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, three undergraduates (Amanda Scott, Eric Schmalz, and Kimberly Bassett) 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.  Their blog appears at http://pamplona.wmblogs.net

The annual undergraduate research symposium in Medieval and Renaissance Studies seeks to highlight excellent presentations of undergraduates, no matter what year or major, on relevant medieval and early modern European topics.  Interested students should ask for a nomination from the professor for whom they completed the work, and contact Prof. Homza.  The next symposium will occur in March 2010 and the program will be finalized by mid-February 2010.

Presentations from the 2009 symposium:

• Sonya Hood, Med-Ren and Religious Studies, “Al-Ghazali and the Incoherence of Resurrection”
• Beth Sutherland, English and History. “Chaucer's Monstrous Divine and the Postmodern Void: Negative Theology as a Linguistic Trope in The Clerk's, Pardoner's, and Nuns' Priest's Tale”
• Jaime Lewis, Med-Ren and History. Humanizing the Supernatural: Demons andSaints in Thirteenth-Century Exempla
• Laila Selim, Med-Ren and History. “The Continental Grooming of Anne Boylen”
• Aaron Gregory, History. “Thomas More and the Heresy of Tyndale’s Bible”
• James Staples, English. “Ars Amatoria: The Art of Love in the Middle Ages”
• Peter Zimmerman, Art History.  The Tomb of Margaret of Austria at the Chapel of Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, France
• Kimberly Bassett, History.  “Witnessing Witches:  Children in Witchcraft Trials from Navarre, 1570-76"
• Amanda Scott, History and Hispanic Studies. “With a Dance in Their Step and a Song on their Lips: Clerical Misbehavior in Navarre.”