The Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies was a cooperative scholarly institute established in 1963 under the auspices of the Duke University-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Cooperative Program in the Humanities. During the summers, the institute's members presented five-week seminars in a classroom setting. The location of the institutes alternated between the campuses of Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They were coordinated by a joint committee of faculty members from each university. These institutes drew scholars from colleges and universities throughout the United States and provided a forum for intense study and teaching. Beginning in 1968, the joint committee initiated a fund-raising effort for continuation of the institutes.

In 1972, the National Endowment for the Humanities approved an additional funding request to support the institutes for the summers of 1974-1976 based on the stipulation that by 1977 the institutes would be funded entirely by the two sponsoring campuses.

While summer institutes were held through the summer of 1979, the joint committee was not able to secure a commitment of permanent funding from either Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill. Plans for the 1980 Institute were canceled due to the lack of funding and the committee began a new search for continuing support. The Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies has not been active since 1980.

Many scholars and coordinators of the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies were also affiliated with the Southeastern Renaissance Conference, an annual conference established cooperatively by Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1943. Renaissance studies continue at Duke University at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, an interdisciplinary, degree-granting program.