Bachelors in Medieval / Early Modern Studies

The medieval and early modern period (ca. 400-1800 C.E.) has been profoundly formative of the world we live in today. Study of this period, a time markedly different from our own, provides a crucial vantage point for understanding the present age. The medieval/early modern studies minor aims at introducing students to interdisciplinary developments in literature, religion, history, philosophy and culture. It explores such matters as: the determination of life's meaning; the encounter with diverse civilizations; the pursuit (or evasion) of truth through reason, faith and experience; the unsettled confluence of three great world religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam); the relation among religion, arts and science; the origins of romantic love and humanism; the development of bourgeois society and urban centers out of feudalism and manorialism; the emergence of the great national literatures of Europe; and the shaping of the mythological foundations of the modern West.