Medieval Studies
Mission Statement
The Medieval Studies minor educates students about European culture and society from
late antiquity to the Renaissance. Students study the forms and systems that governments,
organizations, and individuals created to address problems and challenges from the
fifth through the fifteenth centuries. Students study factual and chronological information,
read texts written in the period, examine objects, structures, ceremonies and performances,
and review a range of theoretical approaches to various issues that shaped culture
and society during the time. Students are encouraged to view these issues from a variety
of disciplinary perspectives, which allows them to understand this era both broadly
and deeply.
Proposed Student Learning Outcomes
Winthrop students who minor in Medieval Studies will:
- engage in intensive examination of various material and conceptual aspects of European
culture from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance;
- analyze medieval culture through multiple disciplines key to its understanding, including
literature, philosophy, religion, political theory, the arts, music, history, archaeology,
and/or language;
- demonstrate their understanding of cultural issues in the period from interdisciplinary
and global perspectives, enabling them to synthesize a variety of social and cultural
practices within the broad context of an entire society; and
- recognize and articulate both the continuities and discontinuities between the worldviews
of medieval culture and those of our own culture.
