History
A comprehensive history of the Medieval Institute has yet to be written, but there are some documents available that give a glimpse into the MI’s past, considerations for the present, and ideas for the future.
Organizationally, the Institute owes its origin in great part to the efforts of Father Philip S. Moore, C.S.C., who was dean of the Graduate School, and led the move in 1946 to create an institute for medieval studies that would offer graduate education and provide a locus for the activities of campus scholars interested in the study of the Middle Ages. Locating the Institute in the Library made tangible the vital connection between the resources for scholarship and the scholars themselves.
The University Archives has online an extended essay by Fr. Moore on Academic Development at the University of Notre Dame in which he notes: “The Mediaeval Institute was formally founded in 1946, but it too issued out of an earlier Program in Mediaeval Studies which dates back to 1933.” He quotes a description of the Institute from the 1959-60 Bulletin of the Graduate School: “It [the Medieval Institute] is ‘a center of research, instruction, and preparation of teacher-scholars in the Christian civilization of the Middle Ages,’ and offers courses on mediaeval thought, life and culture.”
Since those first years, the Institute has grown dramatically (along with its library) and expanded from its initial emphasis on medieval theology and philosophy to encompass much broader interests and forms of scholarship. In 1994, Medieval Studies Librarian Marina Smyth wrote "The Medieval Institute Library: A Brief History," which details the growth of the library collection up to that time.
Alumni
Almost every year since the Medieval Institute’s founding in 1946, we have graduated at least one student with a Ph.D. in medieval studies. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Medieval Institute's program, our graduates are equipped for academic jobs in a wide range of areas and are active in distinguished positions throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, both in and out of the Academy. View our complete list of alumni.
Past Directors
View a complete list of the Institute's past directors.