Since 1966, Cornell’s Program in Medieval Studies has combined 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 are drawn from nearly every humanities department at Cornell; together, they offer expertise in a wide array of disciplines and area studies spanning more than a millennium of languages and cultures—from Old and Middle English literature to Byzantine monuments; from Viking studies to Andalusian architecture; from Chinese intellectual history to Islamic legal history.
Explore Academics Pursuits
Student Groups
The Medieval Studies Graduate Association (MSGA) is an independent entity. Its funds are purely and wholly for the disposal of its own working brief. The MSGA is dedicated to being a forum for sustained discussion and debate within the student medievalist body on campus and to strengthening connectivity between these students.
Click here for more details on the Medieval Studies Graduate Association
The Medieval Studies Student Colloquium (MSSC) is an independent organization dedicated to showcasing the ideas and research of the medievalist graduate student community at Cornell and the wider world, and to strengthening the connectivity between these medievalists.
Click here for more details on the Medieval Studies Student Colloquium
Quodlibet provides a lively forum for all those interested in all things medieval on campus, and organizes a series of lectures to highlight current research topics relating to medieval studies.
Medieval Language Reading Groups
Spring 2025
| Language | Day and time (all times listed as Eastern/Ithaca time) | Location | Group leaders |
| Latin | Thursdays at 3-4pm | Material Culture Lab Goldwin Smith GM09 | Andrew Hicks (ajh299) Paul Vinhage (pav47) |
| Old French | Wednesdays at 3 - 4pm | Goldwin Smith Hall 160 | Chiara Visentin (cv284) |
| Old English | Fridays at 10:30 - 11:30am | Olin Library 603 | Hunter Phillips (hap48) Lars Johnson (log6) |
| Middle English | Thursdays at 1:30-2:30pm First meeting: Jan 30 | White Hall 114 | Ryanne Berry (rrb247) Ryan Randle (rar348) |
| Old Norse Icelandic | Fridays at 11:30am-12:30pm | Zoom (email Tom Hill for link) | Tom Hill (tdh1) |
| Dutch | Biweekly Fridays at 10-11am First meeting: Feb 7 | Rockefeller 187 | Thari Zweers (tlz5) |
News
Zachary Thomas awarded a Zhu Family Graduate Fellowship
Medieval Studies PhD candidate, Zachary Thomas, was nominated for and awarded this fellowship for the 2024-2025 academic year!
Read more
MSSC 2025: Dissonance and Dysphoria
On Saturday, February 22, the 35th annual Medieval Studies Student Colloquium will take place at the A.D. White House on Cornell's Ithaca campus.
Read more
Medieval Studies Spring 2025 Roundtable
Please join us at the Medieval Studies Graduate Student Roundtable this semester!
Read more
Sarah LaVoy-Brunette, Ph.D. Candidate in Medieval Studies, publishes article in Speculum
The article, “Anglo-Saxonism and Indigenous Dispossession: Land-Grab Universities and the Emergence of Medieval Studies” is in Speculum's Centennial Issue (January 2025).
Read more
Manning honored for contributions to archaeology
Sturt Manning, received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Boston in November.
Read more
New student awards honor Medieval studies faculty
Medieval Studies has created new prizes for students. Submissions for both prizes are due Jan. 31 and will be judged by a faculty panel in the Medieval Studies Program.
Read more
Alice Wolff, Ph.D. Candidate in Medieval Studies, publishes article in Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Alice Wolff, current Medieval Studies graduate student, publishes her article "A thorny problem: defining weeds from the medieval to the present" in Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Read more