Graduate Medievalists at Berkeley

The Program inn Medieval Studies offers a Concurrent PhD in which candidates belong to a home department while also receiving training in the core disciplines of Medieval Studies. Applicants should apply to their intended home department (e.g. English) for admission to graduate study. Once accepted and enrolled in the home department, the student may then apply for admission to the Medieval Studies joint PhD program. The degree granted will be the PhD in "X and Medieval Studies" (e.g. French and Medieval Studies, History and Medieval Studies, etc).

Requirements of the Concurrent PhD in Medieval Studies

(Approved September 2010)

1. Completion of three courses, which must include:
   1. Medieval Studies 200, a four-credit proseminar introducing the disciplinary resources for research on medieval topics and their use in interdisciplinary study.
   2. History 275, or History 280 on a solely medieval topic (Other appropriate graduate courses in history may be substituted with the consent of the graduate advisor. Students whose home department is History must take two courses in category (c), below.
   3. Any course from outside the student’s home department, drawn from the following: Classics 241, Comparative Literature 212, English 205B, English 211, English 212, French 210A or B, French 211A, German 201A, German 205, Italian Studies 210, Italian Studies 212, Medieval Studies 205, Medieval Studies 250, Music 171B (when on a medieval topic), Scandinavian 201B, Scandinavian 202, Scandinavian 220, Spanish 213, Spanish 220, Spanish 246. (In addition to the courses listed, any graduate-level course in the relevant departments whose content is wholly medieval may, with the permission of the graduate advisors, be counted toward this requirement.)
2. Advanced competence in Latin, as demonstrated either through a special examination administered by the Medieval Studies program or through coursework (two upper-division or graduate-level courses in Latin literature, one of which must be Latin 140/C140, Latin 155A or B, or Classics 241). The Latin proficiency exams that are offered by some departments may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
3. Reading proficiency in a medieval form of a modern European language outside the major field of study, either through examination administered by the Medieval Studies program or through coursework (an upper-division or graduate-level literature course; ordinarily drawn from the following: Celtic Studies 105B, Celtic Studies 146A or B, English 105B, English 111, English 112, English 205B, English 211, English 212, French 112 A or B, French 114A or B, French 210 A or B, French 211A, German 105, German 201A, German 205, German 273, German 276, German 280, German 282, Italian Studies 109, Italian Studies 110, Italian Studies 210, Italian Studies 212, Scandinavian 201B, Scandinavian 202, Scandinavian 220, Spanish 220, Catalan 285. With the permission of the Graduate Advisor, other courses in these languages offering readings exclusively in the medieval vernacular may be accepted. Also with the permission of the Graduate Advisor, courses in non-European medieval languages, such as medieval Hebrew or Arabic, or in eastern European languages typically outside the range of Latin medieval studies, such as Old Church Slavonic, may be accepted.
4. Working proficiency in manuscript studies (paleography, diplomatic, or codicology), as demonstrated through coursework (appropriate upper-division or graduate-level course at Berkeley or appropriate graduate-level course or workshop elsewhere) or through presentation of an extended research paper making substantial and original use of such skills. (When appropriate to the student’s program research and with the consent of the Graduate Advisor, a related area of competence in the material sources of medieval studies, such as epigraphy or medieval archeology, may be substituted.)
5. A field statement of 30-50pp, to be completed before the Qualifying Examination, which situates the major area of interest in an interdisciplinary setting. This is not a prospectus setting out the specific plan of research for a dissertation, but a broader and more preliminary contextualizing essay, placing the present state and resources of the student’s home discipline in relation to those other disciplines of medieval studies of which the student will need to have a sophisticated apprehension in order to conceive such a plan of research. This statement will be evaluated by the student’s advisor and the Medieval Studies representative to the examination committee (see [6], below) or another faculty member designated by the Graduate Director.
6. A special committee for the Ph.D. qualifying examination. A representative of Medieval Studies must serve on the Ph.D. orals examination committee.
7. Regular participation in the Medieval Studies Colloquium, and one presentation of dissertation-work in progress to that Colloquium.