Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Bulletin of Yale University
 
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Medieval Studies

53 Wall, Rm 310, 432.0672
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Chair and Director of Graduate Studies
Roberta Frank

Professors
Robert Babcock, R. Howard Bloch, Gerhard Böwering, Carlos Eire, Margot Fassler, Roberta Frank, Paul Freedman, Walter Goffart, Harvey Goldblatt, Beatrice Gruendler, Dimitri Gutas, Valerie Hansen, Traugott Lawler, Bentley Layton, Ivan Marcus, Dale Martin, John Matthews, Giuseppe Mazzotta, María Rosa Menocal, Lee Patterson, Barbara Shailor

Associate Professors
Matthew Giancarlo, Jaime Lara, Anders Winroth

Assistant Professors
Jessica Brantley, Mark Burde, Olivia Holmes, Dianne Jonas, Nicole Rice, Ronald Rittgers, Youval Rotman

Fields of Study
Fields in this interdisciplinary program include history, history of art, history of music, religious studies, languages and literatures, linguistics, and philosophy.

Special Admissions Requirements
The General Test of the GRE is required. A writing sample of ten to twenty pages should be included with the application.

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Languages required are Latin, French, and German. Proficiency in Latin is tested with an examination administered and evaluated by the department during the first term. Proficiency in French and German is demonstrated by passing the departmental examinations and should be achieved by the third term. Students will design their programs in close contact with the director of graduate studies. During the first two years students take fourteen term courses and must receive an Honors grade in at least four term courses the first year. Students take an oral examination, usually in the fifth term, on a set of three topics worked out in consultation with the director of graduate studies. Then, having nurtured a topic of particular interest, the student submits a dissertation prospectus that must be approved by the end of the third year. Upon completion of all predissertation requirements, including the prospectus, students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. What remains, then, is the writing, submission, and approval of the dissertation during the final two years.

Students in Medieval Studies participate in the Teaching Fellows Program in the third and fourth years.

Master's Degrees
M.Phil.
See Graduate School requirements. In addition, the program offers an M.Phil. in Medieval Studies for students enrolled in the Ph.D. programs of relevant humanities departments. Requirements for this degree are (1) six courses in the medieval area from departments other than that in which the student is enrolled (two of these must be the Medieval Studies interdisciplinary seminar and either a course in research methodology [HIST 540 or NELC 850] or in Latin or Arabic Paleography); (2) proficiency in Latin or Arabic as tested by an examination administered and evaluated by the department; and (3) an oral examination. These requirements are in addition to those in force in the student's home department. The M.Phil. in Medieval Studies thus requires a year of study in addition to the five years required by the student's home department. Fellowships that provide support for this extra year are available from the Graduate School; application forms may be obtained from the program in Medieval Studies.

M.A. (en route to the Ph.D.). Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program may qualify for the M.A. degree upon satisfactory completion of the first year. Minimum requirements include a High Pass average in courses and passing the Latin examination.

Master's Degree Program. For this terminal master's degree students must take at least seven term courses with a general average of High Pass and with at least one term course of Honors. Two languages are required: Latin and either French or German. No thesis is required.

Courses

MDVL 550a or b, Directed Reading.
By arrangement with faculty.

MDVL 551a, Music in Medieval Britain: The Use of Sarum. History, Sources, Modern Survivals.  Margot Fassler.
F 3.15–5.15
Various aspects of the Sarum Use, including study of the rites it supplanted after the destruction of Anglo-Saxon culture by the Anglo-Normans. Studies of both liturgical and musical sources, with attention to the ways in which major historical changes are supported and redefined through the liturgy and its music. Knowledge of Latin and ability to read music not required. The class reconstructs an office from the Sarum rite, with attention to music, language, gesture, and liturgical vestments. This evening class closes each day with the singing of Compline from the Sarum sources. Also MUSI 715a.

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