Languages...

[sm2012]

I went to CUA undergrad and loved my theology classes but never thought of making a go at declaring it as my major. Now, as a Grad student in LIS (library and info science) I am thinking that i really want to go and get a second Masters in Theology. As of now I have 3 years of Italian and one year of Latin...I know I can study up and get those two up to par but are there any others specifically I would need to have? I am think Medieval/History of Christianity.

Thanks!

[Sparky]

More Latin. All the Latin you can get your hands on. And then still more.

Depending on where your interests are in medieval, you may find Greek helpful as well (at least, if you decide to pursue a PhD after the master's), or even Hebrew or Arabic. For secondary scholarship on medieval theo/HC, you *will* need French and German. If you let me know a little more about your interests I can probably suggest which one will be more important to know first, although in a lot of cases the answer will be 'um, both.' (I mean, in really broad terms--are you thinking early medieval? Byzantine? Scholastic theology? Lay piety? You don't have a clue yet but the Middle Ages are just that awesome*? Etc.)

There are a few topics for which your Italian would be *enormously* useful, but I would concentrate on Latin, and on picking up either German or French.

* I am in full support of this position, especially if you haven't even started an M* yet.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Sparky

[sacklunch]

I know half a dozen folks from CUA here at BC doing the masters! If you're asking to get into a masters program then your language experience thus far is fine. Once you are in, as Sparky said, you would need to beef up on certain languages depending on your specific interests.

[sm2012]

Thank you, thank you! those answers were extremely helpful...I already feel less stressed.

I am ABSOLUTELY in the "You don't have a clue yet but the Middle Ages are just that awesome" category as of now. I am hopeful that will soon change.

I am also from Boston so BC is relatively high on my list

I do know that I would like to eventually pursue a PhD. I can't really imagine wanting to stop at the Masters level.