Medieval and Renaissance Studies
The goal of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program is to encourage critical understanding of the multicultural histories, literatures, and artistic traditions of the European and Arab-Islamic worlds--and the various forms of exchange, conflict, and contact between them.
About the Minor
In this interdisciplinary program, students delve into the complex histories and cultures of medieval and early modern worlds from a variety of perspectives, taking courses in art, literature, languages, history, and music from Byzantium to Shakespeare’s England. Working closely with faculty in small classes, students find one-on-one encouragement, personal direction, and research opportunities.
A Sampling of Courses
Visual Culture of the Medieval World
This course surveys the art and architecture of Europe during the Middle Ages from ca. 500-1400. We will focus on key artworks and monuments made and built in Europe from the Visigoths and Vikings to the Valois court, as well as examine cross-cultural interactions across religious and political boundaries in medieval Africa, the Arctic, and the Mediterranean. Students will develop an awareness of the production, function, and social context of medieval visual culture through the close study of architecture, manuscript, metalwork, mosaic, painting, sculpture, and textile. Despite our historical distance from the Middle Ages, we will also consider how medieval imagery remains relevant to our current visual world.
Explore these select courses:
Meet Our Faculty
Mackenzie Cooley
Associate Professor of History, Director of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
History of science; early modern world; Colonial Latin America; environmental history; intellectual history; digital humanities; history of gender and sexuality; animal studies; genetics and history
archaeological history of South Asian religions, especially Buddhist and Hindu traditions; research in themes of inter-religious dynamics, syncretism and religious transformation; colonialism and reconfigurations of sacred centers; and religion and water management in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions
social and economic history of the early Middle Ages; history of law and mechanisms of conflict resolution; the perceptions of non-Christian peoples and lands in medieval manuscript culture
Dolly Parton; American folk and traditional musics; banjo, music and film; medieval and renaissance music; music and gender
Old English, Middle English, and Middle Scots language and literature
Margaret Thickstun
Jane D. and Ellis E. Bradford ’45 Distinguished Writing Chair
literature in 17th-century England and Colonial America, particularly by women and by people writing on religious subjects
Medieval and early modern art; Scandinavian studies; German studies; economics and trade; religious iconography; object-based learning; history and methods of art history
Explore Hamilton Stories
Meshing Digital Arts and Medieval Maps
Fueled by a dual passion for production value and the Middle Ages, Ryan Mayhan ’22 created a project that successfully meshes his academic interests. It’s a video, aimed at a general audience, about how cartographers created ideological maps of the medieval mind.
Because Hamiltonians Feel for Eels: John Greenlee ’00
Medievalist and cartographic historian John Greenlee ’00 was working on a project involving 17th-century London when he noticed something odd. On several maps, there were two ships anchored in the Thames. These ships had been marked as civic landmarks and labeled “Eel Ships.” Interest piqued, he began researching the history behind these vessels and the history of eels in England in general.
These days, Hamilton students and faculty delve deeply into the Lang Special Collections and Archives, and thanks to Michael Lang ’67, access to the trove is greater than ever.
Contact
Department Name
Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program
Contact Name
Stephanie Bahr, Program Director
Clinton, NY 13323
