Undergraduate Research
In keeping with the academic goals of the College, Medieval and Renaissance Studies faculty encourage students to pursue research in seminars and lecture classes, and through independent study and honors theses. Students may pursue a variety of research topics through the departments that contribute to the Med-Ren program, such as Art History, Classical Studies, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. It is important to note that the ability to read a foreign language and some advanced course work in the relevant discipline frequently are crucial to the success of a project.
Honors theses are traditionally the culmination of an undergraduate’s research skills and interests, and Med-Ren’s many double majors and minors frequently write theses that pertain to a medieval or early modern European topic. Some recent examples include
- Jaimie Lewis, History, Negotiating ‘Popular’ Religion: Clerical and Lay Culture in Thirteenth-Century Exempla
- Sonya Hood, Med-Ren, Al-Ghazili and the Incoherence of Resurrection
- Alice Conner Harman, Modern Languages, Midwives and Medical Texts: Women’s Healing Practices in the Crown of Aragón, 1300-1600
A list of completed Honors Projects is on the Charles Center’s website.
Occasionally, some chances for research may occur through other venues and sources of funding. Over Spring Break 2009 and 2010, six undergraduates (Amanda Scott, Eric Schmalz, Kimberly Bassett, Aaron Gregory, Meredith Howard, and Hanna Langstein) went to Pamplona, Spain on a QEP-Mellon Foundation Grant to read sixteenth- and seventeenth-century manuscripts in two archives, the Archivo Real y General de Navarra, and the Archivo Diocesano de Navarra. The students investigated the difficult career paths of Spanish ecclesiastics as well as the role of children in witchcraft trials. They were supervised by Prof. Homza. The 2009 blog appears at http://pamplona.wmblogs.net.