Program Description

Rice University's Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program offers a major and a minor that give students the opportunity to study a variety of often interrelated medieval civilizations: European, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Asian, from the 4th to the 16th centuries. Our global and interdisciplinary program draws on a broad range of critical approaches from departments within the School of Music (Music History), the School of Social Sciences (Anthropology), and the School of Humanities (Art History, Classical Studies and European Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Religion, Spanish, Latin American Studies, and Arts).

Students have the opportunity to experience medieval materials firsthand by examining the illuminated manuscripts and medieval art at Rice University and in the libraries and museums in Houston.  Eligible students can sing or play early instruments in the Collegium Musicum—an early music ensemble organized by faculty at the Shepherd School of Music.