149

Sex in the Middle Ages

1.0
WRIT 167 Saints and Sinners in the Middle Ages

1.0

WRIT 172 The Medieval Body: An Examination

1.0