Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Encyclopedia
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is a programme for international students (mainly American) to study in Oxford. It was founded by Dr John Feneley in 1975. For the first thirty years of its existence, until 2006, the Centre was affiliated to Keble College, Oxford. CMRS currently works with St Peter's College, Oxford
St Peter's College, Oxford
St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels - Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall - both of which were...
. American colleges and universities that have regularly sent students to CMRS are Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College is a comprehensive private liberal arts college in Elmhurst, Illinois with a tradition of service-oriented learning. It has a rich affiliation with the United Church of Christ.- History :...
, Biola University
Biola University
Biola University is a private, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located near Los Angeles. Biola's main campus is in La Mirada in Los Angeles County, California. In addition, the university has several satellite campuses in Chino Hills, Inglewood, San Diego, and Laguna Hills.-...
, The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, Moravian College
Moravian College
Moravian College a private liberal arts college, and the associated Moravian Theological Seminary are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region.-History:...
, St. Mary's College of California, St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland, established in 1840, is a public, secular liberal arts college located in St. Mary's City, Maryland. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and designated as a Public Honors College . St. Mary's College is a small college, with about 2,000...
, St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
, and William Jewell College
William Jewell College
William Jewell College is a private, four-year liberal arts college of 1,100 undergraduate students located in Liberty, Missouri, U.S. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other civic leaders, including Robert S. James, a Baptist minister and father of the...
, Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, located in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 it was known initially as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart...
, among others.
The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (or CMRS) is located in St Michael's Hall on Shoe Lane, close to St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Oxford
St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels - Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall - both of which were...
and Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
. St Michael's Hall is a large building. It contains, among other things, a Lecture Hall and several other teaching rooms, a stained glass studio, a computer laboratory, offices for the CMRS administration, the Feneley Library, and several floors of student accommodation, including a kitchen, dining room, JCR and various student bedrooms.
According the CMRS website, "the emphasis at CMRS is on scholarship." The academic programme is carefully devised so that students can receive either specialized training in Medieval and Renaissance Studies or a more general course of studies in the Liberal Arts. Teaching at CMRS is provided by one-to-one tutorials, by small seminar classes, and by lecture courses. The Oxford tutorial system ensures the closest possible cooperation between teachers and pupils.
The overall aim of CMRS is to provide each student with a rigorous training in particular disciplines within the context of a broad and well-balanced academic, cultural, and social life. Certain qualities are necessary if a student is to obtain maximum benefit from an education here: an enquiring mind, a critical approach to facts and, above all, a capacity for creative as well as analytical thought. In considering each individual applicant, the greatest importance is attached to recommendations from faculty members who have personal knowledge of his or her work.
Tutorials
Students select two tutorial courses each semester from a wide range of options. A tutorial is a weekly meeting of one or, very occasionally, two students with the tutor responsible for a particular area of studies. The tutorial is a creative and flexible teaching method that enables the teacher to adapt a course to the precise requirements of a particular student, and to give that student individual attention and supervision.At the weekly meeting with each tutor the student presents a formal essay, based on reading in primary and secondary sources. The tutor will point the student to the most important books and articles relevant to a topic, while also encouraging initiative and judgment in their selection.
The preparation and writing of an essay is a time-consuming and exacting process, so the student must be prepared to devote the greater part of each week to this work. The purpose of this exercise is not merely to test a student’s ability to amass facts, but to develop powers of critical analysis so that he or she can identify and interpret significant information and present facts and conclusions in a clear and precise form.
Seminars
Each student attends one of the seminars offered each semester in art history, history, literature, philosophy, political thought, religious studies. These courses complement the one-to-one work of the tutorial by fostering students’ presentational skills, by encouraging students to learn from each other as well as from the tutor, and by requiring a substantial research essay produced over the whole period of ten weeks.Considerable importance is attached to the research essay. The seminar tutor assists in the choice of topic, advises on the use of resources including the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
, the main library of Oxford University, and monitors progress. The essay is expected to be a substantial and exemplary piece of research which should be valuable in future applications to postgraduate or professional programmes.
Seminar sessions are one and a half to two hours long, and vary in format and style according to the requirements of the subject and the needs of the participants. They range from one-hour formal lectures followed by a discussion period, to sessions where students present the points for discussion and explore them under the guidance of their tutor. Extensive and detailed reading is required each week in preparation for the seminars. Students are given reading lists, assigned weekly topics, and asked to report regularly on the development of their research essay.
Integral Courses
Each semester has an Integral Course consisting of lectures, field trips and a colloquium. In the Autumn Semester the field trips and the majority of the lectures come at the beginning of term. By tracing the background knowledge necessary for an understanding of the Middle Ages, they provide a foundation for the student’s subsequent studies at CMRS. In the Spring Semester there are fortnightly lectures during the first ten weeks of term which trace the gradual breakdown of the medieval world view and the emergence of the Renaissance. These prepare students for the lectures and field trips during the final four weeks of term which investigate the major developments from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century that transformed society and shaped the future of Europe and America. One lecture each week is devoted to the presentation and critical analysis of a text which exercised a decisive influence on the formation of European civilization. Such texts might include Dante’s Divine Comedy, or Milton's AreopagiticaAreopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
. Lectures are supplemented by colloquium sessions and field trips (see below) and the course is assessed by a three-hour written examination and an essay from a choice of questions.
Colloquium
Students meet every two weeks with a CMRS tutor to discuss one of the seminal texts introduced in the lecture series. The small size of the classes, usually about 15 students, makes it possible to have a vigorous exchange of ideas at a high intellectual level. The aim of the Colloquium is threefold: to consolidate and enhance the information imparted in the Integral lectures; to subject traditional world views to rigorous investigation; to encourage students to discuss in and outside class their different approaches to learning and living in the modern world.Field Trips
CMRS gives its students a thorough introduction to the colleges, museums and art galleries of Oxford at the beginning of each term. The city of Oxford is viewed as one of the historical, literary and artistic resources with which students should become familiar. There are also four field trips outside Oxford to places of historical importance, each under the guidance of a tutor with specialized knowledge of the sites. Field trips to places such as Stratford and Hampton Court are an essential part of the academic programme, and all students are expected to attend. Students may make a special study during their field trips of at least one site, and answer a question on it in the integral course examination.Notable staff, tutors and former tutors
- Nicholas Crowe M.A., Ph.D., European Literature and Philosophy. Senior Dean and Academic Librarian
- John Feneley M.A., D.Phil., Religious Studies. Principal of CMRS
- Sandra J.K.M. Feneley B.Ed. (Calgary), F.R.S.A., Stained Glass. Librarian. Artist in Residence.
- Nigel Frith M.A., M.Litt., Drama and English Language and Literature
- Alun Thorton Jones M.A., Dip.Cl.Arch., FBCart.S., Archaeology and Art History. Emeritus Dean of CMRS
- Maurice KeenMaurice KeenMaurice Hugh Keen is a British historian specialising in the Middle Ages. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, where he lectured in Medieval history from 1961-2000.In 1984 he won the Wolfson History Prize for his book Chivalry....
M.A., D.Phil., F.B.A., O.B.E., Emeritus Fellow in History, Balliol College, Oxford - Brian KlugBrian KlugBrian Klug is Senior Research Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford and a member of the philosophy faculty at Oxford University...
M.A., Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, St Benet's Hall, Oxford - Richard CrossRichard CrossProfessor Richard Alan Cross is Rev. John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Notre Dame...
D.Phil, Oriel College - Leslie MitchellLeslie MitchellDr Leslie Mitchell is a leading British authority on 18th century history.Mitchell is historian and Emeritus Fellow of University College and a member of the History Faculty at the University of Oxford, England. He has been Dean of the college, appeared in the Univ Revue, and was editor of the...
M.A., D.Phil., F.R.Hist.S., Emeritus Fellow in History University College, Oxford - Mark Philpott M.A., D.Phil., Senior Lecturer in History and Fellow of Keble College. Senior Tutor of CMRS
- Vincent StrudwickVincent StrudwickVincent Noel Harold Strudwick is a British theologian and educationalist. His areas of expertise include sixteenth-century English history and the ecclesiology of Richard Hooker....
M.A., Honorary Fellow, Kellogg College, Oxford