Early Europe Major

The University of Arizona's doctoral field in Early Europe offers a rich array of emphases and approaches to the history of Europe, reaching from the ancient Mediterranean through the High and Late Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, the Reformation and the seventeenth century, in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The graduate program in Early Europe encourages building a strong foundation in intellectual, political and religious history, offering as well a variety of courses in the history of gender, women and the family. Our interests also stretch beyond the European landmass, to foster interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to the study of gender, discourse, belief, and the structures of power in collaboration with other caucuses and other programs across the campus, including Classics, Women's Studies, Latin American Studies, and Religious Studies. The Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies is a particular institutional strength, offering scholarly resources and opportunities for graduate students beyond the History Department.

Alison Futrell and Steve Johnstone focus on the symbols, rituals and language of power in the Graeco-Roman world, with strong research interest in how human social and political dynamics have been shaped and enacted through performance in different venues, from the Colosseum to the courtroom.

Paul Milliman's research focuses on cultural contacts and exchange between the peoples of east-central Europe during the middle ages. He also has an interest in the history of games and sport in this period. His offered courses include a survey of medieval Europe, a history of the Crusades, and graduate courses on medieval cultural exchange.

Susan Karant-Nunn now follows in the directorial footsteps of Founding Director of the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, Heiko A. Oberman († 2001). She continues to lead the seminars that form the backbone of the Division's graduate program, conversing on varying topics in early modern European history. Her work concentrates on the religious and social culture of early modern Germany, including matters of gender, and her courses feature such themes as ritual, the European family, sexuality, and deviance.

Ute Lotz-Heumann is interested in the history of Europe from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. She teaches an array of specialized courses in early modern European history with a particular emphasis on Ireland, Britain and Germany.  Among others, she teaches courses on early modern and modern Irish history, the confessional churches in early modern Europe, British history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the diary of Samuel Pepys, a seventeenth-century Englishman, the cultural history of early modern Germany, the political and social makeup of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as historiographical and methodological courses and aspects of the enlightenment in central Europe.

Dissertations in Progress

Recently Completed Dissertations and Recent Ph.D. Placement