MAA News – Centennial Speaker Series

In the calendar year of 2025, the Fellows’ Executive Committee and the leadership of CARA will sponsor a Medieval Academy Centennial Speaker Series, in which certain volunteers among the Fellows will be available to give subsidized and/or free talks and lectures at various venues around North America, either “in person” or on Zoom. Twenty-one Fellows have volunteered and proposed a variety of potential talks for both general and specialized audiences. It is an exciting list, and a fitting way to celebrate the Centennial of the MAA, as well as a means of supporting the Humanities in these challenging times. This series is aimed primarily at venues where scholarly talks from medievalists are not an everyday occurrence.

Click the link below for more information and to learn how your institution can take advantage of this unique opportunity!

https://www.medievalacademy.org/general/custom.asp?page=CentennialSpeakerSeries

Posted in MAA Newsletter | Leave a comment

MAA News – The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series welcomes proposals for single episodes to be featured in its fourth season

After three successful seasons, The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) will return for its fourth in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. This podcast series is a platform from which to continue ongoing conversations and generate new and exciting avenues of inquiry related to the Middle Ages that emphasize its diversity. We seek to highlight thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. This is a space from which to speak to fellow medievalists and, more importantly, the wider public to inform our audience about the multicultural reality of the medieval period and the plurality of voices that comprise the fields of medieval studies.

We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovative methodological/disciplinary approaches to the Middle Ages
  • The future of Medieval Studies
  • Research on the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic Middle Ages
  • Discussions of recent scholarship
  • Archival discoveries
  • Academic activism and responses to misappropriations of the Middle Ages
  • Pedagogical approaches
  • Medievalisms
  • Medieval culture in contemporary political discourse
  • Cultural heritage and approaches to curating exhibitions of the Middle Ages

Possible formats may include narrative expositions, interviews, textual analysis, visual analysis, oral performances, and panel discussions.

No previous experience with podcasting is required. The Graduate Student Committee of the MAA has hosted several podcasting workshops, which are now available on the MAA YouTube channel. If accepted, an MMA team member will support you through the episode development process and post-production. If you would like our technical assistance to realize your episode, such as facilitating an interview, helping record the episode, or taking care of the audio editing, please make a note of it in your proposal.

Your application should include a brief description (500 words) of your proposed episode, noting the following:

  • The chosen topic and its relevance;
  • the plan for adapting the topic to a podcast medium (we encourage 40-50 min. episodes, but also welcome proposals for shorter or longer episodes);
  • the episode format (interview, narrative, etc.) with an overview of its structure
  • a description of the support you’ll need (if any) from the MMA production team.

This information is not binding but will help the committee assess the potential of the project. Please include the name and CV of each author. Submit your proposals and any questions to mmapodcast1@gmail.com and to Loren Lee (lel7qsf@virginia.edu) by October 11, 2024.

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series Production Team

Will Beattie | wbeattie@nd.edu
Jonathan Correa Reyes | jonatcr@clemson.edu
Loren Lee | lel7qsf@virginia.edu
Reed O’Mara | rao44@case.edu
Logan Quigley | quigleylogan@gmail.com

Posted in MAA Newsletter | Leave a comment

MAA News – Good News From Our Members

Jennifer Borland’s book Visualizing Household Health: Medieval Women, Art, and Knowledge in the Régime du corps (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022), has been named the 2024 Best First Book of Feminist Scholarship on the Middle Ages, from the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship.

Scott Bruce has been appointed the Edwin C. And Elizabeth A. Whitehead Fellow in the School of Historical Studies and will be spending the 2024/25 academic year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.

If you have good news to share, please contact the Executive Director.

Posted in MAA Newsletter | Leave a comment

Scholarship in Paris for Medieval Students

The Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris is offering a scholarship in Paris, aimed at doctoral students in medieval history preparing their PhD elsewhere than in France, as well as doctors in medieval history who have defended their PhD abroad within the last three years.

This scholarship will enable the winner to spend a month, between February and April 2025, at the Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris, which will pay for his or her return journey, accommodation at the Maison des chercheurs on the Campus Condorcet and a sum of 1000 euros to cover the running costs of the stay. In addition, the winner will be granted the status of associate member of the Laboratory for three years, which will give him/her access in particular to the many electronic resources of the Laboratoire and the Sorbonne.

Applications must be submitted by 15 October 2024. Further details are available here: https://lamop.hypotheses.org/11067

Posted in Announcements | Leave a comment

Jobs For Medievalists

Overview

The Boston Public Library Rare Books and Manuscripts Department has reopened its search for an innovative and thoughtful librarian or archivist to fill the newly created Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts position. Since it was originally posted, the salary for this position has been increased to reflect a recently implemented collective bargaining agreement between the City of Boston and the BPL Professional Staff Association.

This newly established role focuses on the stewardship, development, and promotion of collections dating from approximately 1800 through the present day. The incumbent will join a new and energetic cohort of colleagues across Special Collections working together to meet the unique and rewarding challenges of stewarding special collections within a thriving, community-centered public library setting.

Initial focus on anti-slavery and abolitionism

For the first two years after hire, the incumbent’s stewardship-based work will focus primarily, though not exclusively, on the constellation of materials generally referred to as the BPL’s Anti-Slavery Collection. Long held by the BPL, these materials include archives, collections of books, ephemera, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, and other formats, many of which were donated by leading figures in the 19th-century American abolitionist movement. Examples include materials from the library of Theodore Parker, the papers of William Lloyd Garrison and the business records of The Liberator; and collections of correspondence to and from Lydia Maria Child, Maria Weston Chapman, Samuel May, and Harriet Martineau, among others.

In this role, the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts will work to reconstitute and recontextualize BPL’s anti-slavery holdings. In order to accomplish this, the incumbent will cultivate a thorough understanding of the scope and content of the BPL’s anti-slavery and abolitionist holdings, with a focus on their provenance and processing history. In particular, the incumbent will work closely with the Manager of Rare Books and with archivists and other colleagues to coordinate the creation of accurate, detailed finding aids and other discovery tools.

Additional areas of stewardship focus

In addition to BPL’s anti-slavery holdings, the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts will contribute vision, energy, and expertise to stewarding a wide range of collections. These collections include groups of materials focused on the history of Boston, Massachusetts, and New England; British and American literature; general Americana; book arts, typography and graphic design; and small and fine press printing and publishing, among many others.

Qualifications and experience

We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate a combination of relevant subject knowledge and a strong record of success in generalist special collections work.

The successful candidate will not be expected to come to this position with subject expertise in every collecting area relevant to their work. However, applicants should demonstrate an ability to cultivate expertise and develop knowledge across a range of format types, subject areas, and collections. To support ongoing learning and growth in these areas, BPL Special Collections provides generous funding for professional development.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can clearly demonstrate engagement with professional ethics as well as library and archival best practices within the context of collections stewardship. 

Recent renovations and new facilities

The BPL recently completed a multi-year renovation of many of its Special Collections spaces. The incoming Curator will be working in the middle of this new, vibrant, state-of-the art facility.

About the BPL Rare Books and Manuscripts Department

The Rare Books and Manuscripts Department is the BPL’s primary repository for rare and historically significant books, manuscripts, and related materials. Strengths of the collection include 19th-century American abolitionism and anti-slavery movements; British and American literature and drama; Boston, New England, and early American history; and early European printed books and manuscripts, among many others.

Situated in the BPL’s Central Library in Copley Square, we work to support the overall mission of BPL Special Collections, facilitating discovery and fostering public engagement with the library’s rare, distinctive, and culturally significant holdings.

Boston Public Library is committed to racial equity and to becoming an anti-racist organization and formed an action plan in 2020 in response to systemic racism, inequity, and injustice prevalent in our society. You can read more about the action plan and the steps BPL is taking to address diversity, equity, and inclusion here.

Residency requirement

Please note that the city of Boston residency requirement applies to this position, which means that the successful candidate must be a resident of the city of Boston on or before the date of hire.

Salary and benefits

Applying

For further information and to apply to this position, please visit the City of Boston employment website. Please combine your cover letter and resume in a single PDF file and attach them together in the resume upload section of the website.
To modify your EXLIBRIS-L subscription or unsubscribe, login at: https://list.indiana.edu/sympa/suboptions/exlibris-l
Posted in Jobs for Medievalists | Leave a comment

Call for Applications: BSA Fellowships 2024

Apply to BSA Fellowships by December 3

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) funds more than a dozen fellowships supporting a broad range of bibliographical pursuits to promote critical inquiry and research in the field of bibliography in both traditional and emerging formats.

Learn more about the application process for all BSA Fellowships, including eligibility requirements and links to the application forms, and apply for fellowships on our website. Learn more about how supporting bibliographic research is central to BSA’s mission.

Applicants must be active members of the Society to be considered for a fellowship award; however, this restriction does not apply to New Scholars Program applicants. Join or renew now!

The deadline for applications for fellowships to be awarded in 2025 is Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET. All applications must be completed and letters of recommendation submitted to BSA by this date.

Questions or requests for more information may be directed to the BSA Fellowship program at bsafellowships@bibsocamer.org.

Posted in Call for Papers | Leave a comment

Jobs For Medievalists

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Wofford College’s History Department is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Medieval History to begin fall 2025. The successful applicant will teach classes on late antique to medieval Europe. Preference will be given to candidates also able to offer a course in digital and/or public history.

Wofford College is a four-year residential, liberal arts college in Spartanburg, SC. It has been consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges by Washington Monthly, the Fiske Guide, Forbes, and U.S. News and World Report.  It has a student body of roughly 1,800 students and is known nationally for its study-abroad participation and its successful graduates.

EXPECTATIONS

The Assistant Professor of Medieval History will teach a mix of introductory-level and upper-level courses. This includes each of the following: at least one 100-level class that contributes to Wofford’s General Education requirement in History; HIST 260: Historiography and Research Methods (a required class for majors, usually taken during a student’s second year); and upper-level courses in the candidate’s specialty. In addition to courses in the History Department, the successful applicant will contribute to the department’s participation in the first-year LIBA seminar course required of all students during their first semester at Wofford.

Wofford’s faculty teach a 3-1-3 load. The 1 indicates the January “Interim” term, during which professors may travel with students or teach on a variety of topics using experiential teaching methods.

Wofford faculty are teacher-scholars with a focus on undergraduate teaching and advising and a commitment to the liberal arts. To earn tenure, faculty are expected to demonstrate excellence in teaching, continued scholarly development, and service to the college. Faculty are eligible for a sabbatical leave after every 6 years of service.

QUALIFICATIONS

A PhD in History is required by the beginning of the appointment. Preference will be given to candidates with teaching experience at the collegiate level.

APPLICATION

For assured consideration, please submit: 1) a cover letter, 2) CV, including names and contact information of three referees 3) a statement of teaching philosophy (which should include an articulation of interest in, and understanding of, teaching at a residential, liberal arts college) to HistorySearch@wofford.edu no later than November 1, 2024.

Questions can be directed to the chair of the department, Dr. Clayton Whisnant (whisnantcj@wofford.edu / (864) 597-4550).

Posted in Jobs for Medievalists | Leave a comment

Jobs For Medievalists

Part Time Position Available

Executive Director, The Manuscript Society

Starting on or before February 1, 2025

The Manuscript Society is an international organization of people and institutions devoted to the collection, preservation, use and enjoyment of autograph letters, documents and manuscripts, maps, philatelic material, and more!

Responsibilities:

  • Maintaining membership relations and records, preparing and retaining records of the Board of Trustees and other administrative and committee meetings,
  • planning and coordination of Society meetings, work with the Society Treasurer to manage the financial accounts and budget of the Society, and working with publications editors as necessary, along with oversight of the website.
  • Administrative, organizational, computer and “people skills” are  important. A background in the humanities and/or non-profit experience is preferable.

Location:

Work from home. Reimbursed travel for planning of and attendance at Society’s Annual Meeting and the Fall Board Meeting.

This is a part time, contract position

Compensation:

$24,000 to $28,000 depending on experience.

Inquiries should be directed to the President of The Manuscript Society: Jim West at jwest@wrx900.com

Posted in Jobs for Medievalists | Leave a comment

Middle Ages for Educators (MAFE) is sponsoring a bracketed Sweet 16 competition

With the support of a Centennial Grant from the Medieval Academy of America, the Princeton-based Middle Ages for Educators (MAFE) is sponsoring a bracketed Sweet16 competition to encourage medievalists to create open access resources (OARs) for inclusion and publication on the site.

All Sweet 16 OAR submissions will be assessed by a panel of judges who will choose the top 16 OARs, which will then be entered into a public-facing competition. Voting for the best OAR will take place on social media, with the winner of each pairing advancing to the next round. The top 16 submissions will receive a cash prize, and the 4 semi-finalists will receive an additional cash prize and up to $1000 travel stipend to present their work, along with the judges, at a round-table at the MAA’s Centennial meeting in Boston in March 2025. The overall winner of the Sweet 16 competition will receive an additional prize of $1,000. Anyone may enter the competition.

Guidelines for creating and submitting OARs are found on the Sweet 16 page of the MAFE site, and the judging rubrics included. All submissions are due by October 1, 2024.

We hope this competition will be an exciting opportunity for the medievalists in the MAA to learn about MAFE, to consider new ways to disseminate knowledge, and to represent all that MAA members have to offer to the thousands of people who use MAFE every year.

Please feel free to send any questions or concerns you might have to the MAFE Project Coordinator) at lmorreale3@gmail.com.

The MAFE Team:
Merle Eisenberg (Oklahoma State University)
David Gyllenhaal (Princeton University)
Sara McDougall (CUNY, John Jay)
Laura Morreale (Independent Scholar)
Helmut Reimitz (Princeton University),
Jeremy Stitts (Princeton University),
Jack Tannous (Princeton University)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Online Lecture: Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the first lecture in the 2024–2025 East of Byzantium lecture series.

Friday, September 27, 2024 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom
Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia
Agata Deptuła, University of Warsaw

Three Nubian kingdoms (Nobadia, Makuria, and Alwa), located in the Middle Nile Valley, became part of the Christian oikumene in the middle of the sixth century, receiving from Byzantium not only the faith, but also its setting, including Greek as the principal liturgical language and a set of texts used during liturgical celebrations. Singing was an integral and significant component of the Eastern Church ritual, and it is not surprising that hymns also gained popularity in Nubia.

Texts at our disposal are mostly fragmentary, preserved in the form of parts of manuscript leaves, faded wooden tablets, or inscriptions written on the walls of cult buildings. Despite their fragmentary state, Nubian hymns exhibit a richness of forms and themes. There are troparia belonging to the oldest layer of Greek liturgical poetry and witnesses of the original Greek versions of the hymns by Severus of Antioch, known so far only through their Syriac translations. Longer compositions are also found, with the canon—a structured liturgical hymn composed of nine odes related to the nine biblical canticles—seemingly enjoying particular popularity.

These compositions span the spectrum of feast days as well as fixed celebrations, and also praise saints, especially Archangel Michael and Theotokos. Attestations of the usage of individual hymn verses in inscriptions left by visitors in churches indicate that singing to praise the Lord was widespread among the faithful. As a result, hymns are the largest and richest group of liturgica known from the area, shedding light on local liturgical practices. Additionally, the fact that some hymns are not preserved in their original form outside Nubia demonstrates that the material can contribute to unraveling the development of hymnography in Eastern Christianity at large.

Agata Deptuła is an archaeologist at the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, where she specializes in medieval Nubia and epigraphy. With over a decade of fieldwork experience in Sudan on sites such as Banganarti and Old Dongola, she focuses primarily on epigraphy and texts with liturgical significance. Her passion lies in deciphering inscriptions, particularly those that reveal the cultural and religious aspects of medieval Nubian societies. She is the author of the book Liturgical Poetry in Christian Nubia: The Evidence of the Wall Inscriptions in the Lower Church at Banganarti, which explores the hymnographic tradition and liturgical aspects of Nubian history.

Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

An East of Byzantium lecture. EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center that explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine empire in the late antique and medieval periods.

Posted in Lectures | Leave a comment