Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
The Medieval and Renaissance Studies program offers more than 100 courses covering topics ranging across the formative historical period 500 to 1700. Most of these courses are cross-listed with other departments and may be taken toward degrees in both Medieval and Renaissance Studies and in the other departments. Subjects of special topics courses vary from semester to semester.
Majors and minors in the program take two courses to satisfy the Medieval and Renaissance Cultures requirement. Majors distribute eight electives in four course study areas: Fine Arts, History, Language and Literature, Philosophy and Religion. Minors may take any three additional courses as electives.
To see courses offered during a specific semester, please visit DukeHub and select “Class Search”.
| Number | Title | Codes | Cross-Lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEDREN 89S | First-Year Seminar | ||
| MEDREN 105 | Old Worlds/New Histories, 500-1500 CE | CCI, CZ, SS | AAAS 134 HISTORY 105 |
| MEDREN 125 | Early Modern Europe | CCI, STS, CZ, SS | HISTORY 117 |
| MEDREN 128 | War and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance | CCI, ALP, CZ | HISTORY 128 |
| MEDREN 135 | Silk Roads and China, Ancient and Medieval Transformations | CCI, CZ | AMES 207 HISTORY 135 RELIGION 181 |
| MEDREN 145S | Gateway Seminar: Disease in the Premodern World | CCI, CZ | HISTORY 185S |
| MEDREN 190FS | Special Topics in Focus | ||
| MEDREN 190S | Special Topics in Medieval Renaissance Studies | ||
| MEDREN 191FS | Clash of Civilizations: In the Heart of Europe | ALP, CZ | AMES 206FS ICS 116FS JEWISHST 206FS RELIGION 206FS ROMST 204FS |
| MEDREN 201S | Music History I: Antiquity Through Renaissance | CCI, ALP, CZ | MUSIC 255S |
| MEDREN 202S | Music History II: 1600 through Mozart | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | MUSIC 256S |
| MEDREN 215 | Gothic Cathedrals | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 225 |
| MEDREN 217 | The Body in Art in Early Modern Europe: Power and Limits of Corporeal Representations | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 317 DANCE 317 ROMST 317 THEATRST 245 |
| MEDREN 224S | Islam, Art, and Society | CCI, ALP, CZ | AMES 228S ARTHIST 224S HISTORY 193S RELIGION 224S |
| MEDREN 225 | Art in Renaissance Italy | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 255 ITALIAN 386 |
| MEDREN 225FS | Art in Renaissance Italy | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 255FS ITALIAN 386FS |
| MEDREN 226 | Medieval Castles of Europe | STS, CZ | ARTHIST 227 |
| MEDREN 227 | Renaissance Architecture in Italy: Brunelleschi to Michelangelo | ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 258 ITALIAN 258 |
| MEDREN 229A | Renaissance and Baroque Art History | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 255A |
| MEDREN 233 | Michelangelo in Context | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 259 ITALIAN 261 |
| MEDREN 236 | Pilgrimage and Tourism | CCI, EI, W, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 336 RELIGION 260 VMS 336 |
| MEDREN 240 | Drawing Foundations in Early Modern Europe | ALP | ARTHIST 265 VMS 256 |
| MEDREN 242A | History of Netherlandish Art in a European Context | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 262A VMS 262A |
| MEDREN 243A | History of Netherlandish Art in a European Context | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 263A VMS 263A |
| MEDREN 244 | Renaissance Architecture: A European Perspective | ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 254 |
| MEDREN 245 | Art & Architecture in Early Modern France | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 268 FRENCH 268 |
| MEDREN 245S | Women in Visual Arts, 1400-1800: Theory and History | ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 245S GSF 245S |
| MEDREN 246 | Italian Baroque Art | CCI, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 256 ITALIAN 256 ROMST 256 |
| MEDREN 248S | Women and Power in the Renaissance | EI, W, CZ | GSF 258S HISTORY 258S ROMST 258S |
| MEDREN 253S | Cross-Cultural Encounters | CCI, CZ | AMES 235S HISTORY 243S ICS 297S RELIGION 235S |
| MEDREN 254 | The Expansion of Medieval Europe | CCI, CZ | HISTORY 254 |
| MEDREN 255 | The Caribbean, 1492-1700 | CCI, CZ | AAAS 218 HISTORY 318 |
| MEDREN 268 | Islamic Civilization I | CCI, EI, CZ | AMES 122 CULANTH 256 HISTORY 210 ICS 217 RELIGION 375 RELIGION 217 |
| MEDREN 269 | Islamic Civilization II | CCI, EI, CZ | AMES 185 CULANTH 257 HISTORY 211 RELIGION 376 |
| MEDREN 272 | British Isles in the Middle Ages | CCI, EI, W, CZ | HISTORY 247 |
| MEDREN 275 | Tudor/Stuart Britain | R, W, CZ | HISTORY 269 |
| MEDREN 281 | Religion, Reform, and Violence in Early Modern Europe | CCI, CZ | HISTORY 257 |
| MEDREN 287 | Magic, Religion, and Science since 1400 | CCI, EI, STS, CZ | HISTORY 260 SCISOC 260 |
| MEDREN 287D | Magic, Religion, and Science since 1400 | CCI, EI, STS, CZ | HISTORY 260D |
| MEDREN 290-1 | Topics in Medieval Art and Architecture | ARTHIST 290-1 | |
| MEDREN 290AS-1 | Topics in Renaissance British Literature | ENGLISH 290AS-1 | |
| MEDREN 290S-1 | Special Topics in Medieval and Early Modern Literature | ENGLISH 290S-1 | |
| MEDREN 291 | Independent Study | ||
| MEDREN 292S | The Atlantic Slave Trade | CCI, R, CZ | AAAS 217S HISTORY 316S ICS 209S |
| MEDREN 293 | Research Independent Study | R | |
| MEDREN 303 | Ancient and Medieval Epic | CCI, ALP | CLST 204 |
| MEDREN 304 | The Problem of Love in Western Literature | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 225 LIT 205 ROMST 205 |
| MEDREN 304S | The Problem of Love in Western Literature | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 225S LIT 205S ROMST 205S |
| MEDREN 305 | The Viking Age | CCI, EI, ALP | GERMAN 261 HISTORY 256 |
| MEDREN 305S | The Viking Age | CCI, EI, ALP | GERMAN 261S HISTORY 256S |
| MEDREN 312 | Introduction to Italian Literature I | CCI, FL, ALP | ITALIAN 332 |
| MEDREN 314 | Introduction to Spanish Literature I | CCI, FL, ALP | SPANISH 332 |
| MEDREN 315 | The Legend of King Arthur in Literature and Film | CCI, ALP | ENGLISH 286 GERMAN 275 |
| MEDREN 320S | Chaucer I | CCI, R, ALP | ENGLISH 332S |
| MEDREN 321 | Chaucer II | CCI, R, ALP | ENGLISH 333 |
| MEDREN 323S | Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam | CCI, W, ALP, CZ | AMES 223S RELIGION 223S |
| MEDREN 330 | Shakespeare | EI, W, ALP | ENGLISH 235 THEATRST 222 |
| MEDREN 331 | Shakespeare through 1600 | EI, R, ALP | ENGLISH 336 THEATRST 336 |
| MEDREN 332 | Shakespeare After 1600 | EI, R, ALP | ENGLISH 337 THEATRST 337 |
| MEDREN 334S | Late Medieval Literature and Culture | CCI, EI, ALP, CZ | ENGLISH 331S |
| MEDREN 336S | Shakespeare's Nature | EI, ALP | ENGLISH 236S THEATRST 237S |
| MEDREN 337S | Milton | EI, R, ALP | ENGLISH 338S |
| MEDREN 338S | Boccaccio's Decameron | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 338S |
| MEDREN 338SA | Boccaccio's Decameron | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 338SA LIT 338SA |
| MEDREN 341 | Dante's Divine Comedy: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise | CCI, EI, ALP, CZ | HISTORY 253 ITALIAN 281 LIT 245 RELIGION 262 |
| MEDREN 342A | Dante and the Art of Hell | R, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 342A ITALIAN 342A LIT 342A |
| MEDREN 343 | Cities and City Life in Italy | CCI, ALP, CZ | CULANTH 383 HISTORY 237 ITALIAN 383 |
| MEDREN 343A | Cities and City Life in Italy | CCI, ALP, CZ | CULANTH 383A HISTORY 237A ITALIAN 383A |
| MEDREN 344S | Shakespeare Studio | ALP | THEATRST 246S |
| MEDREN 345 | The Devil's Pact: Faust and the Faust Tradition | CCI, EI, ALP | GERMAN 370 LIT 240 |
| MEDREN 346 | The History of the Book | R, ALP, CZ | CLST 360 HISTORY 367 ISS 360 |
| MEDREN 347 | Idealistic Nature: The Literature, Philosophy, and Cognition of Ecology | EI, ALP, CZ | ENGLISH 355 ISS 307 VMS 347 |
| MEDREN 348S | Medieval Latin | FL, ALP, CZ | LATIN 376S |
| MEDREN 349S | Gendering the Renaissance | ||
| MEDREN 352S | Andalusia: Muslim, Jewish, Christian Spain | CCI, ALP, CZ | AMES 319S JEWISHST 319S RELIGION 214S ROMST 319S |
| MEDREN 353 | The Seven Deadly Sins: Representing Vice and Virtue in Christian Tradition | ||
| MEDREN 354 | From History to Fantasy: Medieval Religions in Film & Fiction | CCI, EI, ALP, CZ | ENGLISH 254 GSF 261 HISTORY 244 RELIGION 261 |
| MEDREN 357 | Jews and Muslims, Judaism and Islam | CCI, EI, CZ | AMES 216 HISTORY 294 JEWISHST 256 RELIGION 212 |
| MEDREN 359S | Love, Spirit, and Mysticism: The Path of Love in Middle East and South Asia | CCI, W, ALP, CZ | AMES 209S RELIGION 209S |
| MEDREN 370S | Understanding the Qur'an | CCI, EI, CZ | AMES 126S RELIGION 370S |
| MEDREN 374S | Muslim Philosophy and Theology, an introduction | EI, CZ | AMES 324S ETHICS 235S RELIGION 374S |
| MEDREN 390 | Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies | ||
| MEDREN 390-1 | Topics in Renaissance Art | ARTHIST 390-1 | |
| MEDREN 390S | Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Studies | ||
| MEDREN 429S | Capstone Seminar: The Black Death and Medieval Society | CCI, EI, R, CZ | GLHLTH 460S HISTORY 460S |
| MEDREN 430S | Capstone Seminar: Heresy and Inquisition in the Middle Ages | CCI, R, W, CZ | HISTORY 462S |
| MEDREN 432S | Capstone Seminar: Medieval Communities | CCI, EI, R, CZ | HISTORY 463S |
| MEDREN 436 | North America to 1760 | CCI, CZ, SS | HISTORY 336 |
| MEDREN 443S | Capstone Seminar: History of Torture | EI, R, W, CZ | HISTORY 483S |
| MEDREN 458 | Suspicious Truths and Alternative Realities: Spanish Literature of the Renaissance and the Baroque | CCI, FL, ALP | SPANISH 410 |
| MEDREN 459 | Golden Age Literature: Cervantes | CCI, FL, ALP, CZ | SPANISH 411 |
| MEDREN 473 | What Machiavelli Really Says | EI, R, ALP, CZ | HISTORY 405 ITALIAN 483 LIT 483 POLSCI 483 |
| MEDREN 474S | Dante at Duke and in the World | CCI, R, CZ | ITALIAN 479S LIT 479S |
| MEDREN 491 | Independent Study: Thesis | ||
| MEDREN 493 | Research Independent Study: Thesis | R | |
| MEDREN 504A | History of Netherlandish Art and Visual Culture in a European Context | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 506A VMS 506A |
| MEDREN 505A | History of Netherlandish Art and Visual Culture in a European Context | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ARTHIST 507A VMS 507A |
| MEDREN 507S | Live Images: Ancient and Medieval Representations of the Divine | CCI, W, ALP, CZ | CLST 558S RELIGION 552S VMS 533S |
| MEDREN 523 | Topics in Renaissance Music | R, ALP | MUSIC 552 |
| MEDREN 524 | Music in the Baroque Era | R, ALP | MUSIC 553 |
| MEDREN 550 | Early to Late Medieval Christianity | CZ | |
| MEDREN 551 | Early Modern, Modern and American Christianity | CZ | |
| MEDREN 552S | Jerusalem after Rome | CCI, R, W, CZ | HISTORY 522S |
| MEDREN 554S | Columbus: A Global History | CCI, R, W, CZ | HISTORY 526S |
| MEDREN 556S | Religion, Conflict and Holy War in the Pre-Modern West: Sects and Violence | CCI, EI, W, CZ, SS | HISTORY 506S |
| MEDREN 561S | The Margins of Justice: Law and Minorities in the Middle Ages | CCI, CZ, SS | HISTORY 511S |
| MEDREN 570S | The Society and Economy of Europe, 1400-1700 | CCI, R, CZ | HISTORY 519S |
| MEDREN 575S | Religion and Society in the Age of the Reformation | R, CZ | HISTORY 523S |
| MEDREN 576S | Microhistory | CCI, R, W, CZ, SS | HISTORY 520S |
| MEDREN 590 | Advanced Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies | ||
| MEDREN 590S | Advanced Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Studies | ||
| MEDREN 590S-3 | Special Topics Seminar I | ENGLISH 590S-1 | |
| MEDREN 601S | Moliere: The Phenomenon of Laughter | CCI, FL, ALP | FRENCH 525S THEATRST 521S |
| MEDREN 603 | Dante's Divine Comedy: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise | CCI, EI, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 582 LIT 582 |
| MEDREN 608S | Medieval and Renaissance Latin | CCI, FL, ALP, CZ | LATIN 508S |
| MEDREN 609S | Old Norse: Introduction to the Language of Viking Scandinavia | ALP, CZ | GERMAN 510S LINGUIST 562S |
| MEDREN 615S | Dante Studies | CCI, ALP, CZ | ITALIAN 583S LIT 583S |
| MEDREN 618S | Boccaccio Studies | CCI, R, ALP | ITALIAN 584S LIT 584S |
| MEDREN 620S | Don Quixote in the Real World: From Escapism to Engagement | ||
| MEDREN 630S | Shakespeare: Special Topics | R, ALP | ENGLISH 536S |
| MEDREN 632S | Special Topics in Renaissance Prose and Poetry: 1500 to 1660 | R, ALP | ENGLISH 538S |
| MEDREN 637S | Shakespeare & Co.: English Renaissance Drama | CCI, R, ALP, CZ | ENGLISH 537S |
| MEDREN 642 | Medieval Fictions | CCI, FL, ALP | FRENCH 530 LIT 541 |
| MEDREN 647S | Latin Palaeography | FL, ALP, CZ | LATIN 584S |
| MEDREN 655 | Early Christian Asceticism | EI, CZ | RELIGION 634 |
| MEDREN 664 | Augustine | EI, CZ | RELIGION 633 |
| MEDREN 672 | The Christian Mystical Tradition in the Medieval Centuries | CZ | |
| MEDREN 676 | The English Reformation | CZ | |
| MEDREN 690S-1 | Special Topics in Middle English Literature: 1100 to 1500 | ENGLISH 530S | |
| MEDREN 690S-2 | Topics in Renaissance Studies | ITALIAN 590S-1 | |
| MEDREN 890S | Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies |