Medieval and Renaissance studies, a minor offered at just three universities in Arkansas, has been growing at Arkansas State University since 2020 and is expected to continue growing in the years to come.

In 2020, A-State hired Lucy Barnhouse as the new medievalist and coordinator for what used to be the Medieval studies minor. She said she was excited to see the college offering this minor but was sad to find out it had no students enrolled. 

She said she speculates the low enrollment is because people haven’t heard of Medieval studies or Renaissance studies.

“Premodern history isn’t really covered much in secondary education in Arkansas. So it’s new to a lot of people and I think that, unfortunately, people are often nervous about trying new things,” Barnhouse said.

Barnhouse said she began emailing professors, like the associate professor of art history, Katherine Baker, to ask if they were still teaching the classes listed within the minor.

“This class (Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture) was on the books, but I was excited to teach it, as the periods relate to my area of research. Medieval and Renaissance shows up less often in my rotation, so I am always excited when it happens,” Baker said.

While talking with other professors, Barnhouse said she revised and expanded, adding many different English courses that already existed within the catalog to make it easier for non-history majors to fit the minor within their schedule. 

She also added a middle ages at the movies course, where students learn about tropes, trends and historical realities behind Medieval narratives in movies. 

The last step was to rename the minor to Medieval and Renaissance studies. 

“It’s Medieval and Renaissance studies now just to make sure that its content is accurately reflected in the title,” Barnhouse said. “I wanted people who are really into the Tudors to know that is included here, even though the Tudors aren’t Medieval.”  

Currently, only five students are in the minor, an improvement from 2020 when no students had enrolled before assistant professor Barnhouse arrived at A-State.

Ravn Breed, a sophomore history and philosophy major, said they have always wanted to join the minor.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the folklore and stories from those times and the fiction we’ve created around it,” Breed said.

While the minor is small, A-State stands out as one of only three colleges in Arkansas that offer it to students, along with the University of Arkansas and Hendrix College. Students interested in adding the minor can email Lucy Barnhouse at lbarnhouse@AState.edu. 

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