Best Medieval and Renaissance Studies graduate certificate programs - Updated 2021

The Medieval Studies Cluster is designed to prepare students to succeed as scholars in this challenging interdisciplinary field. Aside from disciplinary knowledge in history, literature, musicology, etc., medievalists must also learn specialized skills such as paleography, archival research methods, liturgical chant and dating, and the use of often-recondite manuscript catalogues and bibliographic resources.

The MEMS program organizes the University’s extraordinarily rich resources in medieval and early modern history, history of art and architecture, archaeology, history, literature, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religious studies, music, and the history of science and technology into an interdisciplinary and often collaborative community where we can share work, information, and interests. MEMS offers graduate students a number of opportunities: a Graduate Certificate Program, funding for travel and research, ongoing colloquia and interdisciplinary workshops, the MEMS lecture series, and several conferences each year.

The Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (CMEMS) at the University of Colorado at Boulder is founded on the convictions that the period from c. 400 to c. 1800, conceived in a global context, is a dynamic cultural continuum and ever-evolving system; that the study of both the medieval and early modern periods in tandem sheds new light on each; and that the unity and diversity of the premodern world can be understood and appreciated only from an interdisciplinary perspective. Medieval and Early Modern Studies therefore crosses boundaries of period, nation, language and discipline, and the Center's prime function is to facilitate and encourage interdepartmental study and teaching.

The purpose of the Graduate certificate program in Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) is to enhance the interdisciplinary preparation and professionalization of graduate students in a broad spectrum of departments in, or allied to, the Humanities, as well as in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC). This course will examine painting, manuscripts, metalwork, tapestry, ivories, prints, and ephemeral arts such as the material culture of feasts or the entry processions of rulers into cities in order to gain insight into the place of the arts in fourteenth-fifteenth century late medieval and Renaissance culture in Northern Europe.

The Center’s certificate program in Medieval Studies is the only program of its kind in the greater DC area. It is designed to offer students a broad experience in various components of medieval civilization, providing both perspective and tools for specialized research. The program of 15 hours of academic credit is based on an interdisciplinary curriculum that can satisfy the needs and interest of students in a variety of scholarly fields related to the study of the medieval period, and provide them with concentrated and carefully supervised opportunities for graduate level instruction, which may serve as an entry point for a traditional degree program or as an abbreviated course of study serving professional or personal interests. The Catholic University of America offers graduate students a wide variety of funding, teaching assistantships, on-campus employment, and research opportunities.

The Graduate Certificate in Medieval and Early Modern Studies offers students an interdisciplinary opportunity to focus their studies in early literatures, history, and culture (ca. The certificate not only benefits graduate students pursuing MA, MALS, MFA, and Interdisciplinary Ph.D. degrees in traditional fields, such as Art History, English, History, and Theatre but also provides an opportunity for education professionals to pursue further study in the pre-modern period as professional development and enhancement.

The Graduate Certificate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies is designed for students who wish to pursue their interest in pre-modern and early modern culture in a supportive, interdisciplinary, and intellectually stimulating environment.