The Medieval Academy Blog

The Berlin Prize

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Chris

The Berlin Prize
Call for Applications 2014-2015

The American Academy in Berlin invites applications for its residential fellowships for 2014-2015, as well as early applications for the academic years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. The deadline is Monday, September 2, 2013 (12 pm EST or 6 pm CET). Applications may be submitted online or mailed to the Berlin office.

The Academy welcomes applications from emerging and established scholars and from writers and professionals who wish to engage in independent study in Berlin. Approximately 26 Berlin Prizes are conferred annually. Past recipients have included historians, economists, poets and novelists, journalists, legal scholars, anthropologists, musicologists, and public policy experts, among others. The Academy does not award fellowships in the natural sciences.

Fellowships are typically awarded for an academic semester or, on occasion, for an entire academic year. Bosch Fellowships in Public Policy may be awarded for shorter stays of six to eight weeks. Fellowship benefits include round-trip airfare, partial board, a $5,000 monthly stipend, and accommodations at the Academy’s lakeside Hans Arnhold Center in the Berlin-Wannsee district.

Fellowships are restricted to individuals based permanently in the United States. US citizenship is not required; American expatriates are not eligible. Candidates in academic disciplines must have completed a PhD at the time of application. Applicants working in most other fields – such as journalism, filmmaking, law, or public policy – must have equivalent professional degrees. Writers should have published at least one book at the time of application. The Academy gives priority to a proposal’s scholarly merit rather than any specific relevance to Germany.

Please note that the next application period for the Inga Maren Otto Berlin Prize in Music Composition will be in 2014. The Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship in the Visual Arts is an invitation-only competition.

Following a peer-reviewed process, an independent Selection Committee reviews finalist applications. The 2014-2015 Berlin Prizes will be announced in spring semester 2014.

For further information and to apply online, please see

http://www.americanacademy.de/home/fellows/applications

or contact:

The American Academy in Berlin
Attn: Fellows Selection
Am Sandwerder 17-19
14109 Berlin, Germany

Telephone +49-30-804-83-0
Fax +49-30-804-83-111

cs@americanacademy.de

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Call for Papers – The Ten Commandments in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Chris

International Conference

The Ten Commandments in medieval and early modern culture

Ghent University, Belgium

April 10-11, 2014

Key note speakers:
Robert J. Bast (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Uta Störmer-Caysa (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz)

Call for Papers

The Department of Literature at Ghent University is pleased to announce that it will host an international conference on the Ten Commandments in medieval and early modern culture on April 10-11, 2014. We kindly invite paper proposals exploring this theme from any field of medieval and early modern studies. Selected papers will be published in a volume to be included in the peer-reviewed series Intersections. Interdisciplinary Studies in Early Modern Culture (Brill Publishers).

The rise to prominence of the Ten Commandments dates back to the 12^th century. In that period exegetes such as Hugh of Saint Victor emphasized the importance of the Decalogue as a list of moral principles. A century later the Ten Commandments permeated scholastic learning as well as catechetical teaching. They became a useful instrument for the examination of conscience in preparation for the mandatory annual confession introduced by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). By the second half of the 15^th century, the Commandments were omnipresent in religious culture. Their diverse textual and visual manifestations were found in a variety of media, from manuscripts and printed books, to wall paintings and wooden panels. The prominence of the Decalogue continued amongst the Protestants, albeit with a different emphasis than in Catholic teaching.

The heterogeneity of the preserved Decalogue material inspires numerous research questions, many of which are vital and yet largely unexplored. It also poses methodological challenges to scholars who seek to explore and understand the role of the Ten Commandments within a broader context of medieval and early modern culture. Bearing this in mind, we would like to invite papers that elaborate on various aspects of textual – both Latin and vernacular – and visual manifestations of the Decalogue in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. It is particularly important that the proposed papers put emphasis on the broader cultural context in which the Decalogue functioned, as well as on the methodological and theoretical aspects of the discussed piece of research. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

The relationship (or lack of it) between scholastic and vernacular writings on the Ten Commandments. Recent research has shown that some vernacular writings on the Ten Commandments contain elaborate theological content. Which themes found their way from academic to vernacular theology? Were there independent developments within the vernacular writings on the Decalogue? In which milieus were the ‘learned’ vernacular treatises written and what was their audience?
The Ten Commandments in various textual genres. The typological diversity of writings on the Decalogue is astonishing. These Old Testament tenets were explored in scholastic summae, catechetical mirrors and sermons, put into simple rhymes, combined with images and even interwoven into stage plays. How did different genres treat the Commandments? Was there any genre-specific emphasis on certain aspects of the exegesis of the Decalogue?
The Ten Commandments in visual arts. The act of breaking or obeying the precepts was depicted in diverse media. Did the iconography and/or function of the Ten Commandments scenes change depending on the medium? Did the Reformation and Counter-Reformation affect the iconography of the Decalogue-scenes?
The Decalogue in medieval and early modern popular culture. The Ten Commandments, like other tenets, penetrated popular (religious) culture. How did the abundantly preserved Decalogue rhymes, some of which could in fact be sung, and cheap prints containing a combination of text and image function? Who used them?
The Ten Commandments in early modern theology. The Decalogue played a vital role in Protestant theology. Did the reformers postulate any major shifts in the interpretation of the Old Testament precepts? If so, did it cause any reaction by the catholic theologians?

Papers should be given in English and should be 20-25 minutes long. Please submit an abstract (max. 300 words) accompanied by a brief CV before October 1, 2013 by e-mail to Marta Bigus (marta.bigus@ugent.be). Successful applicants will be notified by November 1, 2013.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts, and to a productive meeting on April 10-11, 2014. We hope that you will support our efforts by notifying your colleagues and students about the conference. You are most welcome to contact the organisers for further details.

Organising committee:

Marta Bigus, MA (marta.bigus@ugent.be)

Prof. dr. Youri Desplenter (youri.desplenter@ugent.be)

Prof. dr. Jürgen Pieters (jurgen.pieters@ugent.be)

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Call for Papers – Catastrophes and the Apocalyptic in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Chris

The 20th Annual ACMRS Conference
February 6–8, 2014

CATASTROPHES and the APOCALYPTIC
in the middle Ages and Renaissance

Call for Papers

ACMRS invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference to be held February 6–8, 2014 in Scottsdale, Arizona. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and especially those that focus on this year’s theme of catastrophes and the apocalyptic.

Conference Publication:
Selected papers related to the conference theme will be considered for publication in the conference volume of Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a series published by Brepols Publishers (Belgium).

Keynote Speaker:

Professor Jaime Lara, Research Professor, ACMRS and the Hispanic Research Center (HRC), Arizona State University (beginning Fall 2013). Professor Lara’s research interests include art, architecture, liturgics, and anthropology. His studies have focused on early Christianity, the Spanish Middle Ages, medieval theater, and the colonial era of Latin America.

Pre-Conference Workshop:
Before the conference, ACMRS will host a workshop on manuscript studies led by Professor Timothy Graham, Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of New Mexico. The workshop will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, February 6, and participation will be limited to the first 25 individuals to register. Email acmrs@acmrs.org with “Pre-Conference Workshop” in the subject line to be added to the list. The cost of the workshop is $30 and is in addition to the regular conference registration fee. Because this popular workshop fills quickly, early registration is recommended.

Deadlines:
The deadline for proposals is 9:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on November 21, 2013. Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a brief CV to ACMRSconference@asu.edu. Proposals must include audio/visual requirements and any other special requests; late requests cannot be accommodated. Visit our web page at www.acmrs.org/conferences/annual-acmrs-conference for further details and updates.

Questions? Call 480-965-4661 or email erin.a.mccarthy@asu.edu

Please visit our website: www.acmrs.org/conferences/annual-acmrs-conference

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Call for Papers – The Fourth International MARGOT Conference

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Chris

The Fourth International MARGOT Conference

June 18-20, 2014

Barnard College, New York City

Women and Community in the Ancien Régime: Traditional and New Media

Scholarly Focus

This three-day conference will feature research and teaching approaches that explore how women participated in and contributed to different kinds of community in medieval and early modern Europe. Conference sessions will feature presentations based on texts and images in traditional manuscript and print format, as well as work that employs new technology and media projects. The conference will be interdisciplinary, and will consider the function and importance of female communities in the natural and social sciences, religion, literature, history, music and fine arts.

Presentation topics may explore women in:

Medical communities; midwifery
Religious communities and non-orthodox or heretical groups
Salons and académies
Women and the Republic of Letters
Epistolary communities
Literary circles
Artists’ and performing artists’ communities
Guilds
Oral communities; storytelling
Print and Manuscript format
Digital resources of all kinds
Online publication of texts and images
Database design and creation
Material culture and artifacts
Film

Resources and approaches used may include:

This conference is co-sponsored by the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL:

We welcome three types of submissions:

Demonstrations/showcasing of existing projects which will include discussion of their creation and implementation for research and/or teaching
Abstracts for regular paper presentations
Proposals for entire sessions (including the names, titles, and abstracts of three/four presenters)

Regular papers will last for 20 minutes, and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Project demonstrations will last for 30 minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion. We ask participants to include the following information in their proposal:

Paper or Session title
Session type – Regular or Project Demonstration
250 word abstract
Contact information and bio paragraph

The Committee will look at all the proposals and their compatibility with the sessions that are planned. As far as possible, we will try to avoid parallel sessions.

The language of the Colloquium will be English.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION:

The deadline for submitting your proposal is October 1, 2013.

Please submit proposals by e-mail to the conference committee:

Prof. Laurie Postlewate: lpostlew@barnard.edu.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by October 15, 2013. Information about the conference, including registration, accommodation at negotiated favourable rates, will be provided early in 2014. We will periodically update information here.

We look forward to your participation,

The Conference Committee:

Christine McWebb (University of Waterloo)
Laurie Postlewate (Barnard College, Columbia University)
Catherine Dubeau (University of Waterloo)

For more information, please see http://margot.uwaterloo.ca/conference-2014/

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Call for Papers – Urban Culture and Ideologies in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: c.1100-1600

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Chris

Date: Thursday 30 ‐ Friday 31 January 2014
Venue: Massey University, Albany Campus, Auckland, New Zealand

This conference will focus on the textual traditions of the urban world: the literature of all kinds produced in the urban context, from chronicles to song, illumination to speech acts. Its main theme is notions of ‘urbanity’. What is ‘urban’ about ‘urban culture’? In what ways did urbanity contribute to cultural and ideological sign systems in political speech, historiography, literature, the visual arts and music? How did the production and reception of chronicles shape urban identity – or identities?

Speakers include:
Tracy Adams (University of Auckland); Mark Amsler (University of Auckland); Jan Dumolyn (University of Ghent); Constant Mews (Monash University); James Murray (Western Michigan University); Johan Oosterman (Radboud University, Nijmegen); Kim Phillips (University of Auckland)

If you would like to give a paper, please submit an abstract to Tina Sheehan, t.m.sheehan@massey.ac.nz

Senior scholars and postgraduate students are equally welcome. If you would like to register attendance at the conference, please do so on the website, http://urbanculture.massey.ac.nz

Abstract submission and early‐bird registration closes 6 December 2013.

If you have any queries please contact:
Dr Andrew Brown, School of Humanities, Massey University
A.D.Brown@massey.ac.nz

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Call for Papers – 34th Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval Studies

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Chris

Proposals for papers are being accepted for the 34th Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval Studies, Fordham University, on the topic “The French of Outremer: Communities and Communications in the Crusading Mediterranean,” and to be held at the Lincoln Center Campus, Saturday, March 29, 2014

Plenary Speakers include Peter Edbury, Cardiff University; Laura Minervini, University of Naples
With the participation of Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Marilynn Desmond, Laura Morreale,
Nicolas Paul, Teresa Shawcross, Alan Stahl, Suzanne Yeager

We welcome papers that address any of the following questions, and encourage papers on related topics:

• Differences between the real and the imagined Outremer
• The cultural identities of communities in the Latin East, and the mechanisms that perpetuated or contravened these identities
• Ties developed with the West through crusading, pilgrimage, and merchant activities, and their contribution to the “French” quality of these communities
• Single texts or textual traditions that originated or were preserved in the lands of Outremer
• French-language translations in the Latin East
• The role of Outremer in the diversification of French-language genres or French-
inspired cultural products (art, architecture, legal and intellectual concepts, sacred or urban spaces)
• The place of Outremer within a Francophone medieval world

Please submit an abstract and cover letter with contact information by September 30, 2013 to Center for Medieval Studies, FMH 405b, Bronx, NY 10458, by e-mail to medievals@fordham.edu, or by fax to 718.817.3987.
The Conference Site is: http://www.fordham.edu/mvst/conference14/index.html

For website submission guidelines, see www.fordham.edu/frenchofoutremer/submissions.

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Editor of Speculum

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Chris

Message to all members:

The Council of the Academy has been re-examining the structure of the Cambridge office, as recent experience has indicated mounting difficulties with the volume and variety of work that is now normal. The expansion of our programs and services, along with advances in information technology, have created new opportunities but also meant a greater burden for the Executive Director and the rest of the staff. The Council had identified this trend several years ago, and the current Council now recommends that the Academy separate the tasks of editing Speculum from those of the Executive Director. This division of roles would enable the Executive Director to pursue new initiatives and improve member services. It would also allow greater specialization, limiting the range of skills required of any one individual.

To move in this direction, the Academy is now seeking proposals for a new editor or editors of Speculum. The advertisement follows; please circulate it as widely as possible. Nominations (including self-nominations) of potential editors or teams of editors are welcome. A committee of five, chaired by me, will examine proposals and discuss them with candidates as necessary. The Council is confident that its membership includes highly qualified persons who will be able to maintain the well-known and respected quality of our journal.

The appointment of a new editor(s) of Speculum will be the first step in reorganizing responsibilities within the Academy. The entire process will take some time but the presidential officers, with the consultation and assistance of the Executive Committee and Council, will move as expeditiously as possible to establish an efficient arrangement. All of us are very grateful to the Acting Executive Director, Lisa Fagin Davis, and to the Acting Editor of Speculum and Director of Medieval Academy Publications, Jacqueline Brown, for their service in this transitional period.

Richard Unger
President, Medieval Academy of America

_______________________________________________________________________________

Speculum, published quarterly since 1926, was the first scholarly journal in North America devoted exclusively to the Middle Ages. It remains the premier journal for all fields devoted to study of the Western Middle Ages, a period ranging from approximately 500 to 1500. The journal has been edited in the past by the Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America, but the organization is now seeking proposals from individuals to assume the role(s) of editor or editors.

Speculum is the intellectual center of the Medieval Academy’s program, and editing the journal to an unfailingly high standard is a challenging and absorbing task. The main challenge for a journal that represents such an enormously diverse field is to publish articles that make substantive contributions to their areas of expertise while appealing to the wide range of scholarly interests of the medievalists in various disciplines that constitute the readership.

The editor(s) will be charged with the final responsibility for peer review and acceptance of manuscripts and book reviews for publication. The editor(s) should be established scholar(s) with academic credentials in some field(s) of medieval studies and should also possess good organizational and decision-making skills. Experience in journal or book editing is helpful but not necessary. The term of service is anticipated to be five years with the possibility of renewal by mutual agreement. The editor(s) enjoy the support and assistance of an editorial board and a board of book review editors, both representative of a broad range of methodologies and areas of specialization. There is provision for one or more editorial assistants, chosen by the editor, as well as an online manuscript-management platform. The new editor(s) should plan on taking office at the beginning of 2014.

Applications should be sent to the chair of the selection committee, Richard Unger [richard.unger@ubc.ca], Department of History, University of British Columbia, 1297-1873 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada, before 15 September 2013. They should include a curriculum vitae, a statement of interest outlining editorial plans for the development of the journal, three letters of reference from scholars who can speak to the applicant’s or applicants’ editorial experience and scholarship, and an indication of the level of support that any host institution is willing to provide. The President of the Medieval Academy, Richard Unger, and the current Acting Editor of Speculum, Jacqueline Brown [jb@themedievalacademy.org] would be happy to respond to questions about the duties involved.

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Conferences – Latin in Medieval Britain: Sources, Language, and Lexicography

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Chris

Registration is now open for:

Latin in Medieval Britain: sources, language, and lexicography Oxford, 12-14 December 2013

2013 is the centenary of the proposal for a new dictionary of Medieval Latin that led to the start of many dictionary projects across Europe. It also sees the completion of the final fascicule of the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources.

To mark these events, the DMLBS will be holding a conference in Oxford from 12th to 14th December. The conference will provide a forum for the consideration of British Medieval Latin in its historical, intellectual and linguistic context, examining the diversity of medieval sources and genres, and relevant issues in lexicography and linguistics.

Our distinguished list of speakers includes Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute), Mary Garrison (York), Andy Orchard (Toronto), and Richard Sharpe (Oxford), as well as the longest-serving editor of the DMLBS, David Howlett.

To book, and for more information, please visit http://www.dmlbs.ox.ac.uk/conference-2013

(See our calendar for more conferences)

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Winners of the 2012 Berkshire Converence Article Prizes

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Chris

The Berkshire Conference Article Prize for the best article in the fields of the history of women, gender, and/or sexuality in 2012 by a woman who is normally resident in North America goes to Judith Bennett for “Death and the Maiden,” Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 42, no. 2 (2012): 269-305. Set in the context of the plague in 14^th century England, Bennett’s article explores the chilling connection between death and virginity. Her wide-ranging selection of sources including paintings, saints’ lives, poems, and tomb brasses, illustrate the multiple meanings that medieval English people saw in this pairing: maidens as death dealers, as miraculous healers, as transcendent martyrs. Written with verve and clarity, “Death and the Maiden” convinces us that the 14^th century is not so far from the 21^st as we might have supposed.

The Berkshire Conference Article Prize for the best article published in all other fields of history in 2012 by a woman who is normally resident in North America goes to Ada Ferrer for “Haiti, Free Soil, and Antislavery in the Revolutionary Atlantic,” American Historical Review , 117, no. 1 (2012): 40-66. Ferrer explains how post-revolutionary Haiti deliberately intervened in the transnational history of slavery by offering “free soil” to any person of color who set foot on Haitian soil. This elegantly written article starts with a group of Jamaican slaves who escaped to Haiti in 1817, explains the constitutional principles and historical precedents that Haiti drew upon to defend its policies at a time when colonial slavery still flourished, and traces the lines of Haitian influence, from U.S. antislavery activists to Venezuelan revolutionaries. Ferrer’s subtle analysis draws upon an extremely wide array of sources to demonstrate persuasively that, as she writes, “No story of the rise of rights is complete without an engagement with the intellectual and political work done in Haiti.”