Arts & Sciences Medieval & Renaissance Studies Minor
- Description
- College Admission
- Academic and Career Advising
- ACE Requirements
- College Degree Requirements
Description
The minor in medieval and renaissance studies (MRST) provides interdisciplinary exposure to several liberal arts areas and encourages students’ in-depth study of more narrowly defined topics in medieval and renaissance culture as they complete their degree. Minors will work closely with their advisor and the program director to select electives and tailor their minor for their interests. Additionally, minors may have the opportunity to do individualized research or internships through the program, and faculty in MRST frequently support students doing U-Care projects, writing undergraduate theses for distinction, or completing honors program projects. faculty may, on a case by case basis, also fulfill elective credits.
A minor in medieval and renaissance studies pairs well with a major in almost any subject, especially in the humanities or arts. However, students majoring in STEM fields will also enjoy this interdisciplinary minor that will expose them to a wide variety of humanities and arts fields. Medieval and renaissance studies will bring scholars in touch with periods of primary advancement in science and math—modern empiricism, astronomy, mathematics, physics, biological sciences, and engineering all connect to thinkers and philosophers (DaVinci, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Copernicus to name a few) of the pre-modern age.
College Admission
The entrance requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), including any of the majors or minors offered through the college, are the same as the University of Nebraska–Lincoln General Admission Requirements. In addition to these requirements, the College of Arts and Sciences strongly recommends a third and fourth year of one foreign language in high school. Four years of high school coursework in the same language will fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences’ language requirement. It will also allow students to continue language study at a more advanced level at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and provide more opportunity to study abroad.
Academic and Career Advising
Academic and Career Advising Center
Not sure where to go or who to ask? The Advising Center team in 107 Oldfather Hall can help. The Academic and Career Advising Center is the undergraduate hub for CAS students in all majors. Centrally located and easily accessed, students encounter friendly, knowledgeable people who are eager to help or connect students to partner resources. Students also visit the Advising Center in 107 Oldfather Hall to:
- Choose or change their major, minor, or degree program.
- Check on policies, procedures, and deadlines.
- Get a college approval signature from the Dean’s representatives.
CAS Career Coaches are available by appointment (in-person or zoom) and located in the CAS Academic and Career Advising Center, 107 Oldfather Hall. They help students explore majors and minors, gain experience, and develop a plan for life after graduation.
Assigned Academic Advisors
Academic advisors are critical resources dedicated to students' academic, personal, and professional success. Every CAS student is assigned an academic advisor based on their primary major. Since most CAS students have more than just a single major, it is important to get to know the advisor for any minors or additional majors. Academic advisors work closely with the faculty to provide the best overall support and the discipline specific expertise. They are available for appointments (in-person or zoom) and through weekly virtual drop-ins. Assigned advisors are listed in MyRED and their offices may be located in or near the department of the major for which they advise.
Students who have declared a pre-health or pre-law area of interest will also work with advisors in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center (Explore Center) in 127 Love South, who are specially trained to guide students preparing to enter a professional school.
For complete and current information on advisors for majors, minors, or pre-professional areas, visit https://cas.unl.edu/major-advisors, or connect with the Arts and Sciences Academic and Career Advising Center, 107 Oldfather Hall, 402-472-4190, casadvising@unl.edu.
Career Coaching
The College believes that Academics + Experience = Opportunities and encourages students to complement their academic preparation with real-world experience, including internships, research, education abroad, service, and leadership. Arts and sciences students have access to a powerful network of faculty, staff, and advisors dedicated to providing information and support for their goals of meaningful employment or advanced education. Arts and sciences graduates have unlimited career possibilities and carry with them important career competencies—communication, critical thinking, creativity, context, and collaboration. They have the skills and adaptability that employers universally value. Graduates are prepared to effectively contribute professionally and personally with a solid foundation to excel in an increasingly global, technological, and interdisciplinary world.
Students should contact the career coaches in the Arts and Sciences Academic and Career Advising Center in 107 Oldfather Hall, or their assigned advisor, for more information. The CAS career coaches help students explore career options, identify ways to build experience and prepare to apply for internships, jobs, or graduate school, including help with resumes, applications, and interviewing.
ACE Requirements
Students must complete one course for each of the ACE Student Learning Outcomes below. Certified course choices are published in the degree audit, or visit the ACE website for the most current list of certified courses.
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
ACE Student Learning Outcomes | ||
ACE 1: Write texts, in various forms, with an identified purpose, that respond to specific audience needs, integrate research or existing knowledge, and use applicable documentation and appropriate conventions of format and structure. | ||
ACE 2: Demonstrate competence in communication skills. | ||
ACE 3: Use mathematical, computational, statistical, logical, or other formal reasoning to solve problems, draw inferences, justify conclusions, and determine reasonableness. | ||
ACE 4: Use scientific methods and knowledge to pose questions, frame hypotheses, interpret data, and evaluate whether conclusions about the natural and physical world are reasonable. | ||
ACE 5: Use knowledge, historical perspectives, analysis, interpretation, critical evaluation, and the standards of evidence appropriate to the humanities to address problems and issues. | ||
ACE 6: Use knowledge, theories, and research perspectives such as statistical methods or observational accounts appropriate to the social sciences to understand and evaluate social systems or human behaviors. | ||
ACE 7: Use knowledge, theories, or methods appropriate to the arts to understand their context and significance. | ||
ACE 8: Use knowledge, theories, and analysis to explain ethical principles and their importance in society. | ||
ACE 9: Exhibit global awareness or knowledge of human diversity through analysis of an issue. | ||
ACE 10: Generate a creative or scholarly product that requires broad knowledge, appropriate technical proficiency, information collection, synthesis, interpretation, presentation, and reflection. |
College Degree Requirements
College Distribution Requirements – BA and BS
The College of Arts and Sciences distribution requirements are common to both the bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees and are designed to ensure a range of courses. By engaging in study in several different areas within the College, students develop the ability to learn in a variety of ways and apply their knowledge from a variety of perspectives. All requirements are in addition to University ACE requirements, and no course can be used to fulfill both an ACE outcome and a College Distribution Requirement.
- A student may not use a single course to satisfy more than one College Distribution Requirement, with the exception of CDR Diversity. Courses used to meet CDR Diversity may also meet CDR Writing, CDR Humanities, or CDR Social Science.
- Independent study or reading courses and internships cannot be used to satisfy distribution requirements.
- Courses from interdisciplinary programs will be applied in the same area as courses from the home/cross-listed department.
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
College Distribution Requirements | ||
CDR: Written Communication | 3 | |
Select from courses approved for ACE outcome 1. | ||
CDR: Natural, Physical, and Mathematical Sciences with Lab | 4 | |
Select from biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, geology, meteorology, mathematics, and physics. Must include one lab in the natural or physical sciences. Lab courses may be selected from biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, geology, meteorology, and physics. | ||
Some courses from geography and anthropology may also be used to satisfy the lab requirement above. 1 | ||
CDR: Humanities | 3 | |
Select from classics, English, film studies, history, modern languages and literatures, philosophy, and religious studies. 2 | ||
CDR: Social Science | 3 | |
Select from anthropology, communication studies, geography, national security studies, political science, psychology, or sociology. 3 | ||
CDR: Human Diversity in U.S. Communities | 0-3 | |
Select from a set of approved courses as listed in the degree audit. | ||
CDR: Language | 0-16 | |
Fulfilled by the completion of the 6-credit-hour second-year sequence in a single foreign language in one of the following departments: Classics and religious studies or modern languages and literatures. Instruction is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. | ||
A student who has completed the fourth-year level of one foreign language in high school is exempt from the languages requirement, but encouraged to continue on in their language study. | ||
Credit Hours Subtotal: | 13-32 |
- 1
See Degree Audit or a College of Arts and Sciences advisor for approved geography and anthropology courses that apply as natural science.
- 2
Language courses numbered 220 and below do not fulfill the CDR Humanities.
- 3
See Degree Audit or College of Arts and Sciences advisor for list of natural/physical science courses in anthropology, geography, and psychology that do not apply as social science.
Language Requirement
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the College of Arts and Sciences place great value on academic exposure and proficiency in a second language. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln entrance requirement of two years of the same foreign language or the College’s language distribution requirement (CDR: Language) will rarely be waived and only with relevant documentation. See the main College of Arts and Sciences page for more details.
Experiential Learning Requirement
All undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete an Experiential Learning (EL) designated course. This may include 0-credit courses designed to document co-curricular activities recognized as Experiential Learning.
Scientific Base - BS Only
The bachelor of science degree requires students to complete 60 hours in mathematical, physical, and natural sciences. Approved courses for scientific-based credit come from the following College of Arts and Sciences disciplines: actuarial science, anthropology (selected courses), astronomy, biochemistry (excluding BIOC 101), biological sciences (excluding BIOS 100 or BIOS 203), chemistry (excluding CHEM 101), geography (selected courses), geology, life sciences, mathematics (excluding courses below MATH 104), meteorology, microbiology (excluding MBIO 101), and physics (excluding PHYS 201.)
See your Degree Audit or your assigned academic advisor for a complete list, including individual classes that fall outside of the disciplines listed above. Up to 12 hours of scientific and technical courses offered by other colleges may be accepted toward this requirement with approval of the College of Arts and Sciences. See your assigned academic advisor to start the approval process.
Minimum Hours Required for Graduation
A minimum of 120 semester hours of credit is required for graduation from the College of Arts and Sciences. A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 is required.
Grade Rules
Restrictions on C- and D Grades
The College will accept no more than 15 semester hours of C- and D grades from other domestic institutions except for UNO and UNK. All courses taken at UNO and UNK impact the UNL transcript. No transfer of C- and D grades can be applied toward requirements in a major or a minor. No University of Nebraska–Lincoln C- and D grades can be applied toward requirements in a major or a minor. International coursework (including education abroad) with a final grade equivalent to a C- or lower will not be validated by the College of Arts and Sciences departments to be degree applicable.
Pass/No Pass Privilege
The College of Arts and Sciences adheres to the University regulations for the Pass/No Pass (P/N) privilege with the following additional regulations:
- Pass/No Pass hours can count toward fulfillment of University ACE requirements and college distribution requirements up to the 24-hour maximum.
- Most arts and sciences departments and programs do not allow courses graded Pass/No Pass to apply to the major or minor. Students should refer to the department’s or program’s section of the catalog for clarification. By college rule, departments can allow up to 6 hours of Pass/No Pass in the major or minor.
- Departments may specify that certain courses of theirs can be taken only on a P/N basis.
- The college will permit no more than a total of 24 semester hours of P/N grades to be applied toward degree requirements. This total includes all Pass grades earned at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and other U.S. schools. NOTE: This 24-hour limit is more restrictive than the University regulation.
Grading Appeals
A student who feels that he/she has been unfairly graded must ordinarily take the following sequential steps in a timely manner, usually by initiating the appeal in the semester following the awarding of the grade:
- Talk with the instructor concerned. Most problems are resolved at this point.
- Talk to the instructor’s department chairperson.
- Take the case to the Grading Appeal Committee of the department concerned. The Committee should be contacted through the department chairperson.
- Take the case to the College Grading Appeals Committee by contacting the Dean’s Office, 1223 Oldfather Hall.
Course Level Requirements
Courses Numbered at the 300 or 400 Level
Thirty (30) of the 120 semester hours of credit must be in courses numbered at the 300 or 400 level. Of those 30 hours, 15 hours (1/2) must be completed in residence at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Residency Requirement
Students must complete at least 30 of the 120 total hours for their degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Students must complete at least 1/2 of their major coursework, including 6 hours at the 300 or 400 level in their major and 15 of the 30 hours required at the 300 or 400 level, in residence. Credit earned during education abroad may be used toward the residency requirement only if students register through the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Catalog to Use
Students must fulfill the requirements stated in the catalog for the academic year in which they are first admitted to and enrolled as a degree-seeking student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In consultation with advisors, a student may choose to follow a subsequent catalog for any academic year in which they are admitted to and enrolled as a degree-seeking student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students must complete all degree requirements from a single catalog year. Beginning in 1990-1991, the catalog which a student follows for degree requirements may not be more than 10 years old at the time of graduation.
Transfer Students: Students who have transferred from a community college may be eligible to fulfill the requirements as stated in the catalog for an academic year in which they were enrolled at the community college prior to attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This decision should be made in consultation with academic advisors, provided the student a) was enrolled in a community college during the catalog year they are utilizing, b) maintained continuous enrollment at the previous institution for 1 academic year or more, and c) continued enrollment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln within 1 calendar year from their last term at the previous institution. Students must complete all degree requirements from a single catalog year and within the time frame allowable for that catalog year.
Requirements for Minor Offered by Department
Eighteen (18) credit hours of study, with at least nine (9) credit hours at the 300 level or above.
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
History and Religion | ||
Select two courses from the following: 1 | 6 | |
Women in Quran | ||
Early Christianity | ||
Medieval World: Byzantium | ||
History of Early Modern Europe: Renaissance to the French Revolution | ||
Revolutions and Misbehaving Monarchs in Pre-Modern England | ||
The Renaissance | ||
European Reformations, 1500-1650 | ||
Saints, Witches, and Madwomen | ||
Medieval England | ||
Ways of Western Religion | ||
Credit Hours Subtotal: | 6 | |
Arts, Literature, and Philosophy | ||
Select two courses from the following: 1 | 6 | |
Italian Renaissance Art | ||
Baroque Art | ||
The World of Classical Rome | ||
Shakespeare | ||
Introduction to Medieval Literature | ||
Introduction to Renaissance Literature | ||
Body Language: Love, Politics, and the Self in French Literature | ||
Ethics: Ancient and Medieval | ||
Knowledge: Ancient and Medieval | ||
Metaphysics: Ancient and Medieval | ||
Credit Hours Subtotal: | 6 | |
Electives | ||
Select an additional 6 hours of courses from the lists above or other MRST courses approved by the MRST advisor. 1 | 6 | |
Credit Hours Subtotal: | 6 | |
Total Credit Hours | 18 |
- 1
Additional related courses not on these lists may be substituted with permission from the MRST advisor.
Grade Rules
C- and D Grades
A grade of C or better must be earned in all courses in the major or minor.
Pass/No Pass
No course taken Pass/No Pass will be counted toward the major or minor.
Description: Transition from ancient to Medieval civilization; the so-called Dark Ages; the late Medieval Renaissance and the dawn of the modern era.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
ACE Outcomes: | ACE 5 Humanities |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:ACE 5 Humanities
Description: Beginning of the modern era, with much attention to the secularization of European society from the Renaissance through the Age of Enlightenment.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Examines the interconnections of religion and politics and their influence on people of all social classes. Topics include: hereditary monarchy, the signing of Magna Carta, developing Parliament, medieval peasant revolts, and seventeenth-century revolutions.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
ACE Outcomes: | ACE 5 Humanities |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:ACE 5 Humanities
Taught in English. Letter grade only.
Description: A diachronic approach to Quran as a literature. Provides an analytic, linguistic as well as the critical study of both the Qur'anic text and its exegeses.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Examines the intellectual and artistic achievements of the Italian Renaissance, relating them to the political developments and social changes which occurred throughout the Italian peninsula between ca. 1300-1550 and highlighting those elements which would influence the evolution of European culture. Emphasis on the development of humanism and its role in the transition from medieval to modern values.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Sophomore, junior, or senior standing.
Description: An introduction to the Crusades and the idea of holy war in the middle ages from both the Christian and Islamic perspectives.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Beginning of the modern era, from the Reformation to the dawn of the Enlightenment, focusing on the impact of the Renaissance, the changing role of the post-reformation churches in European society, religious wars and the rise of the absolutist state, the development of scientific thought, and their relationship to the development of Baroque art and architecture.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Survey of women in European history from the Middle Ages to the present. Themes include power relations, work, love and sexuality, marriage, legal issues for women, and growth of feminist consciousness.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Traces the emergence and development of a distinctive Jewish culture and identity in medieval Europe and in the regions bordering the Mediterranean sea from the birth of rabbinic Judaism under the Roman empire until the seventeenth century orthodox synthesis of Talmudic learning, Kabbalah, and custom and Jewish responses to the Englightenment. Includes interaction of Jews with majority cultures (including the development of anti-Semitism), and the impact of Jews and Jewish learning upon western culture.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Offered: | FALL/SPR |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Image of the madwoman throughout European and American history. Emphasis on how women on the margins have been labelled in different periods as saintly, as witches, or as insane.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Description: Close study of stories, in various forms, from around the world. Considers the role of gender, race, and history as lenses through which to approach the production and reception of storytelling. Readings, discussions, and assignments conducted in English.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Taught in English.
Description: French texts from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries (drama, prose, poetry, autobiography), all of which use the body as a reference point to explore developments in gender, religion, science, and society in French literature and civilization.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Description: Topics vary.
Credit Hours: | 1-3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 6 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:1-3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Historical context of changes in religion, literature, philosophy, and the arts, 400-1450.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: The cultural and intellectual developments of the German Reformation against its social background. The religious and political events of the first half of the sixteenth century. Transition from medieval to modern Christianity. The transmission and revolutionary nature of evangelical doctrines. The gradual institutionalization of the new churches.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Description: Life and thought of significant figures and schools of thought in the Reformation period
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: Individuals from late medieval/early modern Europe, such as Joan of Arc, Henry V, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Examines how history can be used to serve social, cultural, and political needs, and the difficulties of determining historic truth about a person or event.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Pre-1800 content.
Description: History of English society, politics, and culture from the time of Henry VIII through that of Elizabth I, Shakespeare, Donne, Charles I, Cromwell, and Milton.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded with Option |
Credit Hours:3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Permission
Description: Individual or group project in research, literature review, or extension of course work.
Credit Hours: | 1-3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 6 |
Grading Option: | Graded |
Offered: | FALL/SPR |
Credit Hours:1-3
ACE:
Prerequisites: Permission
Students must complete an interdisciplinary seminar paper or project to complete the MRST degree; they may use MRST 499 to complete this capstone requirement. They may use MRST 499 while preparing a CAS Thesis for Distinction or Honors thesis, but they do not have to submit an MRST 499 thesis to CAS or Honors.
Description: Conduct a scholarly research project and write a University Honors Program project, a thesis for CAS Degrees with Distinction, or an undergraduate thesis specific to MRST.
Credit Hours: | 3 |
---|---|
Max credits per semester: | 3 |
Max credits per degree: | 3 |
Grading Option: | Graded |
Offered: | FALL/SPR |
Credit Hours:3
ACE: