Masters

CMRC offers two Masters programmes, a MA in Medieval and Renaissance Culture and a MRes in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, which provide unique opportunities for further study to graduates from a variety of Arts and Humanities backgrounds. Both programmes reflect the research interests and aspirations of nearly twenty academic staff associated with the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture who work on the period from late antiquity to 1650, and are distinctive because of the wide range of topics which they cover in the shared core module, 'Renaissances and Reformations'. This unit offers a broad and in-depth knowledge of the culture, literature, history and music of the medieval and Renaissance periods, and will help you to focus your interests and ideas for future research. It also provides skills training in general research techniques and presentation. Both programmes offer modules in Latin and palaeography to enable you to develop the specific skills required for undertaking research in this period. Students will also be taken on visits to the University Archives and Hampshire Record Office (Winchester) to study original documents and manuscripts, not only to develop their research skills but also to help them identify valuable source material for the dissertation.

Admission criteria

Prospective entrants to both programmes should normally have a good 2.1 degree in a humanities discipline and an interest in exploring the history, ideas, and culture of the medieval and Renaissance periods.

MA in Medieval and Renaissance Culture

Staff teaching the MA include leading researchers from the departments of Archaeology, English, History, and Music. These staff are committed to developing interdisciplinary approaches to their research and teaching, and to teaching collaboratively in order to bring a wide range of disciplinary skills as appropriate to each of the MA units. Fundamental to both the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture and the MA is the belief that the traditional distinction between ‘medieval’ and ‘Renaissance’ is unhelpful and even misleading. Intellectual and cultural upheavels that can be categorised as ‘Renaissances’ occurred at different times, in different ways and with different effects in the various countries of Europe, notably the ‘Twelfth-Century Renaissance’ as well as THE ‘Renaissance’. Likewise one can speak of a ‘Medieval Reformation’ occurring in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as well as the Reformations (Protestant and Catholic) of the sixteenth century. The core unit for the MA, ‘Renaissances and Reformations’ therefore focuses on the period 1100-1650, although dissertations and options may focus on earlier or later years provided that they constitute a coherent curriculum. Students also take two taught options, chosen from a list which changes from year to year but includes such topics as ‘Records of Early Play’ and ‘Medieval Political Thought’, and write a 15,000-20,000 word dissertation. The precise combination of taught units you will undertake will be determined so as to provide you with the best possible support for your chosen dissertation topic.

"The MA in Medieval and Renaissance Culture has deepened my understanding of my field of interest in a way no single-discipline programme could have done. It opened my eyes to the fact that what I perceived to be unrelated areas of study such as music, textiles and tombstones were in fact highly relevant to my own interests, Renaissance drama and mysticism. The course has equipped me with the skills for carrying out independent research, something which I now feel confident to do."
- Kristina Turner, MA in Medieval and Renaissance Culture

• For a full list and details of the modules available on the MA see the course map 

MRes in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

The MRes is designed for students who already have a clear idea of the research they want to carry out and want to devote their time to producing a more substantial piece of research. Hence it has a longer dissertation (35,000-40,000 words) and correspondingly fewer taught units. These comprise Part I of the core module ‘Renaissances and Reformation’ and training in the required linguistic and palaeographic skills; Latin is normally the language studied for the MRes, but another language course may be chosen if more appropriate to the dissertation topic. Like the CMRC MA, it provides the skills training you will need to equip you for research as well as the opportunity to work with scholars from a range of disciplines.

• For more information on the modules available on the MRes see the course map 

Both programmes will: 

• develop your knowledge and understanding of the culture, literature, history and music of the period
• provide a rich and varied experience of collaborative, interdisciplinary teaching
• enhance a wide range of disciplinary and transferable skills in research, presentation and writing
• provide excellent research skills training for those who wish to go on to do PhDs and a valuable formative experience for those pursuing careers in teaching, arts administration, and curating.
• enable you to become skilled readers of different types of evidence: visual, literary, documentary, material
• provide specialist teaching in Medieval and Renaissance Latin and in Palaeography to enable you to access original archival material
• comprise a varied, structured core course that equips you to make informed choices about options and dissertation subjects
• encourage you to be critically self-aware in oral and written presentations
• develop your ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Both programmes can be undertaken in one year full-time, or two years part-time.

For the academic staff teaching on both programmes, see the CMRC staff pages 

Contact the convenor, Dr Alice Hunt (A.Hunt@soton.ac.uk), for any further details.