MAA News – From the President

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I hope that you have had a pleasant summer! If you are anything like me or most of my colleagues, you are greeting the fall with a mix of astonishment at the rapid passage of time, and happy/apprehensive anticipation of cooler weather and the return of students (for those who teach) and the fuller fall slate of cultural and/or sports events.

I will write with news about Academy activities after the fall Council Meeting. I should also at that point be able to provide an update about the search for the next editor of Speculum, which is proceeding apace. For now, I am happy to report that the Centennial Grants Committee received an impressive number of exciting applications for educational and cultural activities related to the upcoming centennial year celebrations.

I also have the sad task of informing you of the loss of a beloved longtime member, Fellow, and Past President of the MAA (2010-2011). As many of you already know, Peggy died on August 8, peacefully, in her own home, having said goodbye to friends and family. She will be missed and warmly remembered by generations of scholars in the U.S. and Europe. There will be a full memorial to Peggy in a forthcoming issue of Speculum, and I know that several events honoring her life and work are being planned in various venues. I myself will miss Peggy dearly. She was a remarkable scholar, a fierce critic, and the warmest and most caring mentor and friend anyone could have. I was able to visit her a few days before she died; she held my hand and, waving aside questions about her health, steered the conversation toward medieval history in general, and the Medieval Academy in particular. I know that she would urge us all to continue to work, to collaborate, and to care for each other.

I wish everyone (in the U.S. that, is) a happy Labor Day and fine fall!

Sara Lipton

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MAA News – Upcoming Webinar: Medievalism Uncloistered: Bringing Underrepresented Voices into the Conversation

Medievalism Uncloistered: Bringing Underrepresented Voices into the Conversation

(a webinar sponsored by the MAA Graduate Student Association)

Friday September 27 at 1pm EST

The Middle Ages often evoke images of academia’s exclusive domain, yet the richness of medieval studies can be greatly expanded through dialogue with those outside traditional academic circles. This webinar will explore how engaging with diverse communities — across educational, cultural, and social spectrums — can deepen our understanding of the medieval world and its influence on our present moment. Our speakers will share their experiences working with varied publics whose diverse interests and backgrounds demand genuinely novel approaches — through prison education, social media, podcasting, and modern archives. They will discuss how these interactions have not only broadened their own perspectives but also enriched the field of medieval studies. Join us to learn how expanding our conversation partners through new modes of engagement can lead to more inclusive and dynamic scholarship.

Speakers: Jon Correa-Reyes (Clemson; The Multicultural Middle Ages), Stefanie Matabang (UCLA), Olivia Swarthout (Weird Medieval Guys), and Mary Wellesley (London Review of Books)

Click here to register.

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MAA News – 2025 Publication Prizes

The Medieval Academy of America invites submissions for the following prizes to be awarded at the 2025 MAA Annual Meeting. The Medieval Academy warmly encourages the nomination of publications written by scholars working beyond the tenure track as well as those written by faculty. Unless otherwise indicated, submissions are to be made by the publisher. If your project, monograph, or article is eligible, please contact your publisher and ask them to nominate your work. Submission instructions vary, but all dossiers must complete by 15 October 2024.

PLEASE NOTE: PDF review copies of nominated books may be submitted instead of hardcopies (PDFs should be emailed to the Executive Director). In addition, the residency restrictions limiting eligibility for some book prizes to residents of North America have been lifted.

John Nicholas Brown Prize
Awarded to a first monograph of outstanding quality in the field of medieval studies.

Article Prize in Critical Race Studies
Awarded annually to an article in the field of medieval studies that explores questions of race and the medieval world, and which is judged by the selection committee to be of outstanding quality.

Digital Humanities Prize
Awarded to an outstanding digital research project or resource in the field of medieval studies.

Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize
Awarded to a first article of outstanding quality in the field of medieval studies.

Karen Gould Prize
Awarded to a monograph of outstanding quality in medieval art history.

Monica H. Green Prize
Awarded to an exceptional project that demonstrates the value of medieval studies in our present day.

Haskins Medal
Awarded to a distinguished monograph in the field of medieval studies.

Jerome Singerman Prize
Awarded to a meritorious second monograph in the field of medieval studies.

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MAA News – Upcoming Deadlines

The Medieval Academy of America invites applications for the following grants. Please note that applicants must be members in good standing as of September 15 in order to be eligible for Medieval Academy awards.

Schallek Fellowship

Funded by the Richard III Society, American Branch. As of July 2024, the scope and amount of the Schallek program have changed in accordance with the Society’s instructions, as follows: “Applications will be solicited from graduate students whose work, in any relevant discipline, focuses primarily on the late medieval period in England or any of the British Isles, or which involves British connections to the European Continent in the late medieval period. ‘Late Medieval’ will be defined broadly as the period c.1350-1500 or so.” The Schallek Fellowship provides a one-year grant of $40,000 to support Ph.D. dissertation research. (Deadline 15 October 2024)

Travel Grants

The Medieval Academy provides travel grants to help Academy members who hold doctorates but are not in full-time faculty positions, or are contingent faculty without access to institutional funding, attend conferences to present their work. (Deadline 1 November 2024 for meetings to be held between 16 February and 31 August 2024)

MAA/CARA Conference Grant

The MAA/CARA Conference Grant for Regional Associations and Programs awards $1,000 to help support a regional or consortial conference taking place in 2024. (Deadline 15 October 2024)

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MAA News – 2025 Fellows Research Awards

Supported entirely by donations from the Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America, the Fellows Fund supports two annual awards for members of the Medieval Academy who do not have access to research funding. Two awards of $5,000 will be granted annually to Ph.D. candidates and/or non-tenure-track scholars to support research in medieval studies. The awards will help fund travel and/or access expenses to consult original sources, archives, manuscripts, works of art, or monuments in situ. Applicants must be members of the Medieval Academy of America by Sept. 15 of the year in which they apply.

To apply for a Fellows Research Award, submit the application form and attachment by October 1, 2024. Awards will be announced at the 2025 Medieval Academy annual meeting. Click here for more information and to apply.

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MAA News – The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series

After three successful seasons, The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) will return for its fourth in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. This podcast series is a platform from which to continue ongoing conversations and generate new and exciting avenues of inquiry related to the Middle Ages that emphasize its diversity. We seek to highlight thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. This is a space from which to speak to fellow medievalists and, more importantly, the wider public to inform our audience about the multicultural reality of the medieval period and the plurality of voices that comprise the fields of medieval studies.

We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovative methodological/disciplinary approaches to the Middle Ages
  • The future of Medieval Studies
  • Research on the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic Middle Ages
  • Discussions of recent scholarship
  • Archival discoveries
  • Academic activism and responses to misappropriations of the Middle Ages
  • Pedagogical approaches
  • Medievalisms
  • Medieval culture in contemporary political discourse
  • Cultural heritage and approaches to curating exhibitions of the Middle Ages

Possible formats may include narrative expositions, interviews, textual analysis, visual analysis, oral performances, and panel discussions.

No previous experience with podcasting is required. The Graduate Student Committee of the MAA has hosted several podcasting workshops, which are now available on the MAA YouTube channel. If accepted, an MMA team member will support you through the episode development process and post-production. If you would like our technical assistance to realize your episode, such as facilitating an interview, helping record the episode, or taking care of the audio editing, please make a note of it in your proposal.

Your application should include a brief description (500 words) of your proposed episode, noting the following:

  • The chosen topic and its relevance;
  • the plan for adapting the topic to a podcast medium (we encourage 40-50 min. episodes, but also welcome proposals for shorter or longer episodes);
  • the episode format (interview, narrative, etc.) with an overview of its structure
  • a description of the support you’ll need (if any) from the MMA production team.

This information is not binding but will help the committee assess the potential of the project. Please include the name and CV of each author. Submit your proposals and any questions to mmapodcast1@gmail.com and to Loren Lee (lel7qsf@virginia.edu) by October 11, 2024.

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series Production Team

Will Beattie | wbeattie@nd.edu
Jonathan Correa Reyes | jonatcr@clemson.edu
Loren Lee | lel7qsf@virginia.edu
Reed O’Mara | rao44@case.edu
Logan Quigley | quigleylogan@gmail.com

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MAA News – Good News From Our Members

Several MAA members have recently been awarded major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities:

Helen Davies (Univ. of Colorado, Colorado Springs), Illuminating the Past: A Summer Institute on Multispectral Imaging and Cultural Heritage Preservation

Amanda Madden (George Mason Univ.) et al., La sfera (The Globe): A Late Medieval World of Merchants, Maps, & Manuscripts.

Dot Porter (Univ. of Pennsylvania), VCEditor 2.0 Project

Marina Rustow (Princeton Univ.), Indian Ocean Documents from the Cairo Geniza

Monica H. Green has been elected an Associate Member of Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society (https://www.sigmaxi.org/).

Executive Director Lisa Fagin Davis is the subject of a lengthy profile in the September issue of The Atlantic. The article can be freely accessed here until 12 September.

If you have good news to share, please contact the Executive Director.

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Call for participants: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual

The Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, are pleased to invite abstracts for the next Studying East of Byzantium workshop: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual.

Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual is a three-part workshop that intends to bring together doctoral students and very recent PhDs studying the Christian East to reflect on how to reflect on the usefulness of the concept of “Ritual” in studying the Christian East, to share methodologies, and to discuss their research with workshop respondents, Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter, and Lev Weitz, The Catholic University of America. The workshop will meet on November 18, 2024, February 14, 2025, and June 5–6, 2025, on Zoom. The timing of the workshop meetings will be determined when the participant list is finalized.

We invite all graduate students and recent PhDs working in the Christian East whose work considers, or hopes to consider, the theme of ritual in their own research to apply.

Participation is limited to 10 students. The full workshop description is available on the East of Byzantium website (https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/studying-east-of-byzantium-xi-ritual/). Those interested in attending should submit a C.V. and 200-word abstract through the East of Byzantium website no later than September 23, 2024.

For questions, please contact East of Byzantium organizers, Christina Maranci, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Harvard University, and Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at contact@eastofbyzantium.org.

EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA. It explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire in the late antique and medieval periods.

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Conference – “Mythologies of English”

“Mythologies of English”
When: March 13-14, 2025
Where: University of Notre Dame London Global Gateway

Bringing together scholars of the English language and English historical linguistics from around the globe, Mythologies of English is a major international symposium to be held at Notre Dame’s London Gateway center March 13-14, 2025. The conference begins with recognition that the past five centuries have witnessed dramatic changes in the grammar, speakers, domains, and uses of English. No longer the language of primarily one island-country, it is now the national and even official language of several independent nations and the most common second language in use today. English is the world’s first truly global language, even if different regions may have different grammars, use English for different purposes, and represent different attitudes towards it. These are all linguistic issues, but they are also embedded in critical frameworks, or mythologies, of ideologies, stories, images, and ideas that organize experience.

This conference will focus on the various mythologies that have framed the English language, both historically and today. These are the ideological and institutional structures that enable speakers to conceptualize the language itself and to process specific uses of it. They enable historiographic narratives that shape how the language and its uses are understood; whether or not they are true in some absolute sense, they necessarily reflect and further specific cultural expectations. Put another way, they constitute a horizon of expectations that give intellectual and social meaning to the language and how it functions. As such, they may relate to grammar, usage, the definition of dialects and other languages, speakers, domains, race, ethnicity, culture, nationhood, and morality.

Open to the public, “Mythologies of English” features 12 invited speakers:  Alexandra Beytenbrat (Ben Gurion University, Israel); Nathalie Dajko (Tulane University): Mark Faulkner (University College, Dublin); William Kretzschmar (University of Georgia); Marcin Kyrgier (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland); Preetha Mani (Rutgers University); Salikoko Mufwene (University of Chicago); Lynda Mugglestone (University of Oxford): Rhiannon Purdie (University of St Andrews); John Scahill (Keio University, Japan); Gjertrud Stenbrenden (Inland Norway University); George Walkden (University of Konstanz, Germany).

 

Please send any questions to T. W. Machan (tmachan@nd.edu).

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Call for Papers – Epidemics: Contacts and Contagions, Reactions and Emotions

A Call for Papers has been issued for an international conference to take place in Naples, Italy, in June 2025: “Epidemics: Contacts and Contagions, Reactions and Emotions,” Naples, 4-6 June 2025. The conference will focus on all aspects of the theme up to the mid-19th century.

The theme of the conference is explained on the flyer, which can be found at this link: https://www.academia.edu/122177429. Here are the logistical details:

The colloquium will be held in Naples (Italy), from 4 to 6 June 2025, at the Polo Umanistico of the National Research Council (CNR) and the Fondazione Banco di Napoli.
Those wishing to participate can send a title and an abstract (500-800 words) by 1 November 2024 online via the submission form or to following e-mail address: epidemie.napoli2025@isem.cnr.it
The scientific committee will notify authors of the acceptance of their papers (presentations or poster) by 15 January 2025.
Presentations (max. 20 minutes) may be given in English, Italian, Spanish or French. Power Points, posters and abstracts must be submitted in English.
No registration fee will be required. However, travel expenses, accommodation and meals should be provided by the participants.

For any information, please send an e-mail to: epidemie.napoli2025@isem.cnr.it.

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