Roman Syria Mosaic depicting a rooster, AD 450–550 Gift of Professor and Mrs. Meyer Abrams Cornell University Johnson Museum of Art — Although many mosaics enriched the floors of Roman buildings, much like carpets, they were sometimes placed on walls as well. This mosaic is believed to have originated in an early Christian church in Homs, Syria. In Christian iconography, roosters symbolize Christ’s resurrection because they are the first to greet the dawn.

Studies spanning more than a millennium of languages and cultures

Medieval Studies Program

The Program in Medieval Studies combines the best aspects of an interdisciplinary program with the focused training required for academic careers in a variety of traditional disciplines. The program’s faculty members are drawn from nearly every humanities department at Cornell, offering expertise in disciplines and area studies spanning more than a millennium of languages and cultures—from Old and Middle English literature to Byzantine monuments, from Icelandic sagas to Andalusian architecture, from medieval Latin literature and philosophy to Islamic legal history.

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Medieval Studies News

A&S faculty honored for exemplary teaching, advising

5/23/2023

“Helping students realize their greatest potential is at the core of our mission in the College of Arts & Sciences."

Medieval Studies Commencement invite 2023

Medieval Studies Commencement 2023

5/08/2023

4:30pm on Friday, May 26 in the Hans Bethe House dining room.

Modern Extremism and the Medieval World with border

Modern Extremism and the Medieval World Lecture and Workshop

4/05/2023

April 22 10:00-1:30: Lecture in Kaufmann Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall 1:30-4:00: Workshop in Goldwin Smith Hall G24

The Lombard Gradual cover — Lombard Gradual Received in 1891 Cornell University Library, Division of Rare Books and Manuscripts 4600 Bd. Ms. 20+++

Giving Day, 16 March, 2023

3/16/2023

Please help the Cornell do even more by supporting us today – it’s quick and easy.

Cornell University Library Conservation Services is hosting a "Medieval Writing Open House"

3/10/2023

Thursday, March 16, 4:15-6pm, Olin Library B-32

2023 Medieval Studies Student Colloquium

3/06/2023

The 2023 Medieval Studies Student Colloquium (MSSC), "Lacunae," will be held virtually on Zoom on Saturday, March 11, starting at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.

The growth rings inside a juniper tree, combined with isotope records, helped researchers pinpoint a likely culprit for the collapse of the Hittite Empire: three straight years of severe drought, approximately 1198–96 BC, in an already dry period.

Medieval Studies faculty member, Sturt Manning, published in Nature

2/08/2023

Manning and Jed Sparks combined the capabilities of their respective labs, the Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory and the Cornell Stable Isotope Laboratory (COIL), to scrutinize samples from the Midas Mound Tumulus at Gordion, a human-made 53-meter-tall structure located west of Ankara, Turkey.