Department of History and Archaeology

Byzantine and Medieval Studies (BMS) Graduate Program aims at broadening the knowledge and study of Medieval World’s history and civilization, including Byzantium and Western Europe, as well as  northern Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean areas, when necessary.

The Program intends to familiarize students with problems and methods of historical research and to prepare them towards original research work on Byzantine History, Medieval European History or Byzantine Archaeology and Art History.

The BMS Graduate Program has started in 1998 as an inter-departmental program with the participation of the University of Crete departments of History and Archaeology, Literature and Physics. Since 2013-2014 it runs as a History and Archaeology Department Graduate Program including three Major Courses.

Regular meetings of students and tutors are scheduled in the context of the Program, lectures are given by Greek and foreign scholars, while two international  conferences as well as seminars of epigraphic and ceramics have been organized. Students can also participate in the university excavation in Eleftherna.

The University Library is rich in earlier and more recent publications for the study of Byzantium and Medieval Europe. The Department also possesses two collections on Byzantine studies which can be exploited for the training of graduate students:

1. a photographical collection (the Guanella archive),

2. a ceramics’ collection

Entrance examinations take place once a year, at the beginning of winter academic semester, and concern students having graduated from Departments of History & Archaeology, Literature, Philosophical and Social studies, Social anthropology and Ethnology in the Greek University or in other recognized foreign Higher Education Institutions. Students having graduated from Greek or foreign Schools of Architeture may also take a major course in Byzantine archaeology.

Attendance to courses lasts for two (2) years, organized in four (4) semesters. Students are required to qualify in five (5) seminars (three concerning the main Major Course of their choice), three exercises/practices as well as  one special seminar on methodological research. After fulfilling the above obligations they need to compose a final thesis, the grade of which is counted in their Masters’ Degree.

The BMS Graduate Program awards a Masters’ Degree to students who fulfill successfully their obligations in one of the following fields: a. Byzantine History, b. Medieval History of Western Europe, and c. Byzantine Archaeology and Art History.