The Medieval Studies Program

As an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary program, Medieval Studies has no budgeted faculty members and no degree-granting capability. It uses or borrows faculty members from other departments to teach certain of its interdisciplinary courses for which Medieval Studies is the primary department, and it administers a Certificate Program in Medieval Studies. The Program is administered by a Chair and a Steering Committee, composed of representatives from participating departments. The Program sponsors its own courses and cross-lists many courses with other departments. It maintains a strong relationship with the Medieval Academy of America and through CARA with other medieval programs in North America. Although the Program has no research mission per se, it benefits from the research activities of those faculty members associated with it. Medieval Studies is, then, primarily a teaching program and a unit that organizes and coordinates many of the medieval events and activities that take place on campus, as well as other outreach activities.

Since its establishment some thirty years ago, the Medieval Studies Program has gained an excellent reputation in North America for the variety and range of its courses, the expertise and diversity of its faculty, and the number and scope of its activities. The Program received a major curriculum development grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the period 1976-79, and under the auspices of that grant developed nine interdisciplinary "core" courses, which form in part its present curriculum. The Program hosted the annual business meeting of CARA (= Centers and Regional Associations, a standing committee of the Medieval Academy) in October, 1981, the annual meeting of the Medieval Academy of America in April, 1989, and the annual meeting of the Medieval Association of the Midwest in September, 2001.

A number of participating faculty have been or are active in regional, national, and international medieval organizations. Two colleagues (William Courtenay and David Lindberg) are Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America. Several colleagues have served as elected members of the Council of the Medieval Academy, while others have played active roles in the Academy's committees (e.g., Library Preservation and Centers and Regional Associations) and in some of its initiatives, sponsored under the auspices of CARA, such as the Visiting Byzantinist Program and MART (= Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching). Some of our colleagues have been or are officers of regional medieval associations (e.g., the Medieval Association of the Midwest, the Midwest Medieval Conference) and professional societies (e.g., History of Science Society, Dante Society of America, American Society of Church History, New Wyclif Society, American Boccaccio Association). Other colleagues serve on national committees of scholarly and research organizations (e.g., Danforth Foundation, Dumbarton Oaks), and others have held executive positions in international associations (e.g., the International Arthurian Society and the International Courtly Literature Society) and serve both as editors of scholarly journals and publication series and as members of editorial boards.

The strengths of the Medieval Studies Program are directly proportional to the resources available to it on the Madison campus. We are fortunate to have a large and committed group of medievalists who regularly contribute to the program, both directly and indirectly. Directly in that they offer courses (some eighty in number) that are sponsored by or cross-listed (with thirteen different departments and programs) with the Program, and indirectly in that they offer courses in the medieval area that are not cross-listed with the Program. These faculty members participate in our lecture series and other related activities, such as mini-symposia and the like. The resources available in Memorial Library provide excellent support to the wide variety of research activities underway on the Madison campus. In the past, the Program has sponsored conferences, symposia, colloquia, and individual lectures for the benefit of the Madison campus and the larger community.

The Program regularly publishes a newsletter which is distributed to over two hundred interested parties on campus, in Madison, and elsewhere. A large number of graduate students have chosen to do the Option B minor for the Ph.D. degree in Medieval Studies, and one student has successfully completed the M.A. in Medieval Studies under the auspices of the Special Committee Degree option. A few undergraduates have completed the B.A. degree in Medieval Studies under the Individual Major option of the College of Letters and Science, and many others have completed the certificate program.

The Program has an important outreach mission which is realized in a number of ways: through sponsorship of lectures, symposia, and colloquia on a variety of topics and through faculty participation in activities organized by the Division of Continuing Studies, including international seminars, evening lecture series, and weekend seminars. Cooperation with other departments and other units on campus is a key to the Program's success. In addition to the cross-listing of specific courses, it co-sponsors lectures, symposia, and conferences. Some recent examples include the conferences held on campus on St. Augustine (September, 1991) and on the Millennium (September, 1997), and co-sponsored with the Madison-based Commission on Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic-United Methodist Relationships in Wisconsin and funded through the Wisconsin Humanities Commission and the Anonymous Fund. In 1981 the Program co-sponsored with the St. Benedict Center the international colloquium to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict of Nursia.