The Medieval Academy Blog

If you’re going to be at the Leeds International Medieval Congress this year, please join us on Tuesday, 8 July, 19.00-20.00 (Session 901) for the annual Medieval Academy Lecture, to be delivered by Xiaofei Tian (Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, Harvard University), “The Margins of Knowing: A Place for the Extraordinary in an Ordinary World.” Afterwards, join Prof. Tian and MAA governance and staff members for the Medieval Academy’s open-bar wine reception.

The Medieval Academy’s Graduate Student Committee roundtable will take place Monday, 7 July, 19:00-20:00 (Session 021): “How to Conference.” Participants include Carrie Beneš (New College of Florida), Kathryn Gerry (Bowdoin University, Maine), Carolin Gluchowski (Universität Hamburg), Rebekkah Hart (Case Western Reserve University, Ohio), Natalie Hopwood (University of Leeds), Megan Renz Perry (Yale University), and Liene Rokpelne (Latvijas Universitāte, Rīga / Valmieras muzejs).

We hope to see you there!

Thinking Queerly: South Asia and the Question of Prehistory
July 29th, 10am EDT

We are very pleased to announce a series of webinars honoring the winners of the MAA Inclusivity & Diversity Grants and Prizes: Mohamad Ballan (Article Prize in Critical Race Studies), Kartik Maini (Belle da Costa Greene Prize), Greg Carrier (Inclusivity & Diversity Research Grant) and Tirumular Narayanan (Inclusivity & Diversity Travel Grant). These webinars will be hosted by the MAA Inclusivity & Diversity Committee and are made possible by an Intention Foundry Learned Society Extended Engagement Microgrant from the American Council of Learned Societies.

The Inclusivity and Diversity Committee is proud to present the work of our annual prize winners. Please join us on Tuesday, July 29 at 10:00 am EST for an interactive webinar discussion with Kartik Maini, winner of The Belle Da Costa Greene Award. Named after the first manuscript librarian of the Pierpont Morgan collection, the first known person of color, and second woman to be elected a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, this travel award supports graduate students, emerging junior scholars, adjunct, and unaffiliated scholars. Kartik will present a talk on their scholarship titled, “Thinking Queerly: South Asia and the Question of Prehistory,” followed by a brief discussion led by I&D committee chair, Rachael Vause. The floor will then open to questions for our esteemed prize winner. We hope you will join us!

Click here to register.

Every month, we’ll be spotlighting two MAA Centennial Grant Projects. These twenty-one projects span the continent and reflect some of the best that Medieval Studies has to offer. We are so pleased to be able to support these symposia, performances, and digital initiatives as part of our Centennial celebrations.

Virtual Medieval Books in the Schools, University of Minnesota (PI: Michelle Hamilton). With this funding, the Center for Premodern Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities will be able to continue development of online resources to complement their in-person K-12 classroom presentations on the history of the book in the Middle Ages. The Medieval Book in the Schools classroom program has been running successfully for almost twenty years (initiated by Professor Susan Noakes in 2005). Primarily a program for elementary school students, program has recently expanded to include high school and undergraduate students. The MAA is pleased to be able to support this important programming.

As of June 1, you will find us in a different suite at the same street address:

Medieval Academy of America
6 Beacon St., Suite 225
Boston, Massachusetts 02108

This move to smaller space will result in significant budgetary savings that will allow us to increase support for Speculum staff and implement new programming. The office will be closed for business until Thursday, June 5, as we move in and set up phone, internet, and network services. We apologize for any disruption. As always, email is the best way to reach us: info@TheMedievalAcademy.org.