About Us

The Medieval and Renaissance Research Cluster at UofL is made up of two components: the Medieval and Renaissance Research Group and the Graduate Certificate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.Together, their goals are to enhance student learning opportunities, to support faculty research, and to promote the study of pre- and early modern culture in the wider community.

Fra Mauro Detailed map recreation

The Medieval and Renaissance Research Group

 

  • Made up of more than thirty faculty and staff from Arts & Sciences, the School of Music, and University Libraries.
  • Eleven departments represented, including Anthropology, Art/Art History, Classical and Modern languages, Ekstrom Library Special Collections, English, History, Humanities, Music History, Philosophy, Theatre Arts, and Women and Gender Studies. Membership also includes faculty and graduate students from other regional universities, including Indiana University-Southeast, Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, Northern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Georgetown College, and the University of Kentucky.
  • The workshop emphasizes interdisciplinary and collaborative research. Areas of faculty specialization encompass cultures on every continent except Antarctica; historical periods ranging from Late Antiquity (4th-6th centuries) through the early modern period (17th-18th centuries); and technologies of literacy from manuscript production up through digital composition.
  • The research group runs monthly work-in-progress workshops for Medieval and Renaissance faculty and graduate students, organizes public lectures and events, and collaborates with departments on Medieval and Renaissance programming.

 

    The Graduate Certificate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

     

    • Has enrolled or graduated more than twenty students since its founding in 2010.
    • Has enrolled students from five departments, including Art/Art History, Classical and Modern Languages, English, History, and Humanities.
    • The certificate is adaptable to a wide variety of career paths. Graduates have gone on to earn Ph.D.’s, M.A.T.’s and M.F.A.’s. Career paths include teaching, museum work, librarianships, and theatre.
    • Students have presented their research at regional and national conferences, including the annual meeting of the Kentucky Philological Association, The Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies Graduate Conference, and the International Congress of Medieval Studies.