Late Antique-Medieval Studies Major

Late Antique-Medieval Studies (LAMS) is the study of the Mediterranean and Near East in the periods known as Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, that is, from the third to the fifteenth centuries CE. Late Antiquity witnessed the Christianization of the Roman Empire, the rise of the “barbarian kingdoms” in the west, and the emergence and spread of Islam in the east and south. Despite the competing political and religious claims, the ties between the greater Latin, Greek, and Arabic cultures that shared the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages remained strong. Not only did each of these cultures identify with an Abrahamic religious tradition, but each saw itself as an heir to the rich secular traditions of the Greek and Roman, as well as the Persian empires. Students of LAMS explore these fertile cultural encounters from a fresh, multi-disciplinary perspective with appropriate attention to the original languages: Greek, Latin, and Arabic. LAMS is a cooperative intercollegiate program. Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Classical Hebrew also count towards the Scripps College foreign language requirement. Courses taken P/NC may not be counted toward either major or the minor.

Requirements for the Major in Late Antique-Medieval Studies (LAMS)

A major in Late Antique-Medieval Studies requires a minimum of 11 courses plus a senior seminar and a thesis. Course requirements include:

• At least three courses in one of the following languages: Greek, Latin, Arabic. (At least one must be numbered 100 or above; (LATN103 PO Readings in Medieval Latin  and GREK104 PO Readings in Koine Greek  are half-courses and must be taken twice to count as one of the three courses in Latin and Greek respectively).
  • Note: Hebrew also qualifies as a LAMS language, but at present it is not regularly offered at the Claremont Colleges.
• At least three courses from the Ancient offerings in Classics, including:
  Ancient History: HIST010 PO The Ancient Mediterranean  and two additional Ancient courses in any subfield.
• At least five courses from the LAMS offerings, including: LAMS History HIST 011 - Medieval Mediterranean  and four additional LAMS courses drawn from the four LAMS subfields. (At least two of these courses must be “upper division” courses.)
• Senior Seminar
• Senior Thesis

LAMS students are expected to work with LAMS faculty members to design a cohesive and viable curriculum around their particular interests.