Medieval and Renaissance Studies : Northern Kentucky University, Greater Cincinnati Region

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Medieval and Renaissance Studies

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William J. Landon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Early Modern European History
Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program

LA 436
Department of History and Geography
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY 41099

Email
landonw1@nku.edu

Phone
(859) 572-5535

The Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program is designed to provide students with a rounded understanding of the some of the most fundamental elements of European and Near Eastern history and culture from the period following the collapse of Rome in the west (c. 476 A.D.) until roughly 1600 A.D.

In the courses which are listed below, students will find a wide range of themes, topics and disciplines represented - the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program is thoroughly interdisciplinary. Therefore, with some careful thought, each student who pursues a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies will be able to craft a course of study that appeals to his or her own particular interests.

The Director would like to stress that while the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program is ideally suited for students who wish to pursue further training at the post-graduate level, it is also an excellent course of study for students who have an abiding interest in the foundations of western and near eastern thought, history and culture. In other words, students who wish to analyze critically, not only western traditions, but also, in the spirit of the Studia Humanitatis, themselves, will find the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program at Northern Kentucky University to be ideally suited to their interests and personal goals.

If you are interested in declaring a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, please feel free to contact Dr. Landon by email or telephone. He will be happy to discuss the minor with you and also be glad to help you to plan your course of study.

Requirements

The minor in Medieval and Renaissance studies requires completion of 21 semester hours in designated courses.

HIS 303 and HIS 304 are required, and the remaining 15 semester hours must be selected from three disciplines and must include at least one semester of the study of a foreign language included in the list below.

Required Courses

HIS 303 Europe in the Middle Ages
HIS 304 Renaissance Europe

Elective Courses

ANT 370 Celtic Europe
ANT 374 Celtic and Viking Archaeology
ART 101 Survey of Western Art I
ART 102 Survey of Western Art I
ART 351 Medieval Art
ENG 308 Shakespeare I
ENG 309 Shakespeare II
ENG 401 Chaucer
ENG 402 Middle English Literature
ENG 403 Old English
ENG 590 Studies in Literature (if medieval or Renaissance topic)
FRE 101 Elementary French I
FRE 102 Elementary French II
FRE 201 Intermediate French I
FRE 202 Intermediate French II
HIS 303 Europe in the Middle Ages
HIS 353 English History to 1485
HIS 442 History through Biography (if medieval or Renaissance topic)
HIS 499 Directed Readings: European History (if medieval or Renaissance topic)
ITA 101 Elementary Italian I
ITA 102 Elementary Italian II
ITA 201 Intermediate Italian I
ITA 202 Intermediate Italian II
LAT 101 Elementary Latin I
LAT 102 Elementary Latin II
LAT 201 Intermediate Latin I
LAT 202 Intermediate Latin II
LAT 290 Topics in Latin Language and Literature
MUS 230 History of Music I
PHI 181 Philosophies, Cultures, and Creativity
PHI 185 History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
PSC 370 Early Political Theory

Catalog Description

The minor in Medieval and Renaissance studies is historical in perspective with
emphasis on cultures and civilizations of western Europe from the fifth to the 16th centuries. The minor is interdisciplinary in scope, with courses from art, English, history, language, music, philosophy, and political science included in its curriculum.

The Medieval and Renaissance studies minor introduces students to methods, materials, and texts reflecting the human dimension of Medieval and Renaissance cultures and the living heritage of Medieval and Renaissance cultures in modern civilization.

The Director's Bio

Dr. Landon received his Ph.D. (2003) and M.Sc. (1999) in Italian Renaissance Studies from the University of Edinburgh (UK), under the supervision of Professor Richard Mackenney. And, Dr. Landon is an alumnus of Northern Kentucky University (1998). His first book, Politics, Patriotism and Language: Niccolo Machiavelli's Secular Patria and the Creation of an Italian National Identity was published in 2005 (Lang).

Since then, Dr. Landon has published on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to: Gothic art and architecture and the epidemiology of the Black Death in late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. He has also published book reviews in Renaissance Quarterly. At the moment, Dr. Landon is revising his second book for re-submission to the University of Toronto Press. That monograph examines the life of Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, his almost completely neglected plague tract titled the Pistola fatta per la peste, and Strozzi's "patron-client" relationship with Niccolo Machiavelli. In the summer of 2010, Dr. Landon will be pursuing research at two Florentine libraries, the Archivio di Stato and the Biblioteca Riccardiana. That research, also on the Strozzi family, will provide the foundation for his third book.