Duke University. Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies was established at Duke University around 1968 after a committee on Medieval and Renaissance Studies formed around 1966 to examine the possibilities of combining courses from a variety of disciplines. The committee analyzed faculty resources at Duke University and critiqued programs at other institutions. The committee then made recommendations to establish a Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, create a journal, provide undergraduate and graduate study programs, and establish a monograph series to permit publication of studies relating to the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Additionally, they recommended reviving the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, active at Duke University from 1963 to 1969.

Each proposal was approved, and interdisciplinary coursework was planned for the 1968-1969 academic year under the guidance of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Committee and the Duke Humanities Council. The distinguishing feature of the Program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies was the requirement of intensive work in the transmission of medieval texts. Degree-granting programs combined courses in fine arts, languages, history, and philosophy to achieve the goals of a well-rounded education in the humanities. The Center also sponsored or supported conferences, symposia, lecture series, meetings, and cooperative workshops with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 1971, the Center has produced the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (formerly titled Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies ).

As of 2003, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies has over forty faculty in ten different departments. All faculty participate in the University Program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, which is the academic unit of the Center. The Center currently collaborates with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in the Joint Program for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

From the guide to the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies records, ., 1966-1982, (University Archives, Duke University.)