General

The University of Salzburg is engaged in research and teaching on the Middle Ages and the early modern period in numerous fields, coordinated through the Interdisciplinary Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IZMF). The course “Interdisciplinary Studies on the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period”, which can be taken as add-on or in-depth course, offers students a structured programme including a wide range of disciplines such as history, art history, history of Jewish culture, medieval archaeology, philologies (English/American, German, Romance and Slavic studies, Latin), philosophy, theology and medical history. By offering courses such as the annual series of lectures organised by the IZMF and the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture (IMAREAL), the University of Salzburg has dedicated itself to an interdisciplinary approach.

You will find a list of compatible courses here or on our website under “course overview.

CONTENT, EDUCATION GOALS AND APPLICATION-ORIENTED COMPETES

Both the add-on and in-depth course deal with history, culture, religion, philosophy, languages, literature and the arts of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The focus is on processes of intercultural transfer, interliterary, interlinguistic and linguistic phenomena (e.g. between Latin and vernacular languages or in the development of vernacular literature), conditions of media and material when creating objects of medieval and early modern arts and culture (e.g. interactions between text and image, manuscripts as multimedia artefacts, historic “revolutions” of media such as the transition from handwriting to printing), phenomenality, functionality and semiotics of pieces of art (from paintings, sculptures to castles or cathedrals), but also socio-political and cultural practices and forms of interaction (e.g. rituals, rituality).

With regards to methods and theory, comparative, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches are brought to fruition. The study supplement and the focus of the study provide students with scientifically sound and application-oriented knowledge of the specific historical, cultural and aesthetic conditions that characterise medieval and early modern history, culture, art, literature and language that make up for their fascination and unbroken history of impact up to the present day (be it in the form of art treasures, literary works, forms of thought or – most obviously – in the form of historical buildings such as cathedrals or castles).

Special attention is paid to the pan-European dimension, which is expanded to the non-European area for the early modern period. The course also concentrates on the interdisciplinary exploration of the above mentioned cultural fields, practices and phenomena. The acquired competences can be applied successfully in research institutions inside and outside universities, in the archive, library and museum landscape as well as in other sectors of cultural education and promotion (publishing and media).