Global Medieval Studies, Graduate Certificate

Elina Gertsman, Program Director
elina.gertsman@case.edu

Credential: Graduate Certificate
Field of Study: Global Medieval Studies


Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Global Medieval Studies offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Middle Ages. Administered through the Department of Art History and Art with collaborative participation from the Departments of Classics, Music, Modern Languages and Literatures, and English, the program provides graduate students with comprehensive, interdisciplinary training in medieval culture. The program is geared towards degree-seeking graduate students in any of the above-mentioned departments who wish to complete the certificate as a complement to their primary field of study. Enrollments are managed through standard departmental procedures in consultation with the program's director. The program fosters collaboration between departments, and leverages established partnerships with the Cleveland Museum of Art and existing performance ensembles.

Learning Outcomes

  • Gain core knowledge of medieval cultures—social and intellectual—globally conceived
  • Appraise, compare, and become proficient in the principles of interdisciplinary methodologies, research methods, archival tools, and scholarly debates fundamental to medieval studies
  • Examine critically and engage analytically with medieval texts and images
  • Examine critically and engage analytically with modern historiography
  • Become proficient in relevant languages that will enable students to read primary and/or secondary sources
  • Develop skills applicable to museum work, archival work, teaching, work with cultural heritage, and preparation for further study or job hunting in the field

Graduate Policies

For graduate policies and procedures, please review the School of Graduate Studies section of the General Bulletin.

Program Requirements

The program maintains flexibility to allow it to be easily adapted to existing program requirements across different departments. The program advisor will approve relevant courses from ARTH, CLSC, ENGL, MUHI, etc. and foreign language courses as appropriate.

Core Requirements (15 credit hours)

  • Three courses with a medieval focus completed in the student’s home department (9 credit hours), at least one of which must be a seminar
  • Two courses with a medieval focus from other participating departments (6 credit hours)
  • A final project in medieval studies: normally, an expanded seminar paper on a topic in medieval civilization, completed in any of the above courses; must be interdisciplinary; supervised by faculty from the student's primary department with input from at least one faculty member from another participating department
  • Demonstrated proficiency in one foreign language via proficiency exam or course credit; this can be a classical language used in the Middle Ages (e.g. Latin, Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic), or a modern language such as French, German, Italian, or Spanish, in each case relevant to scholarship in the student’s area of research. This requirement may be satisfied in one of three ways: by submitting  evidence of having completed a minimum of two semesters of college-level language study no later than two years before entering the program; by completing a minimum of two semesters of college level language study during the course of the program (recommend three semesters for students based in Classics); or by taking an in-house language examination. Advanced classical language courses offered by Classics and DMLL relevant to Medieval Studies can satisfy one of the program's core course requirements as well as the language requirement. Note: PhD students strongly encouraged but not required to demonstrate proficiency in two. 
  • All courses must be at the 400+ level; independent studies with individual instructors are included
  • Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA

Courses eligible for the certificate include:

ARTH 425Art at the Crossroads of Religion: Polytheistic, Christian, and Islamic Art in Antiquity3
ARTH 441Issues in the Art of Japan3
ARTH 448Cosmic Ecologies: Medieval Jewish Art3
ARTH 449Gothic Art: Vision and Matter3
ARTH 450Issues in Medieval Art3
ARTH 456Medieval Matters: The Monstrous, the Macabre, the Miraculous3
ARTH 457Medieval Wonders: Monuments from Across the Globe3
ARTH 458Medieval Body3
ARTH 494ADirected Readings in Asian Art1 - 3
ARTH 494CMedieval Art1 - 3
ARTH 530Byzantine Visual Culture3
ARTH 545Seminar in Medieval Art3
ARTH 518Seminar in Asian Art3
CLSC 416Alexander the Great: Materials and Methods a3
CLSC 418Archaeological & Epigraphical Field School a3
CLSC 426Rome on Site: The Archaeology of the Eternal City a3
CLSC 437Ancient Medicine a3
CLSC 444Archaeology of the Ancient World a3
ENGL 485Special Topics in Literature b3
ENGL 590Special Reading or Research b3
GREK 406Tragedy a3
GREK 407History a3
GREK 408Comedy a3
GREK 470Greek Prose Composition a3
GREK 480Advanced Topics in Greek Literature b3
GREK 495Directed Readings b1 - 3
LATN 407Livy a3
LATN 409Medieval Latin3
LATN 451Latin Didactic Literature a3
LATN 453Epic a3
LATN 454Drama a3
LATN 455The Roman Novel a3
LATN 456Elegiac Poetry a3
LATN 480Advanced Topics in Latin Literature b3
LATN 495Directed Readings b1 - 3
MUHI 443Medieval/Renaissance Notation3
MUHI 450Topics in Music History b3
MUHI 590Seminar in Musicology3
MUHI 601Special Readings Ph.D./D.M.A. b1 - 3
a

Final project must have focus in medieval studies; seek instructor's consent.

b

As approved by the program director.