Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Medieval & Renaissance Studies

The Medieval and Renaissance Studies Programs offer the opportunity to study societies that evolved between the 5th and 17th centuries, particularly in Europe, from the perspective of various disciplines such as language and literature, history, music, theatre, or philosophy.
Middle Age And Renaissance Studies
Thomas Becket’s Murder in Canterbury Cathedral (London, British Library, Harley MS. 5102, fol. 32)

The courses focus on specific themes such as body and gender, heroes and narratives, travel and travelers, the perception of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance between the 19th and 21st centuries. In addition, the specific requirements of these programs include courses on this period in a variety of departments in the Faculty of Arts.

Latin, the dominant language of learning in this period, is required for the major that gives access to graduate studies.

One of the strengths of these programs is that they lead you to think differently, to open up to social practices that now seem hard to comprehend or mysterious, or to understand that these ancient societies offer alternative models to our own.

By taking courses such as those on the myths of King Arthur, long-distance travel, knights, witchcraft, or the case of Joan of Arc, you will gain access to a deep past that seems very strange today.

Study programs

Medieval and Renaissance Studies
The Tiger in Medieval Bestiaries (Oxford, Bodleian, MS. 764, fol. 6v)

Undergraduate studies: Major & Minor

Graduate studies: Collaborative Master’s

The specialization in Medieval and Renaissance Studies is intended for students who wish to enrich their training by including to their main program an interdisciplinary component in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Besides a thesis or a major research paper on a topic related to the medieval and Renaissance period, the specific requirements of the collaborative program include two core courses in Medieval Studies, one of which will count as a partial requirement in the main discipline.

Professors

Part time professors

  • Geneviève Bazinet, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Music
  • Pascale Duhamel, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Music
  • Caroline Prud’homme, PhD, Département de français

Areas of Research

  • Manuscript culture
  • Women’s writing
  • Gender and sexuality
  • History of reading
  • History of literary, religious and universitary institutions
  • History of the book and of booktrades in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
  • Renaissance Italy
  • Jews and Christians in the Renaissance
  • French literature of the Middle Ages
  • Literature, religion, and philosophy from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance
  • Literature and historiography in Late Antiquity
  • Production and social use of writing
  • Rhetoric and education in Late Antiquity
  • Theatre in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Variable topics courses 2026-2027

Fall 2026

MDV 2100 - A00 Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Civilization 

  • Prof: James W. Nelson Novoa

  • Tue 17:30 - 18:50

  • Thu 17:30 - 18:50

Subject: Body, Culture, and Society
Description: Selected topics from an interdisciplinary perspective on the arts, history, literature, music, philosophy, and theology of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

MDV 3500 / HIS 3505 - Thèmes choisis en études médiévales et de la Renaissance (+1 combinée(s))

  • Prof : Kouky Fianu

  • Mer 16:00 - 17:20

  • Ven 14:30 - 15:50

Subect: Jeanne d’Arc - l’hérétique à la sainte XVe-XXIe s.
Description : Étude d'un thème relatif au Moyen Âge et/ou à la Renaissance.
 

MDV 4100 - Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

  • Prof: James W. Nelson Novoa

  • Mon 08:30 - 11:20

Subect: Asia and Africa in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Description : Focussed investigation of selected themes and topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

MDV 5100 / ENG 6310 - Medieval and Renaissance Studies Research Methods and Tools (+1 combinée(s))

  • Prof: Victoria Burke

  • Fri 08:30 - 11:20

Description: Approaches to the study of manuscripts (paleography, codicology, iconography) and texts (explication, diplomatics, liturgy, stemmata) of the period.

Winter 2027

MDV 2500 / HIS 2751 - Initiation à la civilisation médiévale et de la Renaissance (+1 combinée(s))

  • Prof : Pascale Duhamel

  • Mer 19:00 - 21:50

Subject : Mythes du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance
Description : Cours à thèmes variables portant sur divers aspects de la civilisation médiévale et de la Renaissance dans une perspective interdisciplinaire : arts, histoire, littérature, musique, philosophie et théologie.
 

MDV 3100 / CLA 3110 / HIS 3110 - Selected Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (+2 combinée(s))

  • Prof: Geoffrey Greatrex

  • Fri 11:30 - 12:50

  • Wed 13:00 - 14:20         

Subject: The Byzantine Empire
Description: Study of a theme relevant to the Middle Ages and/or the Renaissance.


MDV 4500 / HIS 4720 - Séminaire en études médiévales et de la renaissance (+1 combinée(s))

  • Prof : À venir

  • Mer 14:30 - 17:20

Subject : Les moines et moniales dans la société médiévale
Description : Étude approfondie de thèmes choisis en études médiévales et de la Renaissance.

MDV 5900 - Séminaire de recherche interdisciplinaire

  • Prof : Andrew Taylor

  • Mar 08:30 - 11:20

Description : Séminaire bilingue à thèmes variables destiné à explorer le sens et la valeur du travail interdisciplinaire en études médiévales et modernes.

Coordination Committee

Contact us

Marie-Pierre Bussières

Department of Classics and Religious studies : Desmarais Building 55 Laurier Avenue East, 9th Floor
Ottawa ON Canada K1N 6N5
Office 10107
[email protected]

Department of History

Desmarais Building
55 Laurier Avenue East, 9th Floor
Ottawa ON Canada K1N 6N5