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.
21-25 June: California: Summer Institute for Late Medieval Polyphony, University of California, Berkeley (Emily Zazulia, University of California, Berkeley): This 2025 institute focuses on Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450/51–1521), who produced some of the most artistically rewarding music in the vocal canon. Open to both individuals (18+) and existing ensembles wanting to improve their sound, the course features immersive, small-group singing and tailored coaching sessions. Participants will experience the thrill of performing vocal polyphony alongside world-class interpreters of early music. Experts will lead workshops that bring to life the world in which this music was made.
Ongoing: Massachusetts: Art in an Early Global World at WAM: A Digital Resource, College of the Holy Cross (Amanda Luyster, College of the Holy Cross): This project presents a digital resource, available online anywhere (including smartphones), and on iPads permanently installed in WAM’s galleries, intended to break down boundaries between art objects made in different geographical regions in the medieval era.
Ongoing: Indiana: The Bayeux Tapestry from Scratch, Indiana University (Elizabeth Hebbard, Indiana University): The Bayeux Tapestry from Scratch is a three-year workshop and lecture series organized into three themes: Flax to Linen, Sheep to Yarn, and Premodern Needlecraft. Beginning with the planting of flax in the Book Lab’s academic garden at Hilltop, the project aims to build understanding around premodern agricultural, visual storytelling, and craft practices through the knowledge- and labor-intensive steps behind the creation of this famous textile: hackling, breaking, scutching, spinning and weaving flax; combing, spinning, and dyeing raw wool; and finally premodern needlework. The project will feature hands-on workshops paired with lectures from various academic specialists (in, for example, archeobotany, textile history, or photo-degradation of cultural heritage) and events with local community artisans.
