How's university of Toronto's medieval & renaissance studies program compare to top American schools

Is u of t the best (top) even compare to these ivy leagues, uc berkely, or uchicago?

Are you looking for undergrad or grad school?

You don’t need the “best” program. Fit is much much more important, especially for undergrad.

It sounds like at this point you’re blindly chasing prestige. Before automatically assuming that a school would be a good choice because it’s an Ivy League, you should probably check to make sure they actually offer the field you want to study. I just looked up one of them, Yale, which does not offer a major in medieval and/or Renaissance studies. It’s not a particularly common major so you need to be looking at schools that have it in the first place (or offer a self-design option).

Toronto is VERY strong in medieval studies, especially if you’re interested in post-classical Latin. Chicago, Berkeley, and many of the Ivies are very good as well.

If you’re searching for a college for undergraduate studies, I recommend creating an initial list based on overall fit (selectivity, cost, size, setting/location, etc.) and then narrowing down based on academic offerings.

It’s not necessarily a deal breaker if a college you like doesn’t offer a major in medieval studies. Majoring in a related field (art history, history, any European language, etc.) and taking as many med/ren courses as you can is excellent preparation for graduate school.

If you’re picking graduate programs, you need to focus exclusively on your research interests and the faculty at each school, as no department/program is strong in all areas. Harvard, for example, is the place to be for someone who wants to be a Celticist studying Old Irish and Middle Welsh literature.

Thanks, but do you know what specific area u of t is more specialized in ? like you said, Harvard is a good place for studying Middle Welsh literature. How about u of t ?

Are you looking for a grad program or an undergrad program?

What is your own particular interest?

Take a look at the faculty bios and lists of publications as well as the course catalogues and graduation requirements at each university to get a sense of the differences between the programs.

The Pontifical Institute is one thing that makes U of Toronto a special place for Medieval studies , but undergrads typically dont’t have much to do with it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifical_Institute_of_Mediaeval_Studies

why does the pontifical institute make u of t special

OP, you don’t seem willing to share what your specific areas of interest are. The clearer and more specific your questions are, the better the answers.

post classical latin