Centre for Medieval Studies
MA Modules
When you take the MA in Medieval Studies you get to choose from a range of modules drawn from our parent departments, as well taking a compulsory interdisciplinary module.
Please note that the availability of some modules is likely to change on a yearly basis.
Modules available Semester One 2024
- Approaches to an Interdisciplinary Methodology (compulsory core course)
Interdisciplinary modules
Archaeology modules
Literature modules
- Fictions of Audacity: Middle English Romance
- Worlding Old English: Literary Culture from Alfred the Great to the Norman Conquest
History of Art modules
History modules
- Trans-Asian Trade along the Silk Roads, 1000-1200
- All the City’s a Stage? Performance and Ritual in Late Medieval Europe
Philosophy module
Modules available Semester Two 2025
Interdisciplinary modules
Archaeology modules
Literature modules
History of Art modules
- Painting on Light: Stained Glass and the Medieval Tradition
- Ceramic Arts of the Islamic World: A Framework for Study
- Who Owns Antiquities? The Politics of Museology & Archaeology
History modules
- Public intellectuals: Authority and the Medieval University
- Medieval Lives
- The Uses of Writing in the 'Dark Ages' from Late Antiquity to the Age of Charlemagne & Beyond
Medieval Islamic Cultures pathway
As part of the MA in Medieval Studies, we now offer a Medieval Islamic Cultures pathway, which allows you to focus your studies in this specialist area.
On the Islamic Cultures pathway two of your three options must be Islamic-related option modules, including 'Islamic Worlds', and your research skills module will be Arabic for Research.
How our modules work
Your learning is balanced across the year and moves your focus, in stages, from taught modules to independent research.
Semester One - You take the core course, one option module and one skills module (either Reading Medieval Texts, Multilingual Middle Ages, or Arabic for Research).
Semester Two - You will take two option modules and begin work on your dissertation. In addition, those who wish can continue their language learning.
The Summer will then be taken up with completing your Dissertation.
Before you arrive, you will make your choices for Semesters One and Two. They include three option modules, one of them an Interdisciplinary module, and two others from our parent departments. Since you write one essay for each option module, and the three essays must be in different disciplines, choosing option modules takes careful planning. You also select your language and/or palaeography skills via our 'Reading the Middle Ages' skills modules (see below), as well as your disciplinary and interdisciplinary units in the Approaches to an Interdisciplinary Methodology core module.
Reading the Middle Ages skills modules - Semester One 2024
You will choose one of the following options for Semester One.
Option one - Reading Medieval Texts
You will study palaeography in tandem with a medieval language.
Palaeography options:
- Early Medieval Palaeography c. 500–1000
- Administrative Hands from the Conquest to the Later Middle Ages
- Later Medieval Book Hands c. 1250–1525
Medieval language options:
- Latin Beginners
- Latin Intermediate
- Latin Advanced
- Old English Beginners
- Old English Advanced
- Old Norse
- Old French
Option two - Multilingual Middle Ages
Students on this module choose two medieval languages.
- Latin Beginners
- Latin Intermediate
- Latin Advanced
- Old English Beginners
- Old English Advanced
- Old Norse
- Old French
Option three - Arabic for Research
Students on the Medieval Islamic Cultures Pathway must complete this module.