Through a wide variety of subjects drawn from a number of disciplines, this program provides a curricular framework for exploring topics in ancient and medieval studies which range from the history of ideas and institutions to that of material artifacts, literature and certain of the original languages. The chronological span of the program includes some 6,500 years between 5000 B.C. and 1500 A.D.
The goal of this program is to develop knowledge and understanding of the more distant past both for itself, in its uniqueness, and as an object of specifically modern questions and methods of inquiry. We are interested in the structure of institutions and social systems, and in relationships between the social order and learned traditions, values, ideologies and ideas. Ancient and medieval studies derive a special claim to our interest from the fact that the record is so full and multiform and that much of it is of exceptionally high quality at once in substance and form.
The concentration requirements consist of four subjects, at least one of which is to be taken in the medieval period by students whose focus is to be the Ancient World, or one in the ancient period by those whose focus is the Middle Ages. Subjects listed below as ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL may count for either. At least two of the subjects taken towards the concentration must be taken at M.I.T. Only one of the subjects taken towards the concentration may be a HASS-D subject counted toward the HASS-Distribution requirement. Concentrators may count up to two subjects in Greek or Latin or a medieval vernacular (taken at MIT or other institutions) towards the concentration. Students interested in the program should contact the Concentration Advisor.
There are two forms (Proposal and Certification of Completion) required to track your progress in pursuing a concentration in Ancient and Medieval Studies. Each must be signed by the concentration advisor and submitted by the student to Mabel Chin in the History Office (E51-285). The Proposal for a Concentration in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences requests a list of the Ancient and Medieval subjects the student has taken or intends to take. This form should be submitted by the end of the sophomore year. The Certification of Completed Concentration in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences confirms your completion of the requirements for the concentration. This form should be filled out as soon as the required course work has been completed, or by the end of the first week of classes of your final term, whichever comes first.
Ancient And Medieval
4.444 Analysis of Historical Structures
21H.007J Empire: Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies [21L.014]
21L.001 Foundations of Western Culture: Homer to Dante HASS-D, CI-H
21L.330 Latin I [6-unit course] ◦◦
21L.335 Latin II [6-unit course] ◦◦
◦◦ These two 6-unit classes may be combined by petition to form one 12-unit HASS-Elective.
Ancient
3.982 Ancient Andean World
3.983 Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization
3.993 Archaeology of the Middle East
21H.301 The Ancient World: Greece HASS-D, CI-H
21H.302 The Ancient World: Rome HASS-D, CI-H
21H.402 The Making of a Roman Emperor
21H.405J The Ancient City [11.012J]
21H.406 Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Roman Republic
21L.455 Classical Literature
21L.458 The Bible
Medieval
4.614 Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures HASS-D
21H.306 The Medieval World: 200-1500
21H.308 The Vikings
21H.309 Charlemagne: Emperor of Europe
21H.416J Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective HASS-D [14.70J]
21H.601 Islam, the Middle East, and the West HASS-D
21L.460 Medieval Literature
21L.704 Studies in Poetry (When applicable)
21M.220 Early Music
Students that have taken the following subjects that are no longer offered can count these subjects toward their concentration:
21H.411 History of Western Thought: 500-1300
21H.521 Ancient Japan and the Courtly Society
21H.522 Japan in the Age of the Samurai: History and Film
24.200 Ancient Philosophy
Additional information can be obtained from the Concentration Advisor or from the History Office, E51-285, x3-4965.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology