Past Conferences:
March 31, 2023
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York Hosted by the Medieval Studies Certificate Program of the CUNY Graduate Center, with support from Columbia University and Stonybrook University
April 8, 2022
Columbia University, New York City Hosted (remotely) by Columbia University’s Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program
Full program
April 9, 2021
Rutgers University, New Brunswick Hosted (remotely) by the Rutgers Program in Global Medieval Studies
Full program
Founded in 1978 to help address problems identified in the 1969 report of the Fleming Commission to re-evaluate doctoral programs in New York State, the IUDC was formed to address concerns about rising costs, declining enrollments, and shrinking job opportunities for graduates. The IUDC grew out of an effort by the Presidents of CUNY, Columbia, Fordham, the New School, and NYU, who secured funds from four different foundations to explore ways to maintain and improve opportunities in doctoral education. A Medieval and Renaissance Studies sub-committee was formed (chaired by Dr Jeanette Beer at Fordham), which debated a variety of aims. In the end, this sub-committee and its decisions about cross-registration and sharing of library facilities was the basis for the Medieval Studies IUDC, one of the seven original consortia established in the late 1970s. A permanent Inter-University Cooperation was established in 1980 to oversee the IUDC and develop more cooperative efforts.
By allowing doctoral students to cross-register for courses at member universities, the IUDC aims to broaden the graduate experience for students by exposing them to the extensive resources of area schools, many of which have very active medieval and renaissance studies programs, and putting them into contact with scholars in their fields. The Medieval Studies Doctoral Consortium has been especially active in that it organizes an annual Graduate Student Colloquium every spring, hosted on a rotating basis by each of the seven participating institutions. The Medieval Studies Doctoral Consortium also worked together to host the 15th Annual New Chaucer Society Meeting (27-31 July 2006) and the 77th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America (4-6 April 2002).
More information can be found here.
