Graduate Certificate in Premodern Cultures and Communities
The Graduate certificate in Premodern Cultures and Communities is designed to provide graduate students with advanced training in the methods and questions unique to premodern studies. Premodern studies focuses on the global, multidisciplinary study of the cultures and traditions of the Christian West, Byzantium, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas as they developed and interacted over the premodern era, loosely defined as 400 to 1700 AD.
Students will gain knowledge and skills in content and methods necessary to identify, develop, conduct, and present comparative and cross-cultural analysis of the premodern era. Students will explore developments of the era, such as trade and trans-regional encounters. Graduates will be able to address research that focuses on the premodern era.
The certificate program is available to only degree-seeking students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Students enrolled in the certificate program will complete it in tandem with their graduate or doctoral degree. The length of time to complete will be based on scheduling within their degree program. Students may complete the certificate in one year (two semesters) or five years (ten semesters).
All certificate course requirements need to be completed within the time it takes to complete the graduate or doctoral degree in which the student is enrolled.
Admission
All students must apply to the certificate program. The following admissions requirements will apply to all applicants:
- Online application form;
- Admission to graduate or doctoral degree program in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences;
- A two-page statement of their intellectual and professional goals for the certificate;
- Official UVA graduate-level transcript;
- A 10-15-page writing sample;
- A letter of endorsement of their participation in the certificate program from the director of their graduate or doctoral degree program.
Curriculum Requirements
The curriculum will provide a foundation in the content, history, and research approaches that shape the field of premodern studies. The core course will provide students with content knowledge and education in premodern theory and historiography. Students will learn technical skills for literary, cultural, and historical analyses. Students will also gain the vocabulary to integrate the premodern perspective into their primary field of study.
Program Requirements
Number of Credit Hours to Complete: 12 credit hours of graduate level courses.
Core Course: 3 credits
PCC 6000: Introduction to Premodern Cultures and Communities (3 credits)
Electives: 9 credits
Students will be required to select three graduate-level courses, in which at least 50% of the subject matter of the course falls within the premodern time frame. Courses may be selected from any courses offered at the university. Only one course from the student’s home department may be counted toward the certificate. The certificate’s program director will consult with the student’s faculty advisor to confirm that the selected electives represent a cohesive plan of study.
Below is a list of potential elective courses:
ARAH 9510 - Seminar in Medieval Architecture - Credits: 3 OR ARH 9510 - Seminar in Medieval Architecture - Credits: 1 to 3
ARAH 9525 - Seminar in Renaissance/Baroque Art - Credits: 3
ARAH 9585 - Seminar in the Art of East, South, and Southeast Asia - Credits: 3
EAST 5863 - East Asian Art, Landscape, and Ecology - Credits: 3
ENGL 5810 - Books as Physical Objects - Credits: 3
ENGL 5830 - Introduction to World Religions, World Literatures - Credits: 3 OR ENGL 8110 - Medieval Transitions to the Renaissance - Credits: 3
ENGL 8520 - Studies in Renaissance Literature - Credits: 3
FREN 5510 - Topics in Medieval Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Medieval Saints’ Lives) OR FREN 8510 - Seminar in Medieval Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Medieval Saints’ Lives)
FREN 5510 - Topics in Medieval Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Premodern Race/Gender/Class) OR FREN 8510 - Seminar in Medieval Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Premodern Race/Gender/Class)
FREN 5520 - Topics in Sixteenth-Century Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Gender, Sexuality, and Self in the Renaissance) OR FREN 8520 - Seminar in Sixteenth-Century Literature - Credits: 3 (Topic: Gender, Sexuality, and Self in the Renaissance)
HIST 5559 - New Course in General History - Credits: 1 to 4 (Topic: Global Christianity)
HIST 9033 - Tutorial in the History and Historiography of the Mediterranean - Credits: 3
MEST 5492 - The Afro-Arabs and Africans of the Middle East and North Africa - Credits: 3
MUSI 7509 - Cultural and Historical Studies of Music - Credits: 3
RELI 5559 - New Course in Islam - Credits: 3 (Topic: Islam in South Asia)
RELI 5559 - New Course in Islam - Credits: 3 (Topic: Islam Philosophy and Theology)
RELI 5559 - New Course in Islam - Credits: 3 (Topic: Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians & Manichaeans under Islam)
SPAN 7850 - Themes and Genres - Credits: 3
