Graduate Program

The Master of Medieval Studies (M.M.S.)

The Master of Medieval Studies (hereafter M.M.S.) degree requires two years of full-time study and is required for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Medieval Studies. The Medieval Institute does not accept candidates solely for the purpose of acquiring a terminal Master's degree. The M.M.S. requires the successful completion of 31 credit hours of graduate-level work but fully and continuously enrolled M.M.S. students will normally earn 40 or more credits in their first two years of study. The apparent discrepancy is attributable to the fact that M.M.S. students are, in fact, prospective Ph.D. students in transition. The credits which M.M.S. students earn above those required for the M.M.S. degree will apply to the Ph.D. provided that a student has been admitted to Ph.D. candidacy.

Students admitted with a master’s degree from another institution, or from another department at Notre Dame, may take the M.M.S. exams after completing MI 60001 and six graduate-level courses; passing the M.M.S.-level Latin exam; passing an exam in at least one modern language; and passing the paleography course if it was offered in the student’s first year of enrollment (if paleography was not offered it may be postponed until the following summer or academic year).

The program for an M.M.S. student will normally be arranged as follows:

Semester 1

Christian Latin (or Graduate Intermediate Latin)
Elective
Elective
Elective
MI 60001 (one credit, non-graded)

Semester 2

Medieval Latin
Elective
Elective
Elective

Summer

Medieval Latin or Paleography

Semester 3

Paleography
Second-Year Research Tutorial I
Elective

Semester 4

Elective
Second-Year Research Tutorial II
Exam Preparation

Among the eight courses designated as “electives, ” four must be chosen so as to satisfy the following requirements: One course each in history (Proseminar I or II), philosophy or theology, vernacular language or literature, art or music. Students have considerable flexibility in choosing the remaining four courses, the research tutorial, and the exam preparation course.

By the end of his or her second year an M.M.S. student must have:

1. Passed the M.M.S.-level Latin examination.

2. Passed an examination in one modern language.

3. Passed paleography (if it was offered).

4. Submitted a satisfactory second-year research paper.

5. Passed a 90-minute oral examination.

The M.M.S. oral examination will provide students with an opportunity to display their general competence in three disciplines and their emerging mastery in one of them. It is expected that the student will be examined by four different professors who represent three disciplines (for a list of acceptable disciplines and possible examination fields within them, see the section on the Ph.D. in Medieval Studies). One of the three disciplines, the student’s primary discipline, will be examined by two professors. It is expected that this discipline will form the core of the eventual Ph.D. candidacy examination. Accordingly, this discipline will be examined in somewhat greater length and detail than the other two. The selection of examiners is made by the student in consultation with the Director. Students must submit to the Director, early in their fourth semester of enrollment, the reading lists over which they expect to be examined. These lists must be prepared in consultation with and signed by the relevant examining professor. Not later than March 1 in their fourth semester students should consult with the Administrative Assistant to schedule an examination. The M.M.S. examinations will be administered in early April, but not during Holy Week.

Second-year research projects will be submitted and collaboratively evaluated (by the adviser, the Director, and such additional faculty members as the Director may appoint) on or before April 30 of a student’s second year. At the beginning of their third semester of study each student will select a member of the faculty with whom he or she will undertake an intensive program of reading in primary sources (preponderantly in the original language) and scholarly literature with a view to identifying a worthwhile, original research project. Once the topic has been identified, the student and teacher will settle on a plan of work such that the resulting paper can be submitted to the teacher, the director, and (perhaps) one more member of the faculty. Faculty and students should approach the project with the intention of producing a publishable article (and perhaps of “spinning off” one or more conference presentations).

A student who has produced a substantial seminar paper in his or her second semester, or who expects to do so in the third semester, may petition the director to use that paper for the second-year research project. In such cases, students will be expected to expand and polish the paper during the early part of the fourth semester. When this option is elected, students may substitute a different class for the Second-Year Research Tutorial I but must still register for the Second Year Research Tutorial II.

The Medieval Institute’s Latin examination will be administered each fall semester in the week after Thanksgiving and each spring semester in the week after spring break.

In the first week of May of each year the director and the graduate committee will review the accomplishments of the members of the second-year class. There will be four possible recommendations:

1. Permission to proceed to the Ph.D.

2. Permission to repeat/complete a deficient element in the M.M.S. requirements with the expectation that the M.M.S. will be terminal.

3. Award of the M.M.S. as a terminal degree.

4. Dismissal without the M.M.S. degree.

Graduate Handbook

Detailed information about administrative policies and procedures is contained in the Graduate Handbook of the Medieval Institute. Click here to see a copy.

Ph.D. in Medieval Studies