The minor in Medieval and Early Modern European Studies (MEMES) is an interdisciplinary program designed to encourage student engagement with faculty in medieval and early modern fields (300-1800 CE), with a focus on Europe and across multiple departments. This program extends student opportunities for critical thinking and engagement with a range of relevant issues and materials.
Admission to the Minor
For admission to the minor, students should meet with the Program Director (Dr. Tanja Jones, Art History, tljones10@ua.edu)
Program Requirements
The Minor in Medieval and Early Modern European Studies requires a minimum of 18 credit hours (outside of the major or other minors*), and includes an ancillary language requirement. At least 6 credits applied to the Minor must be 300-400 level courses taken on the UA campus.
*see the exemption notation under 3. Ancillary Language Requirement
To fulfill the Minor requirements, students must complete the following:
1. Research Colloquium (3 hours)
2. Courses in at least 3 separate Areas of Study (12 hours)
3. Ancillary language requirement
4. Capstone Research Project (3 hours)
1. Required Research Colloquium (3 hours):
Students will participate in the Medieval and Early Modern European Colloquium (AS 220), a seminar under the direction of the Program Director. The course is designed to introduce students to broad issues, methods, and areas of study in the field via readings and interactions with participating faculty through guest lectures and related activities. It is intended to prepare students for curriculum options at the 300 and 400 levels but is not a pre-requisite to completion of those.
2. Areas of Study (12 hours total)
Students will take a total of 4 courses from at least 3 participating departments, outside their major requirements or other minors. Courses must be selected from the following (other courses may be substituted with pre-approval):
| Art History | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Roman Art | ||
| Early Christian Byzantine Art | ||
| Early Medieval Art | ||
| Late Medieval Art | ||
| Northern Renaissance Art | ||
| Art Patronage Florence (Study Abroad) | ||
| Early Renaissance Art | ||
| Later Italian Renaissance Art | ||
| Baroque Art South Europe | ||
| Baroque Art North Europe | ||
400-level Topics (pre-approval required based upon topic) | ||
| Communication Studies | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Intro Rhetorical Theory | ||
| English | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| English Literature I | ||
| Honors English Literature I | ||
| Chaucer And Medieval Literatur | ||
| Sixteenth Century Literature | ||
| Milton | ||
| English Lit During Enlightenmt | ||
400-level Topics (pre-approval required based upon topic) | ||
| History | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Western Civ To 1648 | ||
| Honors West Civ To 1648 | ||
| Colonial Latin America | ||
| Science/Medicine to 1800 | ||
| A history of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800 | ||
| The History of Pirates | ||
| History Of Rome | ||
| The Crusades | ||
| The Middle Ages | ||
| Reform & Counter-Reformation | ||
| Indians, Nuns, & Rogues | ||
| Imperial Spain's "Golden Age" | ||
| War/Dipl. in Med & Mod. Europe | ||
| War & Religion in the West | ||
| Thirty Years' War | ||
| England under Tudors | ||
| England under Stuarts | ||
| Modern Languages & Classics | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Greek Roman Mythology | ||
| Roman Religion | ||
| Survey Fr Literature I ** | ||
| Germanic Mythology | ||
| German Literature Translatn I | ||
| Gn Cult Civil Thru 1832 ** | ||
| IT Lit: Medieval to Modern | ||
| Rus Lit in Trans I | ||
| Lit. & Cult. of Sp. pre-1800 ** | ||
| Cervantes ** | ||
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| ** | Designates a course taught in subject language (not English). |
| Music | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Music History I | ||
| Studies In Special Lit (pre-approval based upon topic) | ||
| Philosophy | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Early Modern Philosophy | ||
| Political Science | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Political Thought | ||
| Theatre | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Hist Of The Theatre I | ||
3. Ancillary Language Requirement
Students must complete the ancillary requirement for the Minor by fulfilling one of the following options: *
- Both 101 and 102 of Latin, Italian, Greek, German, Spanish, French, or Arabic OR
- 103 of one of the languages noted above OR
- any 3-hour course (other than those listed in section 2 above) at the 200- level or higher in one of the languages noted above
* Students already meeting these language requirements as part of their major or another minor may apply them (and the same language) to the MEMES Minor; additional or other languages may be applied to the minor as applicable and if approved by the Program Director.
4. Capstone Research Project (3 hours)
No later than the end of the semester prior to completion of the Minor requirements, students will propose a Final Research Project (as a 3-hour Independent Research course) that reflects the intended spirit of the Minor based upon their experiences in Minor coursework. The proposal will be reviewed for pre-approval by the Program Director and a Faculty Mentor in one of the participating Departments. During the final semester of the Minor, the student will complete the project under the supervision of the Faculty Mentor with a Reader from a second participating Department. This should result in an appropriate project such as a paper, poster, performance, website, or exhibition.
Grade point average:
A 2.5 grade point average in the minor is required. The minor GPA is calculated based on all courses applied to the minor.