Medieval Institute

Medieval Institute
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5432 USA
(269) 387-8745

Minor in Medieval Studies

Image of a knight about to strike a giant snail with a sword, and an image of a bunny with an axe about to strike an old man with a long white beard; the text reads "Beset upon by murderous snails? Alarmed by the recent increase in vicious bunny attacks? Have no fear!"
A comic-book font, reading BAM! with a yellow star in the background, outlined in red, with black spikes coming out around the edges. Text reads "A medieval studies minor is here!"


Looking for a fun, self-directed minor? Check out Medieval Studies! 

A medieval studies minor is just 24 hours, including: 

Plus 18 hours of medieval/premodern courses of your choice!

Eligible medieval and premodern courses include any with substantial subject matter from before 1800 CE, approved by the Director of the Medieval Institute.

For possible course options, see below.

For course advice, email @email or call (269) 387-8745 for an appointment. 

Possible Course Options

To help students and their advisors plan a minor, below is a list of courses which the Director routinely approves for inclusion. Some things to keep in mind are:

  • Since Medieval Studies is an interdisciplinary minor, usually no more than two courses in a single discipline are approved.
  • Topics courses, if about pre-1800 subject matter (for example LANG 3750 often used for the “Arabian Nights”), are also routinely approved.
  • In the following list, an asterisk indicates a WES course. 
  • ANTH 1100 Lost Worlds and Archaeology*
  • ANTH 3060 Archaeology of Civilization
  • ANTH 3440 Indigenous North America
  • ANTH 4040 Early Technologies
  • ART 2200 Caves to Cathedrals*
  • ART 2220 Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
  • ART 2230 Introduction to Asian Art History
  • ART 4210 Medieval Foreign Encounters*
  • CLAS 1500 Classical Greek and Roman Mythology*
  • CLAS 2500 Power and Morality*
  • CLAS 3750 Classics in Global Perspective*
  • ENGL 1215 Monsters and Myths of the Middle Ages*
  • ENGL 2110 Folklore and Mythology*
  • ENGL 2520 Shakespeare’s Theatre*
  • ENGL 3300 British Literature I
  • ENGL 4520 Shakespeare Seminar
  • ENGL 5300 Medieval Literature
  • ENGL 5320 Renaissance Literature
  • ENGL 5750 Icelandic Sagas in Translation
  • ENGL 5760 Introduction to Old Norse
  • ENGL 5770 Advanced Readings in Old Norse
  • FREN 5400 Old French Language and Literature
  • GREK 1000 Basic Greek I*
  • GREK 1010 Basic Greek II*
  • HIST 1000 Early Western World*
  • HIST 1450 Heroes and Villains in the Middle Ages*
  • HIST 2020 World History to 1500*
  • HIST 3490 Ancient Near East
  • HIST 3500 Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic World
  • HIST 3510 Ancient Rome
  • HIST 3600 The Medieval World: Society and Culture*
  • HIST 3606 Transformation of Medieval Europe, 1000-1500
  • HIST 3611 The Crusades: West Meets East
  • HIST 3612 Era of the Thirty Years War: Europe 1500-1650
  • HIST 3615 European Witch Hunt
  • HIST 3662 Russia to 1855
  • HIST 3702 Colonial Latin America
  • HIST 3766 Traditional China
  • HIST 3882 History of Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade
  • HIST 5405 Topics in Ancient History
  • HIST 5501 Medieval History Proseminar
  • LAT 1000 Basic Latin I*
  • LAT 1010 Basic Latin II*
  • LAT 2000 Introduction to the Study of Latin Literature
  • LAT 2010 Latin Composition
  • LAT 2030 Cicero
  • LAT 2040 Virgil
  • LAT 3240 Latin Literature
  • LAT 5600 Medieval Latin
  • MDVL 3000 Topics in Medieval Studies
  • MUS 2700 Music History I
  • PHIL 3000 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy*
  • REL 2010 Buddhism
  • REL 2050 Christianity
  • REL 2100 Religions of the World*
  • REL 2786 The Qur’an
  • SPAN 5260 Survey of Spanish Literature to the 18th Century
  • THEA 2110 Dungeons and Dragons: Storytelling, Roleplay, and Improvisation*
  • THEA 3700 Global Performance