Medieval & Early Modern Studies College of Letters & Science

Tiffany Werth, Ph.D.; Program Director

Program Office

176 Voorhies Hall; 530-752-2257; Medieval & Early Modern Studies; Faculty

Medieval Studies (MST)

MST 020A — Early Medieval Culture (4 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Readings (in translation) in medieval culture, such as Codes of Justinian, Confessions of Saint Augustine, Beowulf, the Nibelungenlied, The Song of Roland, the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, the Chronicles of Froissart, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and Dante's Divine Comedy.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing/Discussion.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC).
  • MST 020A — Intro to Late Antique & Early Medieval Worlds (4 units)
  • Course Description: Late antique and early medieval worlds. Social and political structure, prominent philosophies, and literature of societies from the Middle East, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing/Discussion.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Spring Quarter 2025.

MST 020B — The Culture of the High Middle Ages (4 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Great transformations that created the modern world: Constitutional Government, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and the Peasants Revolts, the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and the Baroque.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing/Discussion.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).
  • MST 020B — Intro to Late Medieval & Early Modern Worlds (4 units)
  • Course Description: Late medieval and early modern worlds. Global perspectives that explore human experience in dynamic interconnections with cultures in Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe, and the Middle East.
  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing/Discussion.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Spring Quarter 2025.

MST 098 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)

Course Description: Directed group study.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 098F — Student Facilitated Course (1-4 units)

Course Description: Student facilitated course intended primarily for lower division students.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable 1-4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 099 — Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for undergraduates.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 130A — Special Themes in Medieval Cultures (4 units)

Course Description: Each offering concentrates on an interdisciplinary aspect of medieval culture in the Middle East and Europe: the idea of the hero, mysticism, urban development. Extensive readings focused on medieval source material.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

MST 130B — Special Themes in Renaissance Culture (4 units)

Course Description: Each theme illuminates an interdisciplinary aspect of Renaissance culture in the eastern and western hemispheres: exploration, medical pathology, daily life, baroque culture. Immersion in source material from 1500-1650.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

MST 131 — Cross-Cultural Relations in the Medieval and/or Early Modern World (4 units)

Course Description: Medieval and/or Renaissance aspects of cross culturalism. Relations between Christians, Jews, and Muslims: Europeans, Africans, and Asians; Old World and New World.

Prerequisite(s): MST 020A or MST 020B; or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

MST 189 — Seminar in Medieval & Early Modern Culture (4 units)

Course Description: Focus on a particular problem or issue in the Medieval or Early Modern periods. Seminar topics might include (but not limited to) monasticism, origins of the university, chivalry, exploration, the role of women in the Medieval and Early Modern world.

Prerequisite(s): MST 020A or MST 020B; or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Writing Experience (WE).

MST 190 — Senior Thesis (4 units)

Course Description: Preparation of a research paper dealing with a selected aspect of remodern (from Late Antique to Early Modern) culture, under supervision with a designated Supervisor and second reader.

Prerequisite(s): Senior standing and major in Medieval Early Modern Studies.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

MST 197T — Tutoring in Medieval Studies (1-5 units)

Course Description: Tutoring in MST 020A & MST 020B, including leadership in small discussion groups affiliated with the course.

Prerequisite(s): MST 020A; MST 020B; upper division standing; consent of instructor and chairperson of curriculum committee.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 2 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 6 unit(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 198 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)

Course Description: Directed group study.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 198F — Student Facilitated Course (1-4 units)

Course Description: Student facilitated course intended primarily for upper division students.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable 1-4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 199 — Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for advanced undergraduates.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 199FA — Student Facilitated Course Development (1-4 units)

Course Description: Under the supervision of a faculty member, an undergraduate student plans and develops the course they will offer under 098F/198F.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable 1-4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 199FB — Student Facilitated Teaching (1-4 units)

Course Description: Student facilitated. Under the supervision of a faculty member, an undergraduate student teaches a course under 098F/198F.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable 1-4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

MST 396 — Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4 units)

Course Description: Teaching Assistant training practicum.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable 3 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Graduate standing.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.