Medieval Studies

When Kara Wheeler first arrived at the University of Oregon, she was a pre-journalism major. But, in her own words, "That went out the window pretty fast."

After leaving journalism, Wheeler drifted to the Italian program, largely because of her fascination with language, but she discovered after a year that while the lower division language classes were fun, the upper division cultural classes left her unsatisfied. Searching on the University of Oregon website for a new major, Wheeler was shocked to discover that the University of Oregon had a Medieval Studies program.

"I think at first I kind of thought it was a joke." Wheeler said. "I'd never heard of a school that offered it. I didn't know that it was a major."

Wheeler, now a senior, is planning to graduate as a Medieval Studies major in the spring, and she says she doesn't regret her choice at all.

"It's nice. The program is really varied," she said.

The University of Oregon is rare in hosting a Medieval Studies program - very few other colleges in the United States have one, and most of those are focused at the graduate level. Oregon's program, which centers primarily on the study of the Middle Ages in Europe and to a lesser degree the Middle East, claims roughly 40 undergraduate students.

In a world where the dismal economy often pressures students into majors which have a strong likelihood of getting them a job after graduating, Medieval Studies students stand out from the crowd because they chose their course of study because of passion for the curriculum, not career concerns.

"I've always been one of those kids who was into dragons and knights and stuff like that. Fantasy novels and fantasy video games," she said. "I don't think it was really a surprise to anyone."

Wheeler cites Old English as her favorite class, in spite of the fact that "It's not exactly a practical course. I can't think of a single use I'm going to have for it outside of college."

Indeed, Wheeler at first faced opposition from her parents when she told them that she was planning on changing her major to Medieval Studies. Her parents feared for her employability and wanted her to major in something more applicable to the 21st century workforce, but Wheeler was able to turn them around by explaining her postgraduate plans.

"I'm looking at [graduate] programs in both museum studies and library science," she said. "I'd like to work with rare books and manuscripts, if possible, or in the archives in a museum."

Wherever she goes in life, however, Kara Wheeler says she'll have fond memories of her time in Medieval Studies at the University of Oregon.

"It's a great program," she said. "I don't know if a lot of people know it's on campus, or if it's as publicized as English or History, but it's really great and I love it."