SEMA prizes for teaching, first book, and scholarly achievement: Sept. 1 deadline coming up

Nominations for the awards  may be made by fellow members of SEMA in good standing, by colleagues, or by self-application.  The usual deadline of July 15 has been extended to September 1, but please note that Tom must have all supporting materials by that date. Winners will be announced at our fall conference during the Saturday business meeting.

Since 2007, SEMA has offered three annual awards for teaching excellence and scholarly achievement to recognize outstanding contributions to these fields by its members:

The Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes achievement in the teaching of medieval subjects in the past three years. Nominees will be asked to supply 1) a selection of student evaluations for three years; 2) letters of support from colleagues and/or deans or students; 3) a brief narrative de-scribing their teaching philosophy; 40) a list of courses taught in the medieval area for the past three years; and 5) a current curriculum vitae.

The Award for Best First Book is given for the best first book in a field of medieval scholarship. Members who have publisher their first book within the past five years are eligible. Nominees will be asked to submit 1) the book’s introduction and one or two additional chapters (as pdfs); and 2) at least two published reviews of the books (as pdfs).

The Award for Scholarly Achievement recognizes scholars with a substantial number of publications (articles and/or books) with at least one article appearing in Medieval Perspectives. Nominees should submit 1) letters of support from colleagues and/or deans and students; and 2) a current curriculum vitae.

Please send nominations to Tom Farrell, at tjfarel@stetson.edu.

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Fall 2016 Exhibitions at Bridwell Libary

Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library:

August 8, 2016 – December 16, 2016 in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries

 

Surveying the wide range of manuscripts in Bridwell Library Special Collections representing the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic traditions, this exhibition includes items produced between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries in numerous locations throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The array of texts, languages, letterforms, illuminations, and illustrations provides evidence of both known and unrecorded scribes, artists, readers, and owners as well as insights into the cultural, historical, bibliographical, and aesthetic contexts in which these manuscripts were created.

 

These works both complement and supplement printed holdings in significant collecting areas for Bridwell Library including scripture and worship, devotion, theology and church history, and religious instruction and study.  Focusing on these genres, Bridwell Library continues to build a diverse and instructive collection of manuscripts, many of which demonstrate how handwritten books and documents remained essential facets of religious and intellectual life following the introduction of printing in Europe in the mid-fifteenth century.

 

http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/Manuscripts

 

Engraved Throughout

August 15, 2016 – December 9, 2016 in the Bridwell Library Entry Hall

 

This exhibition explores religious works printed entirely with copperplates:  the volumes were engraved throughout. These pages could be presented side-by-side, as in prayer books and guides to the mass. Alternatively each plate would be viewed individually, often as one print in a series. Such suites of plates proved conducive for illustrating narrative accounts including biblical episodes and the biographies of religious figures.  Created with various intentions, the exhibited volumes published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries provided an appealing and engaging format for instruction, documentation, worship, and devotion.

http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/Engraved

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Call for Papers – Animating the Medieval: Research on Animated Representations of the Middle Ages in Memory of Michael N. Salda

Animating the Medieval: Research on Animated Representations of the Middle Ages in Memory of Michael N. Salda
Sponsored by The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
52nd International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
11-14 May 2017
Proposals due by 15 September 2016

Medievalist Michael N. Salda passed away in October 2015. He was, perhaps, best known for his work on Chaucer and Malory, but scholars of the medieval on screen owe him a greater debt for his pioneering work on animated films, television programming, and theatrical shorts based on medieval subjects. Much of his activities in this field focused on the Matter of Britain. He began these efforts in the mid-1990s, and they culminated in his monograph Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television published in 2013. In addition, Salda’s interests in animated representations of the medieval extended beyond Arthurian subjects; he also contributed an essay on the Vikings in animation for Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages (2011) and was working on a venture devoted to cataloging the more general use of the medieval in animation, a project that now seems unlikely to appear given his untimely death. However, as advocates of the Once and Future King have sustained the ideals of their fallen Arthur, we, too, are able to follow Salda’s model and honor his memory in continuing his work by building upon his scholarship in our own contributions to studies of the medieval on screen and by tracking down and discussing additional representations of the medieval in animation. We believe these efforts both further the mission of The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture (successor to the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages) in promoting original research on the medieval in popular culture and acknowledge the lasting impact of a colleague that changed the field of Medievalism Studies for the better.

Presentations will be limited to 10-15 minutes depending on panel size, and The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture asks that accepted presenters submit their completed papers for publication on the Medieval Studies on Screen site (https://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/) prior to the conference to allow maximum dissemination of their ideas.

Interested individuals should submit, no later than 15 September 2015, (1) an abstract of approximately 500 words, (2) a 500-word biography, and (3) a completed Participant Information Form (accessible at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to the organizers at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com using “Animating the Medieval” as their subject heading.

In planning your proposal, please be aware of the policies of the Congress (available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/policies).

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2016-17 ACLS Fellowship Competitions Now Open

ACLS is pleased to announce that the 2016-17 ACLS competitions are now open for many programs. ACLS offers fellowship and grant programs that promote the full spectrum of humanities and humanistic social sciences research and support scholars at the advanced graduate student level through all stages of the academic career. Comprehensive information and eligibility criteria for all programs can be found at www.acls.org/programs/comps.

Application deadlines vary by program:

September 28, 2016
ACLS Fellowships (the central program)
ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowships
Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars (including opportunities designated for liberal arts college faculty)

October 26, 2016
Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art
Luce/ACLS Program in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs – Fellowships for Scholars
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships

November 2, 2016
African Humanities Program

November 9, 2016
Luce/ACLS Predissertation-Summer Travel Grants in China Studies
Luce/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowships in China Studies
Luce/ACLS Collaborative Reading-Workshop Grants in China Studies
Comparative Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society (grants for planning meetings, workshops, and conferences)

November 15, 2016
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowships in Buddhist Studies
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships in Buddhist Studies
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Collaborative Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies

January 11, 2017
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation New Professorships in Buddhist Studies

January 25, 2017
ACLS Digital Extension Grants

March 2017 (date TBA)
Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows

The American Council of Learned Societies is the leading private institution supporting scholars in the humanities. In the 2015-16 competition year, ACLS awarded over $18 million to more than 300 scholars worldwide. Recent fellows’ and grantees’ profiles and research abstracts are available at www.acls.org/fellows/new. The 2016-17 season promises to be equally successful!

Contact: fellowships@acls.org

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Registration for Beyond Words Symposium, Nov. 3-5

Registration for the Nov. 3-5 symposium accompanying the exhibition Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts from Boston Collections is now available online: http://beyondwords2016.org/#symposium

The full schedule will be available soon. We hope you will join us for what is sure to be an edifying and collegial gathering.

The Beyond Words curatorial team:

Jeffrey Hamburger
William P. Stoneman
Anne-Marie Eze
Lisa Fagin Davis
Nancy Netzer

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Call for Participatory Sessions RBMS 2017 Iowa City

Submission Deadline: October 28, 2016

The Participatory Programming Subcommittee of the RBMS 2017 Conference Program Planning Committee invites all to propose and organize a participatory session at RBMS 2017 in Iowa City.

Participatory sessions can be hands-on, discussion-based, service-oriented, and more!

Want some ideas/inspiration for types of sessions? Just want to submit?  Please visit our page, which includes details as well as the online form:

http://rbms.info/committees/rbms_conference_program_planning/participatory-programming/ 

Proposals submitted by October 28 will be given full consideration.

Feel free to contact us with any questions about submitting proposals, the suitability of topics, or organizing participatory sessions in general:

participatory@rbms.info

We look forward to reading your submissions!!!

For more information about RBMS 2017 please check out the conference website:

http://conference.rbms.info/2017/

Be sure to subscribe to the website to receive updates!

Sincerely,
Participatory Programming Subcommittee
RBMS 2017 Conference Program Planning Committee

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Call for Papers: MAA Sponsored Sessions at Kalamazoo

Call for Papers: MAA Sponsored Sessions at Kalamazoo, May 11-14, 2017

The Medieval Academy of America seeks proposals for two sponsored sessions at the 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies, on the topic of “Mobility of Things and Persons.” These sessions will build on the Medieval Academy of America plenary lecture, to be delivered by Leor HaLevi (Vanderbilt Univ.).

I: “Cross-Cultural Images and Crafts: Transcultural Objects and Artisanal Migration”
II: “Trading with Infidels: Legal Approaches to Interfaith Commerce.”

Please send proposals with a one-page abstract and Participant Information Form
(https://wmich.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/u434/2016/medieval-pif-2017.pdf)
to Sara Lipton (sara.lipton@stonybrook.edu) by September 15, 2016.

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Jobs for Medievalists

Smith College
Curator of Rare Books

The Smith College Libraries are extremely proud of their broad teaching and research collection of 46,000 rare books and manuscripts, spanning over four thousand years of civilization, from cuneiform tablets to modern artists’ books. Smith College seeks a dynamic and versatile Curator of Rare Books to lead this extraordinary collection into the twenty-first century by expanding Smith’s long tradition of teaching with primary resources and diversifying the collection in accordance with the current needs of Smith’s mission, faculty, and curriculum. The new Curator of Rare Books also will have the unique opportunity to collaborate with colleagues to envision a new special collections facility within the new Neilson Library designed by Maya Lin. This professional position offers countless opportunities to collaborate in inventive ways with other teaching librarians, special collections staff, digital specialists, the talented local book arts community, and generous alumnae to create vibrant educational programs and far-reaching digital humanities projects.

For more information and instructions on how to apply, please visit:
https://smithcollege.hiretouch.com/job-details?jobID=35070&job=ad0076-curator-of-rare-books

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Call for Papers – The Normans in the South: Mediterranean Meetings in the Central Middle Ages

The Normans in the South
Mediterranean Meetings in the Central Middle Ages
Friday 30 June – Sunday 2 July 2017
St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

By some accounts, 1017 marked the advent of the Norman presence in Italy and Sicily, inaugurating a new era of invasion, interaction and integration in the Mediterranean. Whether or not we decide the millennial anniversary is significant, the moment offers an ideal opportunity to explore the story in the south, about a thousand years ago. To what extent did the Normans establish a cross-cultural empire? What can we learn by comparing the impact of the Norman presence in different parts of Europe? What insights are discoverable in comparing local histories of Italy and Sicily with broader historical ideas about transformation, empire and exchange? The conference aims to draw together established, early-career and post-graduate scholars for a joint investigation of the Normans in the south, to explore together the many meetings of cultural, political and religious ideas in the Mediterranean in the central Middle Ages.

Keynote Speakers
Professor Graham Loud (University of Leeds)
Professor Jeremy Johns (University of Oxford)
Professor Sandro Carocci (University of Rome II)

Call for Papers
Proposals for three-paper sessions, as well as individual proposals for 20-minute papers, are welcome. Comparative studies are particularly encouraged. Submissions should include: an abstract of 200–300 words, paper title, name and academic position, institutional affiliation and durable contact details for all speakers.

Themes and topics could include:

  • Sicily as a cultural crossroads
  • Crusading
  • The Normans and empire
  • Islamic interactions
  • Political leadership
  • Social change: women, men and families
  • Norman Conquests compared: Italy, Sicily and other parts of Europe
  • Reactions to the Norman presence in the south, then and now
  • Impact on Italy as a whole
  • Migration
  • Local history: micro-perspectives on macro-trends

Submission Deadline: 15 November 2016
Please direct paper and session proposals, requests to join the conference mailing list, ideas for themes, and all other enquiries to:

Dr Emily A. Winkler
emily.winkler@history.ox.ac.uk

conference sponsored by
www.haskinssociety.org

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The James H. Marrow Research Travel Fund: Inaugural call for Applications

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/research/news/james-h-marrow-research-travel-fund-inaugural-call-applications

As part of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s bicentenary celebrations, we are delighted to invite applications to the James H Marrow Research Travel Fund.

The fund has been established in honour of Professor James H. Marrow, Honorary Keeper of Northern Illuminated Manuscripts at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Professor Emeritus of Art History at Princeton University, to provide financial assistance for students and independent scholars who need to travel to the Fitzwilliam Museum in order to undertake short term research on its collection of illuminated manuscripts.

The deadline for applications is Friday, 30 September.  For details of eligibility and an application form, please email: .

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