As we celebrate the centennial of Speculum in 2026, we are thrilled to publish Speculations, an ambitious oversized issue featuring more than fifty short articles that highlight possible futures of our field. They range from Dublin to Ethiopia, from paleography to bioarchaeology, from millennial hopes to dystopian fears. Authors include medievalists of all sorts, from graduate students to independent scholars to emeritus Fellows. That’s not to mention the gorgeous full-color cover! As a brand-new editor, I had nothing to do with this issue except proofreading, but I want to congratulate the editorial collective that assembled it: Mohamad Ballan, Cecily J. Hilsdale, Katherine L. Jansen, Sierra Lomuto, and Peggy McCracken. I also want to thank my editorial staff, Ben Weil and Lily Stewart, our trusty collaborators at the University of Chicago Press. We hope you will be as excited about this issue as we are!
Our centennial is also the occasion to launch a major fundraising campaign. The founders of the Medieval Academy always intended for Speculum to have an endowment, but that plan has not yet come to fruition. As a result, editors have often been unpaid or underpaid, relying on university support that will not be sustainable for much longer. So we seek to guarantee the journal’s funding for the next hundred years and beyond. The Speculum Centennial Fund has the ambitious goal of a $3.5 million endowment that will support our future by guaranteeing a living wage for editorial staff, as well as innovations and events related to articles or issues. The Medieval Academy of America welcomes donations in cash or in kind, such as equities. If you are interested in remembering the MAA in your estate or with a stock transfer, please contact the Executive Director for more information.
Thank you for your support!
Barbara Newman (Northwestern Univ.),
Editor of Speculum
BNewman@TheMedievalAcademy.org
