Medieval History at the University of Kansas

Faculty

Steven Epstein
Ernest Jenkins
Eve Levin
Eric Rath

Emeriti

James Brundage: Professor Brundage, formerly Ahmanson-Murphy Professor of Medieval European History, is an authority on the history of medieval canon law, the crusades, and universities.
Lynn H. Nelson: Professor Nelson specializes in the history of medieval Spain and is a founder of H-Net.
Richard Kay: Professor Kay specializes in the history of the German Empire and the literature of Dante.

Ancient History at the University of Kansas

Faculty

Hagith Sivan: Associate Professor of Late Antique History
Carolyn Nelson: Adjunct Professor of Ancient History

Associated Faculty and Personnel

Richard Ring: Collections Librarian and Adjunct Professor in Medieval History
Richard Clement: Curator of Manuscripts, Spencer Research Library
Luis Corteguera: Associate Professor of Early Modern European History (Renaissance)
John Dardess: Associate Professor of Medieval Chinese History
Caroline Jewers: Associate Professor of Medieval French Literature
Isidro Rivera: Associate Professor of Medieval Spanish Literature
Marilyn Stokstad: Murphy Professor of Medieval European Art History
Margaret Childs: Associate Professor of Medieval Japanese Literature
Sandra Zimdars-Swarz: Professor of Religious Studies
Daniel Breslauer: Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Maureen Gillespie: Medieval French Literature
Tony Corbeill: Classics
Tara Welch: Classics

Requirements for the Ph.D. in Medieval History

The Department of History welcomes applications from qualified students to its graduate program in Medieval History. While students are responsible for the general History Department requirements for the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees (as described in the Department's Graduate Handbook), our program requires its students to gain both coverage of the general history of medieval Europe and the specialized skills necessary for advanced research. Besides History courses and seminars, students are required to take courses in medieval Latin and other languages, as well as paleography. They are also encouraged to take courses in medieval studies outside the History Department, such as art history, relevant literatures, social sciences, and religious studies. The Program and the relelvant funding offices at KU strive to help students find funding for research in foreign archives where necessary. We encourage students to take part in local and national conferences where they may present their research. In addition, faculty advisers work with students to publish high-quality seminar papers.

The interdisciplinary foundation of the program is apparent in its faculty's diverse interests and approaches; in the seminars for graduate students and faculty held regularly at the Hall Center for the Humanities; and in the resources of the Spencer Research Library, with its extraordinary collection of medieval manuscripts, and the Spencer Art Museum, with its fine medieval and renaissance collection.

Students may choose between two tracks in preparation for the degree:

Track A

On Track A, students choose one Primary Area (Medieval European) and two Secondary Areas which may be regional, chronological, or topical. For example, a student might choose Medieval European for her Primary Area and Women's History and Modern European for Secondary Areas. Students must take three colloquia or readings courses in their primary area (for a total of nine hours of course work) and one colloquium or readings course (three hours course work) in each of their secondary areas. Upper-level undergraduate courses are generally not considered adequate substitutes for these colloquia and readings courses. Students must demonstrate proficiency in medieval Latin, paleography, and at least one other foreign language.

Track B

On Track B, students choose two Primary Areas (one of which must be Medieval European) and one Secondary Area, which may be regional, chronological, or topical. For example, a student might choose Medieval European with a specialization in history of Christianity and Renaissance/Reformation for his two Primary Areas, and Ancient History as his Secondary Area. Students must take two colloquia or readings courses in their primary area (for a total of six hours of course work) and one colloquium or readings course (three hours course work) in each of their secondary areas. Upper-level undergraduate courses are generally not considered adequate substitutes for these colloquia and readings courses. Students must take courses in medieval Latin, paleography, and at least one other foreign language.

Requirements for the Ph.D. in Ancient History

Graduate students at MA and PhD level are welcome to ancient history, especially those interested in pursuing a wide range of topics related to the Mediterranean world in Late Antiquity. The advantages of obtaining an advanced degree in ancient history at KU are as follows:

Candidates are welcome to pursue a wide range of interests for both MA and PhD in late antiquity—from early Christianity to Romans and barbarians, from the Greek Near East in late antiquity to the last days of Roman Britain, and from gender to imperial legislation on marriage. Candidates interested in pusuing other periods of Roman and Greek history are welcome to join our MA program.

The program boasts two faculty members. Carolyn Nelson who is an expert of military history and Roman Britain. And Hagith Sivan who is an expert of the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity, from Palestine to Gaul. For a full range of Hagith Sivan's expertise please refer to her publications (via history department web page) and to the review of her last book, Palestine in Late Antiquity, by Peter Brown of Princeton, in the New York Review of Books, June 11, 2009.

In addition, KU boasts a strong classics department where ancient historians can improve their command of Latin and Greek.

The ancient history program at KU further welcomes candidates who wish to pursue degrees in conjunction with other departments such as Religious Studies.

For further information please contact Hagith Sivan at dinah01@ku.edu