Prof. Carissa Harris (Temple University) has been awarded the Best Book Prize from the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship for Obscene Pedagogies: Transgressive Talk and Sexual Education in Late Medieval Britain, published by Cornell University Press.
Prof. Audrey Walton (Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto) has been awarded a John Charles Polanyi Prize from the government of Ontario for her research on vernacular English literature.
Dear Colleagues,
We know that there is growing anxiety about Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Your health and safety are our utmost priorities, and we are monitoring the situation closely. Currently, in accordance with CDC and California State guidelines, we have no plans to cancel the Medieval Academy Annual Meeting. As of March 3, “The California Department of Public Health is not recommending the cancellation of public events. There is no evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission of the virus in in the United States. The health risk from COVID-19 to the general public remains low at this time.”
We are in the process of putting together a contingency plan, in case cancellation should become necessary. We will let registrants, members, and the medievalist community at large know if the situation changes.
Here are some resources that will provide additional information about COVID-19:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html
Online registration for the 2020 Annual Meeting closes at 11:59 PM on March 6. We are already beyond the 21 February deadline for refunds. Should we have to cancel the meeting, it may take some time to determine the level of refund that can be provided. We ask your patience as we respond to this challenging situation. Click here to register and for more information about the meeting:
https://www.medievalacademy.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1125497
Sincerely,
Maureen Miller and Katherine O’Brien O’Keefe, Program Committee Co-Chairs
Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director
The International Congress on Medieval Studies, hosted by the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University, is now accepting self-nominations for volunteers to serve as contributing reviewers of proposals for Sponsored and Special Sessions for the 56th and 57th congresses (2021 and 2022). The deadline for self-nomination is April 1: wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions/selection.
The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, is pleased to announce the spring lecture in its 2019–2020 lecture series:
Thursday, March 12, 2020, 6:15–7:45 pm
Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Byzantine Pieces of an Umayyad Puzzle: A Basalt Platform in the Azraq Oasis
Alexander Brey, Wellesley College
Alexander Brey discusses an Umayyad-era basalt reservoir platform built within the Azraq oasis in eastern Jordan and places its carved interlocking stones in conservation with early Byzantine zodiac and celestial diagrams.
Mary Jaharis Center lectures are co-sponsored by Harvard University Standing Committee on Medieval Studies.
For questions, contact Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture (mjcbac@hchc.edu).
As part of its ongoing commitment to Byzantine studies, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 46th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 22–25, 2020. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.
Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website (http://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/46th-annual-byzantine-studies-conference). The deadline for submission is March 2, 2020. Proposals should include:
—Proposed session title
—CV of session organizer
—300-word session summary, which includes a summary of the overall topic, the format for the panel (such as a debate, papers followed by a discussion, or a traditional session of papers), and the reasons for covering the topic as a prearranged, whole session
—Session chair and academic affiliation. Please note: Session chairs cannot present a paper in the session.
—Information about the four papers to be presented in the session. For each paper: name of presenter and academic affiliation, proposed paper title, and 500-word abstract. Please note: Presenters must be members of BSANA in good standing.
Session organizers must present a paper in the session or chair the session. If a co-organzier is proposed for the session, the co-organizer must also give a paper in the session or chair the session.
Applicants will be notified by March 6, 2020. The organizer of the selected session is responsible for submitting the session to the BSC by March 15, 2020. Instructions for submitting the panel proposal are included in the BSC Call for Papers (http://www.bsana.net/conference/BSC_2020_CFP.pdf).
If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse session participants (presenters and chair, if the proposed chair is selected by the BSC program committee) up to $600 maximum for North American residents and up to $1200 maximum for those coming from abroad. Funding is through reimbursement only (check issued in US dollars or wire transfer); advance funding cannot be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration, transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for reimbursement.
Please contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
Rare Book School is currently accepting applications for its summer 2020 courses; the first-round deadline is February 17; after that, applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Following are just some of our summer offerings on medieval and early modern manuscripts:
Visit www.rarebookschool.org for course details, previous student evaluations, and instructions for applying.
One Month Research Awards
https://www.doaks.org/research/awards-and-grants/one-month-research-awards
Deadline: March 1
Byzantine Missions: Meaning, Nature, and Extent Symposium
https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/scholarly-activities/byzantine-missions-meaning-nature-and-extent
Dates: April 24-25 ,2020
Registrations are open and provided in the link above
Short-Term Predoctoral Residencies
https://www.doaks.org/research/awards-and-grants/short-term-predoctoral-residencies
No Deadline
Museum Director Job Posting at Dumbarton Oaks
https://www.doaks.org/about/employment/museum-director-1
2020 Mellon Summer Institute in French Paleography
July 6-31, 2020
Newberry Library
CRS is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2020 Mellon Summer Institute in French Paleography, to be held at the Newberry from July 6 to July 31, 2020. The institute will be led by Marc Smith, École Nationale des Chartes, Paris.
This course will examine French manuscripts and archival materials from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. The institute will provide a summary outline of the history of handwriting in France, followed by intensive training in reading from facsimiles, both in class and at home. Students will become familiar with the development of handwriting as well as further aspects of written communication in the late medieval and early modern period.
The institute will enroll 15 participants. First consideration will be given to advanced graduate students and junior faculty at U.S. colleges and universities, but applications are also accepted from advanced graduate students and junior faculty at Canadian institutions, from professional staff of U.S. and Canadian libraries and museums, and from qualified independent scholars.
This graduate-level course is taught entirely in French; advanced language skills are required.
All successful applicants will receive a stipend, and non-local participants will receive additional funds to help defray the costs of travel, housing, and food. There are no fees associated with the institute.
For more information about the Institute and instructions for applying, visit the Institute calendar page here: https://www.newberry.org/07062020-2020-mellon-summer-institute-french-paleography
The application deadline is Monday, March 2, 2020.
BUILDING THE MEDIEVAL DIOCESE.
STRATEGIES, AGENTS AND INSTRUMENTS
Universidad de Burgos (Spain), 9th – 11th December 2020.
The Gregorian Reform led to a reframing of the role of bishops and diocesan institutions that cemented their power and ultimately permitted the construction of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe. To mark the 800th anniversary of the Cathedral of Burgos, we propose to explore the dynamics, strategies, institutions and personnel behind the construction of the medieval diocese leading to the building of the temples we admire today. Our focus will be on the period 1150-1250, culminating as it does in the construction of the Cathedral of Burgos, but we welcome papers on other parts of Europe and set in other medieval periods that explore the following themes related to the emergence of the mature medieval diocese:
Submissions: proposals no longer than 300 words for either individual papers or panels should be submitted by August 1st to burgensis2020@gmail.com
Languages: Spanish, English Registration Fee: 50 euros
Key Dates:
Venue: Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Burgos
Convenors: Susana Guijarro (Univ. Cantabria), David Peterson (Univ. Burgos)
Organised by: Área de Historia Medieval (Univ. de Burgos) & Grupo de I+D de la Universidad Cantabria Cultura, Sociedad y Poder en la Castilla Medieval y Moderna.
Further information: http://www3.ubu.es/dioceses
The General Prologue in an app: with a full performance, manuscript images, translation, new text, commentary and notes, and new scholarship.
3rd February marks the release of the first ever app, specifically designed for mobile phone and tablet, to present significant new scholarly work in an edition of a major literary work: the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Go to PlayStore (Android) or the App Store (Apple/IoS) and look for “Chaucer General Prologue” (Scholarly Digital Editions). Or, go to http://www.sd-editions.com/CantApp/GP/. Press the play icon.
This app includes a new biography of Chaucer by Richard North (UCL), a new text edited by Barbara Bordalejo (USask), Terry Jones’s translation of the General Prologue, additional materials about the Tales by Peter Robinson (who created the app), images of the Hengwrt manuscript form the National Library of Wales, and a full performance of the text by University of Saskatchewan and University of Calgary student Colin Gibbings. Among much else: the full commentary and notes by Richard North suggest a new dating for the reference to the seige of Algezir, which makes the Knight significantly younger at the time of the composition of the General Prologue.
The app is designed to appeal to people interested in Chaucer at every level, from beginning students to advanced scholars. We plan future apps in this series.
The app also celebrates Terry Jones, who was both a distinguished medieval scholar and a Python. As well as contribute his translation of the General Prologue, he was much involved in the early planning of the app, hosting the team to a memorable lunch at a pub in North London. We are happy that we were able to show him the full app in the last weeks of his life.
We attach the University of Saskatchewan press release about the app. Readers might also be interested in the Canterbury Tales project, atwww.textualcommunities.org (click on the link to the Canterbury Tales project). This offers images of all 30,000 manuscript pages of the Tales, with transcripts of some 24,000 pages. The work of this project underlies the app.
Peter Robinson and Barbara Bordalejo (University of Saskatchewan), Richard North (University College London). With Terry Jones (Python)
