About the Program

The Medieval Studies Program at UC Berkeley is an interdisciplinary group that coordinates and sponsors lectures, events, and visiting professorships, promotes scholarly interests common to medievalists of different academic departments, and communicates information of interest among them. The committee on Medieval Studies offers a concurrent PhD program in which candidates have both a home department and training in the core disciplines of medieval studies. The degree granted is the concurrent PhD in the departmental discipline and medieval studies (e.g., English and medieval studies, history and medieval studies). The concurrent PhD is designed to preserve an established standard of training in a major subject while broadening the student's experience in other aspects of the field. A candidate for the concurrent PhD is expected to fulfill all the PhD requirements of the major field of study.

Visit Program Website

Admissions

Admission to the University

Minimum Requirements for Admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
2. A grade point average of B or better (3.0);
3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
4. Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants Who Already Hold a Graduate Degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees not as vocational training certificates, but as evidence of broad training in research methods, independent study, and articulation of learning. Therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to pursue new subject matter at an advanced level without need to enroll in a related or similar graduate program.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree only if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may apply only to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Required Documents for Applications

1. Transcripts: Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) attended. If you have attended Berkeley, upload your unofficial transcript with your application for the departmental initial review. If you are admitted, an official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required.
2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries or political entities in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and Quebec (Canada). However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a US university may submit an official transcript from the US university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement:
   • courses in English as a Second Language,
   • courses conducted in a language other than English,
   • courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and
   • courses of a non-academic nature.

If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Where to Apply

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page . 

Admission to the Program

Graduate students must be accepted for admission to a regular department (e.g., English or History) before applying for a concurrent degree in Medieval Studies.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Candidates for this concurrent degree program must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Completion of three courses, which must include:
   1. MED ST 200 Introduction to Research Materials and Methods, a four-credit proseminar introducing the disciplinary resources for research on medieval topics and their use in interdisciplinary study.
   2. HISTORY 275, or HISTORY 280 on a solely medieval topic (Other appropriate graduate courses in history may be substituted with the consent of the graduate adviser.) Students whose home department is History must take two courses in category (c), below.
   3. Any course from outside the student’s home department, normally drawn from the following:

      Course List

      Code	Title	Units
      COM LIT 212	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
      ENGLISH 205B	Old English	4
      ENGLISH 211	Chaucer	4
      ENGLISH 212	Readings in Middle English	4
      FRENCH 210A	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
      FRENCH 211A	Reading and Interpretation of Old French Texts	4
      GERMAN 201A	Major Periods in German Literature: Literature of the Middle Ages	4
      GERMAN 205	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
      HISTART 258	Seminar in Late Medieval Art in Northern Europe	2,4
      ITALIAN 212	Seminar on Dante	2,4
      MED ST 205	Medieval Manuscripts as Primary Sources	4
      MED ST 250	Seminar in Medieval Culture	2-4
      SCANDIN 201B	Norse Literature	4
      SCANDIN 220	Early Scandinavian Literature	4

      (In addition to the courses listed, any graduate-level course in the relevant departments whose content is wholly medieval may, with the permission of the graduate advisers, be counted toward this requirement.) All courses for this requirement must be completed for a letter grade.
2. Advanced competence in Latin, which will normally be demonstrated through two graduate-level or upper division courses in medieval Latin literature (one of which must normally be LATIN 140 or LATIN 155A). The Latin proficiency exams that are offered by some departments may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
3. Reading proficiency in at least one medieval vernacular, one of which must be outside the major field of study. Ordinarily such knowledge will be demonstrated through graduate-level or approved upper division coursework, drawn from the following:

   Course List

   Code	Title	Units
   CELTIC 105A	Old and Middle Irish	4
   CELTIC 146A	Medieval Welsh Language and Literature	4
   or CELTIC 146B	Medieval Welsh Language and Literature
   ENGLISH 104	Introduction to Old English	4
   ENGLISH 111	Chaucer	4
   ENGLISH 112	Middle English Literature	4
   ENGLISH 205B	Old English	4
   ENGLISH 211	Chaucer	4
   ENGLISH 212	Readings in Middle English	4
   FRENCH 112A	Medieval Literature	4
   or FRENCH 112B	Medieval Literature
   FRENCH 114A	Late Medieval Literature	4
   FRENCH 210A	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
   FRENCH 211A	Reading and Interpretation of Old French Texts	4
   GERMAN 105	Middle High German for Undergraduates	3
   GERMAN 201A	Major Periods in German Literature: Literature of the Middle Ages	4
   GERMAN 205	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
   GERMAN 273	Gothic	4
   GERMAN 276	Old High German	4
   GERMAN 280	North Sea Germanic	4
   GERMAN 282	Old Saxon	4
   ITALIAN 109	Dante's Commedia (in Italian)	4
   ITALIAN 110	Literature and Culture of the 13th and 14th Centuries	4
   ITALIAN 212	Seminar on Dante	2,4
   SCANDIN 101A	Introduction to Old Norse I	4
   SCANDIN 101B	Introduction to Old Norse II	4
   SCANDIN 201A	Old Norse	4
   SCANDIN 201B	Norse Literature	4
   SCANDIN 220	Early Scandinavian Literature	4

   Other courses offering readings exclusively in a medieval vernacular may be substituted with the permission of the graduate adviser. Also with the permission of the graduate adviser, medieval versions of other relevant languages (such as Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, or Old Church Slavonic) may be accepted in fulfillment of this requirement.
4. Working knowledge of the material sources of medieval culture. Ordinarily this requirement is met through coursework, or approved specialist training, in the study of medieval manuscripts: e.g., palaeography, diplomatics, or codicology. Students may also demonstrate their mastery of primary material sources through an extended essay making substantial and original use of these skills. When appropriate, and with the consent of the graduate adviser, training in allied disciplines making use of primary materials (such as epigraphy or medieval archaeology) may be accepted.
5. A field statement of 30-50 pages, which situates the major area of interest in an interdisciplinary setting. This is not a prospectus setting out the specific plan of research for a dissertation, but a broader and more preliminary contextualizing essay, placing the present state and resources of the student’s home discipline in relation to those other disciplines of medieval studies of which the student will need to have a sophisticated apprehension in order to conceive such a plan of research. This statement will be evaluated by the student’s adviser and the Medieval Studies representative to the examination committee (see [6], below). The field statement must be approved by both the adviser and examiner at least 30 days prior to the oral qualifying examination. It should thus ordinarily be submitted to the relevant faculty members about six weeks prior to the date of the oral examination.
6. A special committee for the PhD qualifying examination. A representative of Medieval Studies must serve on the PhD orals examination committee. In the event of a failure on either the field statement or the Medieval Studies portion of the qualifying exam, the candidate may revise the field statement and/or retake the Medieval Studies portion of the orals in accordance with the policies of the Graduate Division, Policies and Procedures F.2.7.
7. Regular participation in the Medieval Studies Colloquium, and one presentation of dissertation-work in progress to that colloquium.

Courses

Medieval Studies

Faculty and Instructors

Faculty

Diliana Angelova, Assistant Professor. Gender, early Christian art, Byzantine art, late antique art, the Virgin Mary, early Christian empresses, imperial iconography, power and material culture, the empress Helena, the relic of the True Cross, urban development of Constantinople, textiles, ivories, mythology in Byzantine art, myth and genre in Archaic and Classical Greek art, romantic love in ancient and medieval art.
Research Profile

Albert Russell Ascoli, Professor. Italy, national identity, literature and history, Dante, authorship and authority, Ariosto, Machiavelli, Petrarch, Boccaccio, epic and romance, Renaissance, early modern, Middle Ages.
Research Profile

Frank Bezner, Associate Professor. Medieval Latin literature; Medieval literary culture; Neo-Latin; Intellectual history.
Research Profile

Steven Botterill, Associate Professor. Italian literature and culture, Dante.
Research Profile

Susanna Elm, Professor. History of the Later Roman Empire, pagan - Christian interactions, ancient medicine, slavery and the evolution of Christianity, leadership and empire, reception of antiquity.
Research Profile

Beate Fricke, Associate Professor. Medieval art and architecture, idolatry, iconoclasm, history of allegory, formation of communities, incest, anthropophagy, animation, emergence of life and procreation, theories and practices in use of images and relics, visual and material culture, Carolingian Art, Gothic Art, Ottonian Art.
Research Profile

Kate Heslop, Assistant Professor. Medieval Studies, Old Norse literature, Viking and medieval Scandinavia.
Research Profile

Gary B. Holland, Professor. Historical linguistics, Indo-European linguistics, poetics, early Indo-European languages, linguistic typology, historical syntax, history of linguistics.
Research Profile

David Hult, Professor. Literary theory, medieval French literature, allegory, hermeneutics, text editing, French Studies.
Research Profile

Steven Justice, Professor. English, late medieval literature, medieval Latin, Chaucer, hagiography, Latin religious thought, literary criticism.
Research Profile

Geoffrey Koziol, Professor. Medieval history, History of Medieval Christianity, Medieval Political Institutions.
Research Profile

Niklaus Largier, Professor. Religion, literature, German, history of medieval and early modern German literature, theology, mysticism, secularism, senses, sensuality, history of emotions, passions, asceticism, flagellation, sexuality.
Research Profile

Maria Mavroudi, Professor. Byzantine studies.
Research Profile

Laurent Mayali, Professor. European legal history, comparative law, medieval jurisprudence, customary law.
Research Profile

Jennifer Miller, Associate Professor. English, philology, paleography, hagiography, medieval literature, literature in old & middle English, historiography, medieval rhetorical culture, insular political relations, multilingualism, translation & textual transmission, dialectology.
Research Profile

Maureen Miller, Professor. Medieval history.
Research Profile

Ignacio Navarrete, Professor. Spanish literature: poetry, poetic theory, narrative and culture, history of the book, Cervantes, Don Quixote, Medieval and Early Modern Spanish literature. Modern Spain.
Research Profile

Maura Bridget Nolan, Associate Professor. Chaucer, drama, Middle English literature, Gower, Lydgate, medieval, 16th century, literary form, style.
Research Profile

Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe, Professor. Old English language and literature, textual criticism, Medieval Studies.
Research Profile

Irmengard Rauch, Professor. Semiotics, Germanic linguistics, linguistic archeology, paralanguage, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, linguistic fieldwork, socio-cultural and cognitive approaches to language variation and language change, contrastive analysis and linguistic methodology, Gothic, Modern High German and its dialects, Old/Middle High/Early New High German.
Research Profile

Thomas F. Shannon, Professor. Linguistics, control, German, Dutch, syntax, phonology, naturalness, syllable structure, complementation, ergative phenomena, passivization, perfect auxiliary selection, word order, processing factors syntactic phenomena, cognitive, functional grammar, corpus.
Research Profile

Elaine C. Tennant, Professor. German, Habsburg court society in the early modern period, the development of the German language at the end of the middle ages, the Middle High German narrative tradition, literary and cultural traditions of the holy roman empire, European reactions.
Research Profile

Emily Thornbury, Associate Professor. Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature.
Research Profile

Jonas Wellendorf, Assistant Professor. Old Norse language and literature, Scandinavian mythology, Scandinavian cultural history (Viking Age and Middle ages).
Research Profile

Lecturers

Kathryn Klar, Lecturer.

Annalee Rejhon, Lecturer.

Emeritus Faculty

Carol J. Clover, Professor Emeritus. Medieval studies (Northern Europe), film (especially American).
Research Profile

Mary Kay Duggan, Professor Emeritus.

Charles Faulhaber, Professor Emeritus. Medieval Spanish literature; medieval rhetoric; codicology, paleography; computerization of scholarly methodology.
Research Profile

John Lindow, Professor Emeritus. Old Norse-Icelandic literature, Scandinavian folklore, Finno-Ugric folklore, Pre-Christian religion of the North, Scandinavian mythology.
Research Profile

Daniel Melia, Professor Emeritus. Rhetoric, oral literature, Celtic studies, Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish), folklore, medieval history and literature.

James T. Monroe, Professor Emeritus.