Medieval Studies is an interdisciplinary program that explores the many cultures of the European and Middle Eastern Middle Ages from the viewpoints of history, literature, religious studies, drama, art, and music.

Students build individual programs drawing on several different subject fields. In addition, cross-listed courses in the Medieval Studies Program put students in touch with medievalists both at UC Santa Barbara and in the larger scholarly community. Undergraduate students in the program are also invited to attend the medieval colloquium and lecture series. With the permission of the instructor and the Registrar, undergraduate students may enroll in graduate courses.

The program offers a PhD. Emphasis in European Medieval Studies, which all Ph.D. and M.A. candidates in the humanities are eligible to pursue. The emphasis has been developed primarily for Ph.D. candidates whose dissertations focus on Medieval Studies, but in keeping with out interdisciplinary interests, we also welcome graduate students from Early Modern Studies, Classics, and other related fields.

Each year, the program sponsors a series of mini-conferences and lectures open to all UCSB undergraduates, graduates, and faculty. The colloquium series puts interdisciplinarity in motion by bringing together distinguished medievalists and modernists, anthropologists and literary theorists, film scholars, and art historians. The series explores the role of medievalism in the contemporary world and the nature of the questions our contemporary world asks about the past. The colloquia include lectures by visiting medievalists, responses from UCSB faculty in other fields, panel and audience discussion and many opportunities for more informal conversation.

Featured
Hannibal’s Secret Weapon
Hannibal’s Secret Weapon

Patrick Hunt, a Stanford University medieval studies scholar came to UC Santa Barbara last week to give a lecture on Hannibal, a military commander from the Second Punic War, and how his tactics are still used today in modern military intelligence. The lecture, “Hannibal’s Secret Weapon,” was co-sponsored by UCSB’s Department of Classics, Department of History and History of Art & Architecture.

A Modern Take on Medieval French Farce
A Modern Take on Medieval French Farce

Jody Enders, medievalist and UCSB Distinguished Professor in the department of French and Italian Studies, recently translated two books of French farce. Enders spoke at a recent IHC Humanities Decanted event with Leo Cabrantes-Grant, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese. They discussed contemporary themes in medieval farces that resonate with a 21st-century audiences and how Enders approaches translating.

How Medieval Literature Briefed Me for a Pandemic
How Medieval Literature Briefed Me for a Pandemic

While social media can turn the COVID-19 pandemic into a creativity contest, UCSB English major Sarah Danielzadeh learned from Shakespeare’s “King Lear” that it’s normal to feel unmotivated during this period of chaos.

Then and Now: A Retirement Tribute for Historian Sharon Farmer
Then and Now: A Retirement Tribute for Historian Sharon Farmer

Brown University historian Amy Remensnyder honored retiring UC Santa Barbara medieval studies professor Sharon Farmer at a recent colloquium hosted by UCSB’s History department. As a celebration of the professor’s career, Remensnyder and six of Farmer’s previous students presented their own research related to Medieval history.