The Medieval Academy Blog

Dear fellow medievalists,

Six months into the pandemic – from which other countries seem to be slowly emerging — nerves are getting frayed in the United States. Professors who normally, around the middle of August, have their syllabuses ready; students who would normally flock into their dorm rooms and bookstores, all are still in suspense: will their institutions reopen? If so, for how long? Adjuncts have seen their jobs evaporate; independent scholars’ freelance work may have dried up; most libraries are closed and digital access is usually limited to faculty and students of a given university or college. We are confronted with multiple crises, medical as well as societal and thus have to find new ways to work. At the Medieval Academy we have brainstormed across many committees and constituencies to come up with panels and blogs that speak directly to some of these problems.

As medievalists, we ask ourselves: how can our skills be useful for an understanding of the current pandemic and societal crises? Several of our initiatives are looking at connections between the medieval plague and the effects of Covid-19; others are addressing those of you who are looking for different career paths and need both inspiration and hands-on advice. Two forthcoming webinars draw on the expertise of medievalists in a wide range of professions who will offer ideas and strategies for many different career paths. These paths are the topic of the first set of blogs that have just been published on the Medieval Academy Blog. These posts feature frank accounts of the twists and turns such paths can take and how our contributors have navigated them. Addressing racial inequities in our society is the focus of several other initiatives: webinars on teaching race in medieval studies; new opportunities for research support in the areas of studying race throughout history; and, looking down the road, a new ambitious mentoring program whose goal is to bring new voices into medieval studies and assure that we have a future generation of medievalists that will continue the Medieval Academy’s tradition of excellence (see below for more on these new initiatives). What has kept me going during this difficult time is the energy and enthusiasm that have come together in the projects outlined above. It is a joy to work with so many committed members who share ideas, conceive projects, and see them through so that all our members can profit from them.

Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski
President, Medieval Academy of America

The Medieval Academy of America is committed to being an organization where BIPOC scholars feel welcome, respected, heard, and safe. This commitment requires us to look both inward – at our governance, policies, and committees – and outward – at the scholarship we support, publish, and promote. As we begin the intentional work of diversifying our governance and committees, we are also committed to supporting and honoring scholarship that broadens the chronological, geographical, thematic, and critical dimensions of medieval studies, much of which scholarship is being done by scholars of color. To that end, the MAA Council recently adopted the following three programs proposed by our Inclusivity and Diversity Committee:

1) Article Prize in Critical Race Studies. This new publication prize will be awarded annually to an article in the field of medieval studies, published in a scholarly journal, that explores questions of race and the medieval world. Articles published in 2019 are eligible for the 2021 Prize and must be submitted by 15 October 2020. Click here for more information.

2) Inclusivity and Diversity Research Grant. This research grant of up to $3,000 will be awarded annually to a scholar who seeks to pursue innovative research that will broaden the scope of medieval studies. Applications for the 2021 Grant must be submitted by 31 December 2020. Click here for more information.

3) Inclusivity and Diversity Book Subvention Program. This publication subvention program provides support of up to $5,000 to university or other non-profit scholarly presses to support the publication of books concerning the study of inclusivity and diversity in the Middle Ages (broadly conceived) by Medieval Academy members. Applications, submitted by the publisher, must be received by 31 May 2021. Click here for more information.

Our thanks to our Inclusivity and Diversity Committee (Afrodesia McCannon (Chair), Andrea Achi, and Joseph Salvatore Ackley) for their hard work and thoughtful deliberations in crafting these initiatives.

In addition, the Council recently approved the creation of a Mentoring Programs Committee that will begin work in the summer of 2021, developing programs to recruit, train, and provide guidance to future mentors as well as to envision, initiate, organize, and run an array of programs focused on mentoring of first-generation, BIPOC, and early career scholars. This important initiative was proposed by an Ad Hoc Committee convened by MAA President Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and comprised of Maureen Miller (2nd Vice-President), Hussein Fancy (Councilor), Jonathan Correa, Andrea Achi, and Nahir Otaño Gracia, We will have much more to report about this program next year.

Race, Racism, and our Institutions and Disciplines
September 18, 3-5 PM EDT

Medieval Freelancing 101
Session 1: Para-academic Work, September 8, 1-2:30 PM EDT
Session 2: Working Beyond Academia, September 22, 1-2:30 PM EDT

Race, Racism, and our Institutions and Disciplines
In the wake of recent events and ongoing racially-motivated violence, there have been many institutional responses to raise awareness of race and racism in the U.S. and beyond. This second Medieval Academy webinar on race, racism, and medieval studies is one such response. Since many of us are beginning our fall semesters, this webinar investigates race and racism as it appears in our disciplines and institutions, many of which were founded on explicitly racial grounds. The panel is designed to make us think about the structures which uphold bias practices, consider the effects of these practices on students, scholars, and scholarship of the Middle Ages, imagine ways forward, and enact potential subversions to institutionalized habits.

Click here for more information and to register.

Medieval Freelancing 101
Fellow medievalists employed beyond the professoriate have much to bring to the discussion in this time of crisis. Some have built careers in para-academic activities as professional proofreaders, indexers, editors, and translators, while others have gone further afield to work in online publishing, tourism, or publicly oriented scholarship. This two-webinar series will turn to our colleagues to empower fellow medievalists to seek out new employment opportunities using the skills we all share. Both webinars will run for 90 minutes to include discussion from the audience; the first session will address para-academic work, and the second will examine outward-facing employment opportunities.

Click here for more information and to register.

All of these webinars will be recorded and posted to the MAA YouTube channel.

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
The Schallek Fellowship provides a one-year grant of $30,000 to support Ph.D. dissertation research in any relevant discipline dealing with late-medieval Britain (ca. 1350-1500). (Deadline 15 October 2020)

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 2020 for meetings to be held between 16 February and 31 August 2021)

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 2021. (Deadline 15 October 2020)

Inclusivity and Diversity Research Grant
This research grant of up to $3,000 will be awarded annually to a scholar who seeks to pursue innovative research that will broaden the scope of medieval studies. Applications for the 2021 (Deadline 31 December 2020).

Photo: The Haskins Medal. The Medieval Academy of America

The Medieval Academy of America invites submissions for the following prizes to be awarded at the 2021 MAA Annual Meeting (University of Indiana at Bloomington, 15-18 April). Submission instructions vary, but all dossiers must complete by 15 October 2020.

PLEASE NOTE: because of the ongoing MAA office closure, 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.

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

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

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

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

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

MAA Article Prize in Critical Race Studies
Awarded to an article in the field of medieval studies, published in a scholarly journal, that explores questions of race and the medieval world.

Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies
The Robert L. Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies recognizes Medieval Academy members who have provided leadership in developing, organizing, promoting, and sponsoring medieval studies through the extensive administrative work that is so crucial to the health of medieval studies but that often goes unrecognized by the profession at large.

CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching
The CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching Medieval Studies recognizes Medieval Academy members who are outstanding teachers and who have contributed to the profession by inspiring students at the undergraduate or graduate levels or by creating innovative and influential textbooks or other materials for teaching medieval subjects.

The CARA Awards will be presented at the 2021 MAA Annual Meeting (IU Bloomington, 15-18 April). Nominations and supporting materials must be received by Nov. 15.

Kathleen Kennedy has been awarded a British Academy Global Professorship at the University of Bristol

If you have good news to share, please send it to Executive Director Lisa Fagin Davis (LFD@themedievalacademy.org)