Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Glasgow

Optional courses

Study Option

The study option essay may be taken in subject areas offered by contributing departments following consultation with the MLitt convener and the potential supervisor just before the semester break.  The research for the study option essay is conducted in the second semester and is combined with an oral presentation element for which practice and training is provided.
 
We can offer expert supervision in a very wide range of subjects.  To illustrate this, we have included a selection of essay and dissertation titles from past years’ intake:

• “Th’end is every tales strengthe”: unfinished narrative in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
• A Lacanian approach to medieval masculinity
• A study of court life in Béroul’s Tristan et Iseut and Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialum
• Allusion to illusion: discerning emblems in Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta
• An analysis of Carolingian and Ottonian relations with the Church
• An analysis of Dhuoda’s Liber manualis in relation to religion, education, and aristrocratic family roles in Carolingian Europe
• Developments in Old English textbook production and their influence on student learners
• Getting under the skin of Suibhne Geilt: Shape, skin and surface in Buile Suibhne
• Hieronymus Bosch and the reinvention of the hellish
• Hunting Caravaggio’s feminine forms: “The Martyrdom of St Ursula”
• Language and national identity in Havelok, Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild
• Romanitas in the kingdom of the Britons at Dumbarton Rock
• Saracens in C. S. Lewis: comprehending Muslim stereotypes in The Chronicles of Narnia
• Select emblems from Alciato’s Emblemata and their connection with Emperor Charles V
• Within bounds: the medieval urban house

Manuscript studies and research methods

Students may choose courses in either medieval manuscript studies or specialist research methods in renaissance studies.  The medieval option is divided into two discrete elements, the first comprising a broad-based introduction to medieval manuscript studies including an overview of palaeography, codicology and the editing process.  The second offers students a choice from a series of options offering specialised training in specific periods, areas or types of script, such as (for example) early medieval palaeography, Italian notarial hands or Caroline minuscule.  The early modern alternative course provides training in subject-specific research skills including an introduction to early modern palaeography, textual bibliography and advanced IT resources.  It is team-taught with colleagues from Strathclyde University.   

Language

Students may select a modern, medieval or ancient language to fit best with their own interests.  They may join either beginners’ or more advanced classes in Latin or Greek as well as a range of modern languages, and, depending on staff availability, it is normally possible to arrange tuition in a variety of medieval languages including medieval Latin, Old English, Old Icelandic, Old Irish, Old French, Occitan, Medieval Welsh, and Old Irish.