MA in Medieval Studies

Program Overview

The University of Lincoln's MA Medieval Studies program offers a comprehensive study of the Middle Ages, utilizing Lincoln's rich medieval history and architecture. Students explore disciplines including history, literature, language, art, and architectural history, engaging with primary sources under the guidance of expert scholars. The program fosters a vibrant postgraduate community with research events, extracurricular activities, and opportunities for career development in fields such as heritage and academia.

Program Outline

The program aims to enhance students' knowledge of various disciplines, including medieval history, literature, languages, art and architectural history, and medievalism. Students will engage with textual, visual, and material sources, working closely with a team of scholars and teachers who are experts in their fields. The program fosters a vibrant postgraduate community, providing opportunities for research events, seminars, lectures, and reading groups.

Key Features:

• Collaboration within a scholarly and professional community
• Expert academic speakers
• Links with the Medieval Studies Research Group
• Dissertation in a specialist area
• Range of optional modules
• Extracurricular research activities

Outline:

The program is offered as a full-time one-year or part-time two-to-three-year program. Full-time students can expect four to six hours of contact time per week, with a significant portion of independent research, reading, and writing. Modules are primarily taught in two-hour small-group seminars.

Core Modules:

• Sources and Methods for Medieval Studies: Develops essential skills for advanced study of historical and literary texts, visual, material, and archaeological sources.
Includes field trips to Lincoln Cathedral Library and Lincolnshire Archives.
• Elementary Medieval Latin: Introduces the basics of medieval Latin language and literature, tracing its development from Classical Latin to Romance languages.
Includes readings from medieval writers like Egeria and Roger Bacon.
• Medieval Palaeography and Diplomatic: Provides an introduction to practical techniques of reading medieval documents, including standard abbreviation forms, phrasing in administrative documents, and the development of these practices in large administrations.

Optional Modules:

• Chivalry in Medieval Europe MA
• Early Modern Manhood
• How the West was won: Bishops, barbarians and the transformation of the Roman world, 300-600
• Medieval Iberia: People, Power and Place
• Medieval Lincoln
• Mediterranean Encounters: 1000-1500
• North by Northwest: Comparative Perspectives on Northern Europe from 750 to 1000
• Politics and Political Culture in Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1485-1714
• Public and Private Emotions in the Middle Ages
• Robin Hood and the Outlaw Tradition
• Saints and Scholars: History and Hagiography in the Middle Ages
• Slavery in Late Antiquity (MA)
• The Death of Chivalry?

Assessment:

• Most modules are assessed through written work, including source analyses, essays, and research projects.
• Latin and Palaeography modules involve a mix of in-class tests and portfolio work.
• Many modules include a participation mark for attendance and engagement.
• The MA requires a dissertation project of 12-15,000 words, supervised by a program academic.
• Feedback is provided within 15-20 working days of submission.

Teaching:

• Modules are primarily taught in two-hour small-group seminars.
• The program emphasizes independent research, reading, and writing.
• The program benefits from the expertise of a team of scholars and teachers who are also authors, editors, contributors to international research projects, broadcasters, conservators, and heritage experts.

Careers:

• The program enhances employability by developing critical thinking and analytical skills.
• Potential career paths include the heritage sector, museums, communication, and teaching.
• Some graduates have pursued doctoral studies, securing external PhD funding.

Other:

• The program encourages active participation in the postgraduate cohort through research seminars, lectures, the Annual Medieval Studies Lecture, Medieval Week, and reading groups.
• The program benefits from the Medieval Studies Research Group, which provides a stimulating environment for discussion and debate.