The Medieval Academy Blog

Ana Maria Aldama Roy VI International Prize for a Doctoral Thesis

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Chris

The Ana Maria Aldama Roy Foundation, which has the principal aim of promoting Latin Studies, invites applications for its Sixth International Prize for Doctoral Theses. This is open to unpublished doctoral theses on Christian, Medieval or Renaissance Latin, which have been defended in Spanish or foreign universities and research centres between the 1st of October 2014 and the 30th of September 2015.

The winner will be awarded 2000 euros and the thesis will be published.

The theses may be presented in English, German, Basque or any of the romance languages, and must be submitted by email to contactar@fundacionamar.es, in pdf format, before the 28th of February 2016.

A jury of specialists will publish the results of the Foundation’s website (www.fundacionamar.es) before the 31st of May 2016.

The author undertakes to publish the thesis still unpublished, in line with the editorial standards laid down by the Foundation which will act as the publisher.

Madrid, December 2015

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UCLA-CMRS 2015-16 Program Booklet Now Available Online

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Chris

For many years, MAA members in the US and Canada have received a copy by mail of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies’ annual program booklet. Beginning this year, the booklet will no longer be mailed but will instead be available for download from CMRS’s website at http://cmrs.ucla.edu/wp-content/pdfs/annual_brochure_15-16.pdf. If you would still like to receive a printed copy of the booklet, please contact the CMRS staff at cmrs@humnet.ucla.edu.

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Harvard Univ. Committee on Medieval Studies Visiting Scholars Program

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Chris

http://medieval.fas.harvard.edu/visiting-scholars-program

In order to promote scholarly research, exchange, and conversation about the medieval world, the Committee on Medieval Studies welcomes a small number of Visiting Scholars each academic year. Visiting Scholars may work in any field dealing with some aspect of medieval society, religion, or culture in Europe, Africa, or Eurasia, and are welcomed as full members of Harvard’s rich intellectual and social community of medievalists.

Visiting Scholars may be appointed to terms ranging from three to six months. They enjoy full access to Harvard libraries and many other university facilities, an email account, and shared office space during the period of their appointment. They are expected to be engaged in research projects that draw upon Harvard’s manuscript, library, and other resources; to remain in residence in the Cambridge/Boston area during their appointment; to participate fully in the seminars, colloquia, and other activities of the Committee on Medieval Studies; and to share the results of their research in a seminar or other public venue.

Click here for more information on how to apply.

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Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Chris

Click here for the program and schedule.

(See our calendar for more conferences)

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Call for Papers – Beyond Borders: Mutual Imaginings of Europe and the Middle East (800-1700)

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Chris

Beyond Borders:

Mutual Imaginings of Europe and the Middle East (800-1700)

Barnard College’s 25th Biannual Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Call For Papers

Recent scholarship is challenging the stark border between Europe and the Middle East during the long period between 800-1700. Rather than thinking of these areas in isolation, scholars are revealing the depth of their mutual influence. Trade, war, migration, and scholarly exchange connected Europe and the Middle East in ways both cooperative and adversarial. The distant world was not only an object of aggression, but also, inextricably, of fantasy and longing. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian thinkers looked to each other to understand their own cultural histories and to imagine their futures. Bringing together art historians, literary scholars, historians, scholars of the history of science, and scholars of religious thought, this interdisciplinary conference will explore the real and imaginary cultural interchanges between Europe and the Middle East during their formative periods. The conference will feature plenary lectures by Professors Nancy Bisaha of Vassar College, and Nabil Matar of the University of Minnesota.

This conference is being organized by Professors Rachel Eisendrath, Najam Haider, and Laurie Postlewate of Barnard College.

Please send an abstract (with title) of approximately 200 words and CV to lpostlew@barnard.edu. Presentations should be 20 minutes. Deadline: April 10, 2016.

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London International Palaeography Summer School

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Chris

Applications are open for the London International Palaeography Summer School (LIPSS), running 13 – 17 June 2016.

The London Palaeography Summer School is a series of intensive courses in palaeography and manuscript studies, held at the Institute of English Studies, Senate House, University of London. Courses are given by experts in their respective fields, from a wide variety of institutions.

Full-day course fee: £95 | Half-day course fee: £55

Block bookings discounts and discounts for full-time MA/PhD students are available.

Monday 13 June

Pre-Norman British and Irish Psalters (Dr Carol Farr)

History of Latin Scripts I: Antiquity to Caroline Minuscule (Dr James Willoughby)

English Palaeography, 1500-1900 (Christopher Whittick)

How Medieval Manuscripts Were Made (Patricia Lovett)

Introduction to Greek Palaeography I (Dr Laura Franco)

Tuesday 14 June

Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Palaeography (Dr Debby Banham)

History of Latin Scripts II: Protogothic to Humanist (Dr James Willoughby)

Introduction to Visigothic Script (Dr Ainoa Castro Correa)

Codicology: An Introduction for Beginners (Dr James Freeman)

Introduction to Greek Palaeography II (Dr Laura Franco)

Wednesday 15 June

The Insular System of Scripts to AD 900 (Professor Julia Crick)

Introduction to Latin Palaeography (Dr Marigold Norbye)

Reading & Editing Renaissance English Manuscripts I (Dr Chris Stamatakis)

Codicology: An Introduction to Cataloguing (Peter Kidd)

Thursday 16 June

Introduction to Welsh Palaeography (Dr Helen McKee)

Intermediate Latin Palaeography (Dr Marigold Norbye)

Reading & Editing Renaissance English Manuscripts II (Dr Chris Stamatakis)

Codicology & Cataloguing: A Hands-On Workshop (Dr James Freeman & Peter Kidd)

Vernacular Editing: Chaucer and his Contemporaries (Professor Anthony Edwards)

Friday 17 June

Approaches to the Art of Insular Manuscripts (Dr Carol Farr)

The Transitional Script of the Long Twelfth Century (Dr Erik Kwakkel)

Writing and Reading Medieval Manuscripts: Folio Layouts in Context (Dr Anna Somfai)

Painting a Medieval Miniature (Patricia Lovett)

German Palaeography (Dr Dorothea McEwan & Dr Claudia Wedepohl)

Questions? Contact the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London at IESEvents@sas.ac.uk or +44 020 7862 8679

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Call for Papers – Horizontal Learning within High Medieval Religious Communities

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Chris

Steven Vanderputten, Tjamke Snijders and Micol Long (UGent, Belgium), present Horizontal Learning within High Medieval Religious Communities, an interdisciplinary conference on medieval educational practices taking place in Brussels on September 1-2, 2016.

This conference will center on the medieval practices of learning within a community, understood as a body of people who practice communal living and share an understanding of what binds them together, even though this understanding is constantly being renegotiated. Our aim is to focus on the ways in which co-habiting peers learned from one another. This “horizontal learning” has received much less attention than the vertical master/student approach, and yet it emerges as an important part of the learning experience, especially as we are interested in “learning” in a broad sense: not only acquiring factual knowledge or skills, but also developing ideas and beliefs and adapting to behavioral patterns. In short, everything that could make a monk a better and more efficient member of the community. Whereas other projects thematize the institutional history of learning, the transmission of propositional knowledge in formalized educational contexts, or the importance of networks of learning, this project distinguishes itself through its focus on day-to-day interactions by community members.
Our starting point is the investigation of communal learning in the practices of high medieval religious communities. Progressing beyond the old view that they were closed, homogeneous, and fairly stable social groups, we intend to approach these communities as the product of a continuous process of education and integration of new members. Contributions will investigate the way in which inter-personal exchanges of knowledge between peers concretely functioned, and what this teaches us about medieval learning within the context of a community.

The organizers invite proposals for both case studies and theoretical reflections on the subject. Proposals should be submitted to horizontal.learning@UGent.be by February 1th, 2016, and should consist of a title, a 400-word abstract and a CV.

More information about the organizing committee, the scientific committee and the confirmed participants can be found at http://www.horizontallearning.ugent.be/home/call-for-papers/

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MAA News – Renew Your Membership for 2016

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Chris

shield 2016 has begun and we encourage you to renew your membership as soon as possible.

Click here to renew online. You will need to sign in with your username and password; if you have forgotten either, please contact us at info@themedievalacademy.org.

While you’re online, don’t forget to take advantage of the reduced subscriptions to several online bibliographies and the ACLS Humanities E-Book Library that are available to Medieval Academy members. We invite you to take this opportunity to explore our website and, after signing in with your username and password, update your personal homepage so that you can connect with other members with similar interests. Members can now use their personal MAA homepage to indicate an interest in being considered to serve on one of our committees or to review books for Speculum. In this way we hope to engage more members in our work.

Since the Medieval Academy is a membership organization not affiliated with any other institution, we rely on the income received annually from member dues to maintain our program of publications, awards, grants, and conferences.

We are pleased to report that in 2015, with your contribution, the Academy increased its support of members, especially graduate students, through the numerous awards and fellowships offered annually, while continuing to streamline administrative functions and increase digital offerings. Funds awarded to graduate students topped $100,000 this year, including the new Olivia Remie Constable Awards, GSC/MAA Grant for Innovation, and the broadened MAA/CARA Summer Language Stipends program. These and other programs are made possible thanks to the efforts of our numerous volunteer committees, from the Speculum boards to the many awards committees, from the Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA) to the Graduate Student Committee.

You can easily pay your dues through the MAA website. The dues and donations categories are outlined on the website with links you can follow for further explanation. If you have already renewed, thank you. If you are a Corresponding Fellow, an Honorary Life Member, or a Life Member, no dues are payable, but we hope that you will consider making a gift to the Academy here. We encourage all members to consider supplementing their membership by becoming a Sustaining or Contributing member or by remembering the Academy with a bequest as part of our Legacy Society. In addition, you may want to give a gift membership to a colleague or student; please contact us at info@themedievalacademy.org for more information.

If you prefer to renew by mail, our traditional paper membership form can be printed here.

With a healthy fiscal outlook, increased digital offerings, and expanded services, the Medieval Academy has more to offer members than ever before. We sincerely hope that you will renew soon and continue your valued membership in the Academy. We look forward to working with you in developing the future of the Medieval Academy of America and of medieval studies in North America and beyond. Click here to renew.

Barbara Newman, President
Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director