<p>I'm currently a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago, majoring in English and minoring in French, Art History, and Medieval Studies. I have a 3.77 (and rising) gpa. Ultimately, my goal is to pursue a scholarly future in Iconography in Medieval Art and Literature.</p>
<p>I've thought of enrolling in the 5 year BA/MA English Program at my school because it has a Renaissance/ Medieval Literature track, then go on to a phd program. Right now, it's really the only program that I am actually familiar with. </p>
<p>What are some other grad programs that might be a better fit? Are there language requirements? </p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice? I'm of course also seeking advice from my professors as well.</p>
<p>What scholars are doing important work in medieval iconography (or related areas)? Where do they teach? Find out, and go there.</p>
<p>In a field like that, I would expect any strong program to have language requirements. Could you do dissertation research in medieval studies without a solid knowledge of Latin?</p>
<p>Not just Latin, but also the language(s) the scholarly work is written in- that’s a good question for the profs. Not all the important works you’ll depend on are translated, whether they’re older or current. Some of this depends on how you want to specialize. And, have a back-up plan. Ask your profs about job chances and listen well.</p>
<p>In my day, humanities PhD programs required three languages (though you had several years to complete them). I seem to recall that U of Chicago actually had a very fine scholar in medieval iconography 20 years ago; I remember another very fine medieval iconography scholar who sadly died much too young, but I can no longer recall with which school he was associated. Toronto was at one time one of the strongest medieval programs in the world, and I believe it still is. But tk21769 is exactly right–find out where the scholars in the field you want to study are now and apply there.</p>
<p>I don’t think the joint BA/MA program buys you much in general. Many Humanities PhD programs have two tracks, a terminal MA and then the PhD. But it’s possible that Loyola has a very strong program in medieval iconography (I genuinely have no idea), in which case it might prove quite helpful.</p>