The MRST Faculty and Program

The faculty of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program hail from six different departments. MRST faculty members are dedicated to their students, giving them close individual attention.

Via our extensive program offerings, our students explore European as well as Islamic and East Asian history and cultures from roughly 300 to 1650 CE, that is, from the late Roman Empire and Han Dynasty to the first stages of global integration effected by the Mongol Empire, Muslim preponderance from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, and Chinese and European exploration by sea and land starting in the 14th Century. Drawing on our specializations and the courses we teach in our home departments, we have constructed a flexible, integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum allowing students to pursue either a minor or a custom major (BA or BS) in Multidisciplinary Studies.

Over the past twenty-five years, in partnership with affiliated programs, MRST faculty have continued to inspire students and enrich the campus & local communities through a wide variety of activities. Members have:

  • produced music CDs for commercial labels
  • performed live professionally and on campus with students
  • written innovative textbooks and collections of cases studies, which their MRST students have beta-tested
  • curated exhibitions, including one at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
  • organized faculty and student talks, guest lectures, and colloquia on campus and beyond
  • hosted medieval banquets and movie series
  • developed innovative Digital Humanities projects to which students have contributed
  • led study abroad programs
  • participated in student clubs and honor societies in our home departments
  • published books and articles in top presses and journals
  • and won many scholarships, grants, awards, and prizes for their teaching, service, research, and creative activities