Browse the “Medieval” section in a bookstore and you will get the impression that it is pretty much all about the Knights Templar, the Crusades, barons and serfs, and cathedrals and castles. And medievalists do study these things. But as the activities described on our website attest, medievalists also study a complex variety of historical, social, intellectual, material, artistic, documentary, and literary evidence from the past. Medieval Studies is a community of students and teachers who seek to understand how human culture developed across the globe during about a thousand years of history; how “medieval” people interacted with each other, with the non-human world, and with their environment; how the medieval world has shaped the modern world (the university itself is a medieval institution); and how we “moderns” (that’s a medieval word) have imagined and represented the medieval past.
If you would like to support the mission and activities of the Program in Medieval Studies, please consider a gift. Donations help the Program to enhance undergraduate and graduate education; to award scholarships to students; to host major international conferences; and to develop our outreach programs.
If you or someone you know is interested in donating to our Program, please contact us at (217-333-5572) or at medievalstudies@illinois.edu
