Program in Medieval Studies

About

The Program in Medieval Studies is dedicated to studying Late Antique and Medieval Cultures, supported by a community of scholars and historians.

About

The Program in Medieval Studies is dedicated to studying Late Antique and Medieval Cultures, supported by a community of scholars and historians.

Faculty in the Program in Medieval Studies all have their primary appointments in regular University departments. Program activities that reach beyond Brown University include the Rhode Island Medieval Circle lecture series, which meets three to four times each semester, and the Graduate Student Medieval Conference, which was founded at Brown and convenes annually at Brown, Yale and the University of Connecticut in rotation.

The Program in Medieval Studies offers two concentration tracks: (1) the concentration in Medieval Cultures and (2) the concentration in Late Antique Cultures.

History of the Program in Medieval Studies

Fragment, John Hay Library
Fragment, John Hay Library
Prior to 1968 there was no formal undergraduate major in Medieval Studies, although many courses in history, arts, and languages dealt with Medieval subjects, and graduate students could take their degrees in Medieval fields. In that year the University adopted the New Curriculum, which allowed undergraduate students to pursue Independent Concentrations on Medieval subjects under the direction of appropriate members of the faculty.

Timeline

Director of the Program in Medieval Studies

  • Jonathan P Conant

    Jonathan P Conant

    Director of the Program in Medieval Studies, Associate Professor of History, Associate Professor of Classics
    Jonathan_Conant@brown.edu
    Research Profile

    Jonathan Conant studies late ancient and early medieval history. His research focuses on the inter-regional integration of the Mediterranean, and he has a special interest in questions of identity, empire, interfaith interaction, sanctity, slavery, and documentary culture. His first book examines the fate of Romanness in North Africa between the Vandal and Islamic conquests (c. 439-700); his current work concerns the Carolingian Empire.