Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Rebecca Maloy, Interim Director
301 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0301
cmems@colorado.edu


Programs Offered

Certificate

To the Middle Ages the modern world owes the preservation and transmission of Latin and Greek; the development of a host of vernaculars; the evolution of Judaism and Christianity, and the rise of Islam; the renewed study of Roman law; the growth of a mercantile class; the creation of musical notation; the erection of ecclesiastical monuments; the foundations of constitutional government; and the institution of universities. The early modern period inherited and elaborated all these institutions and inventions, adapting them to fit new conceptions of man (and woman), church and state.

The Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies 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 study of both 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.

Courses throughout the curriculum are available to students whose area of specialization within a given department is the medieval and/or early modern period(s) and who wish to broaden their knowledge of the cultures of the period. With the approval of the major department, a coherent group of these courses may be accepted as a related program of study and as part of the requirements for an undergraduate degree. For additional details concerning these courses, see departmental listings.

For more information, visit the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies website.

Course code for this program is MEMS.

Courses

MEMS 2020 (3) Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Introduces students to the literature, history, culture and art of Europe and the Mediterranean basin from late antiquity through the renaissance. The course is interdisciplinary and focuces on topics which reveal the dynamism and diversity of pre-modern culture.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

MEMS 4020 (3) Medieval and Early Modern Studies: Texts and Contexts

Focuses on communities in the Mediterranean basin and Europe (i.e., cloister, court and city), discussing major literary texts and visual monuments associated with them and their historical context. Emphasizes tensions between tradition and innovation, Latin and vernacular, East and West, Christian and non-Christian (Jewish and Islam), sacred and secular, authority and freedom and male and female.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: MEMS 5020
Requisites: Requires a prerequisite course of CLAS 1110 and CLAS 1120 and ENGL 2503 or HIST 1011 and HIST 1012 (minimum grade D-).
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

MEMS 4030 (3) Medieval and Early Modern Studies: Special Topics

Different topics offered by the faculty of the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program in alternate semesters. Topics may include the literature of pilgrimage and travel, women and minorities, theatre, music, epic, medieval and early modern views of the classics, the Bible, and medieval and early modern theories of education.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: MEMS 5030
Requisites: Requires a prerequisite course of CLAS 1110 and CLAS 1120 and ENGL 2503 or HIST 1011 and HIST 1012 (minimum grade D-).
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities