Certificates in Medieval Studies


                        

There are two Certificates offered, the regular Certificate in Medieval Studies and the Honors Certificate in Medieval Studies.

Regular Certificate in Medieval Studies.  All students (including special students, graduate students, law students, etc.) are eligible to earn the regular Certificate in Medieval studies, the requirements for which are listed below.

  1. COURSE REQUIREMENTS (effective fall 2009): Five courses (15 credits) in the medieval area, according to the following distributional requirements:
    1. Required Course:
      • History 115: Medieval Europe 410-1500, or
      • History/Medieval Studies 215: Life in the Middle Ages, or
      • ILS 201: Western Culture: Science, Technology, Philosophy
    2. Four additional courses focused on the medieval period, including two each from Category A (History, History of Science, Philosophy, and Political Science) and Category B (Language, Literature, Visual Arts, and Music).

  2. GRADE POINT REQUIREMENT: 3.0 minimum grade point average in the courses that count toward the Certificate.

  3. UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING FOR THE CERTIFICATE: The program has an advisor who oversees the programs of students who wish to earn the Certificate in Medieval Studies. All courses not listed above must be approved by the advisor in order to count toward the Certificate. Students who have taken courses in the medieval area at other colleges and universities may petition the advisor to approve those courses as substitutes for the Certificate, according to the above distributional requirements.

RECOMMENDED LANGUAGE STUDY: Besides the required courses, all certificate candidates are encouraged to enhance the work they can do in medieval studies by acquiring a reading knowledge of a modern European language as early as possible. Studying Latin in addition is strongly recommended for those who plan to do graduate work in the field.

    Honors Certificate: The Honors Certificate is open only to honors-eligible undergraduates, that is those having a GPA of 3.5 at time of application.  It is recommended that this program be started as early as possible and the advisor be consulted from the beginning.
            All students pursuing the Honors Certificate in Medieval Studies are encouraged to follow an undergraduate program that is as broad as possible while taking advantage of opportunities for focusing on individual interests in medieval areas within the chosen major.  Appropriate majors for students pursuing this certificate are: African Languages and Literature (Arabic), Art History, Classics (Greek or Latin), Comparative Literature, English, French or Italian, Geography, German, Hebrew and Semitic Studies, History, History of Science, Languages and Cultures of Asia (Central and Southwest Asian), Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Scandinavian Studies, Slavic Studies, Spanish or Portuguese, Theatre and Drama, Women's Studies.
    Interested students should be planning for this certificate by taking four semesters of elementary/intermediate Latin, Greek, or Arabic (or an equivalent level of proficiency by examination).  The program is designed to be carried out in the Junior and Senior years; in the Sophomore year, or before declaring a major and for the Certificate, a candidate should consult with the Chair of Medieval Studies for assistance in planning an individualized program. 
    Because this is an Honors certificate, special students shall not be admitted except in the case of Specials who are continuing to complete the certificate, having already graduated.  Special students are allowed and encouraged to enroll for the regular Medieval Studies Certificate.


Requirements for the Honors Certificate in Medieval Studies.

For admission: GPA of 3.5 at time of application or consent of the Medieval Studies director.  For retention in the program a GPA of 3.5 in courses offered for the certificate must be maintained.  A candidate must have an overall GPA of 3.3 at time of graduation to be awarded the certificate (if a student completes the Honors program with a lower GPA s/he will be awarded the regular Medieval Studies certificate).  A student does not have to be in any other honors-related program to qualify to enter the Honors Medieval Certificate but must be honors-eligible at time of application..

Eight courses (24 credits of intermediate/advanced courses), at least half of which must be taken at the UW-Madison.  Requirements cannot be met by credit/no credit grading. 

1. Language requirement, two courses (6 credits):

     Two Latin courses numbered 301 or higher (Latin 563, Medieval Latin, and Latin 316, Latin Paleography, are recommended if available) OR
     Two Greek courses numbered 401 or higher OR
     African 445-446 Readings in Advanced Arabic texts.

2. Two courses in the department of the declared major (other than those mentioned in 1) having a concentration on medieval-related content.  Students majoring in literature and language departments are encouraged to take at least two courses in which the medieval vernacular language and/or its literature is studied/read in its original form.
    (Note: Some departments require one or more medieval courses as part of the major: in such cases students are encouraged to fulfil this requirement by taking additional courses with medieval concentrations as electives within their major.   Certain survey courses offered in literature departments that may include some medieval literature will not count towards the certificate.  Classics majors (Greek) are advised to take two Latin courses at any level; Classics majors (Latin) are advised to take two additional courses with medieval content from a department other than Classics  from a list of acceptable substitutes and in consultation with the Medieval Studies director.  As for other majors, if medieval courses are not available within a candidate's major department, appropriate substitutions from other departments may be made with the approval of the MS Director.)

3.  Two courses in one department (outside the major department or program) having a medieval concentration.

4.  One medieval elective from any other department or program other than those used in 3 and 4 above.

    (Note: When a course is cross-listed with Medieval Studies, its cross-listed affiliation will be what counts for purposes of rules 3-5, for example, a Medieval Studies/English course will count as English.)

5.  A senior honors seminar in medieval studies, Medieval Studies 685, “ Honors Seminar in Medieval Studies,” to be taken if possible in the Spring semester closest to graduation. Seminars are designed to accommodate a wide range of interests and disciplines. Students will work from original materials to develop and complete a significant individual research project as their Honors “capstone” experience.

DIRECTIONS FOR APPLYING FOR AND RECEIVING THE CERTIFICATE

  1. Obtain the statement of requirements for the Certificate and a Certificate form from the Medieval Studies Program office (7127 H. C. White Hall) or from the website: http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/msp/. Make an appointment with the advisor to complete the Certificate Declaration Form (click to view and print out form in PDF). Regular advising sessions are recommended to plan the certificate program.
  2. Once you have completed all course work for the Certificate, bring or send your transcript to the advisor. You do not have to wait until graduation to receive the Certificate. If requirements have been fulfilled, your Certificate will be noted on your record, and the Medieval Studies Program will send you the Certificate.
We would appreciate hearing from you in the future about the value the Certificate has had for your subsequent education and/or career.

For Advising:

Professor Kellie Robertson
7127 Helen C. White Hall
600 North Park Street
Phone: (608) 263-2861
Fax: (608) 263-3709
email: krobertson2@wisc.edu


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