(Departments of English, Romance Languages, History, Politics, Philosophy, Music, Classics, Art History, German, Humanities, Art History)
Overview
This certificate is designed to allow students in English to broaden their knowledge of the medieval and early modern periods. The program provides pragmatic interdisciplinary coursework, training in the technical skills of medieval studies, linguistic preparation, and a variety of subject areas for specialization. The program offers students a competitive advantage in admission to doctoral programs by highlighting their strong foundational background in a number of fields as well as their proven ability to tackle challenging subjects. Students may enroll in the program by permission of the director upon admission or anytime during their first year.
Courses satisfying the certificate may overlap with program requirements but requires some coursework beyond that of the Master of Arts degree.
The certificate generally does not require more time to complete than most of the Master of Arts programs at Wake Forest. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for extramural fellowships to study one or more summers at international sites where a medieval studies curriculum is available; (For example, we have been aligned with the St. Peter’s at Magdalene College, Oxford summer program in Medieval and Environmental Studies for over 25 years [see the medieval studies minor in the Wake Forest University Undergraduate Bulletin for details]). Students in the program may apply two of the courses taken for the Master of Arts degree toward the certificate program with approval of the director.
Activities and opportunities include the medieval studies workshop and lecture series, where talks are held with internal and visiting speakers; the essay contest in Medieval and Early Modern Studies that awards winners with funding to the annual International Congress of Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University; the Gordon A. Melson Graduate Student Award in Medieval Studies, specifically awarded to an outstanding graduate student to attend the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University; the St. Peter's medieval studies summer program at Magdalene College, Oxford; the medieval section of the department’s library in the Archie Ammons English Department Faculty Lounge; and the establishment of an internship with the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program Director.