The Medieval Academy Blog

Bünting clover-leaf map. A woodcut made in 1581 in Magdeburg.

The presence of the MAA at Kalamazoo is difficult to miss when hundreds of people turn out for a 8:30 am plenary lecture by David Wallace (University of Pennsylvania) on “Conceptualizing Literary History: Europe, 1348-1418.” Three sessions on “Transnational Literary History” organized by Richard Kieckhefer (Northwestern University) and Prof. Wallace followed during the day. The events were initiated by the MAA’s Kalamazoo Program Committee, which was chaired by Prof. Kieckhefer and included Cecily J. Hilsdale (McGill University), Diane Reilly (Indiana University), and Samantha Kelly (Rutgers University).

The Medieval Academy’s Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA) sponsored a workshop on “Teaching Paleography and Codicology” and a session on “Natura Nova: Ecocriticism and Medieval Studies,”both organized by Thomas A. Goodmann (University of Miami).

The Medieval Academy’s Graduate Student Committee (GSC), in addition to sponsoring a reception, sponsored a roundtable discussion on “The Canon in the Classroom” with David Wallace, Fiona Somerset (Duke University), Ian Cornelius (Yale University), and Jeffrey Jerome Cohen (George Washington University). Elizaveta Strakhov (University of Pennsylvania), chair of the GSC, organized and presided at the roundtable, which drew a very good and lively crowd.

One of the Executive Directors of the Medieval Academy, Eileen Gardiner, took part in a roundtable organized by Sally Livingston (Ohio Wesleyan University) on “Activism and the Academy.” It became a forum for a variety of positions and the starting point for a thoughtful exchange that has continued on “In the Middle” at http://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2012/05/activism-and-academy-forum.html.

"Dante and Virgil in Conversation," from Oxford: Bodleian Library, MS. Holkham Misc. 48, p. 67. © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

At the 2010 International Medieval Congress at Leeds, the Graduate Student Committee rolled out a new mentorship program that paired graduate students with an established scholar according to discipline. What began as a modest project with 6 who signed up as mentees and 13 who volunteered to be mentors, the program is growing at an impressive rate. In 2011 for the MAA Annual Meeting, Kalamazoo and Leeds combined, there were 35 mentees with 61 volunteer mentors, and in 2012, before the Leeds figures are in, there are already 58 mentees and 60 volunteer mentors.

Once paired by the GSC, the scholar and graduate student meet for an hour or more to discuss anything from dissertation to publication and career plans. Even though maintaining the relationship is not a requirement of the program, the relationship often continues past the meeting, and the mentors generously agree to advise as they can.

The GSC would like to thank all the past mentors who are making this program possible and would like to specifically acknowledge the continued participation of several scholars in the program: Raymond Cormier (Longwood University), Damian Fleming (Indiana University-Purdue University, Ft. Wayne), Kathryn Gerry (University of Kansas), Elina Gertsman (Case Western University), John Hosler (Morgan State University), Paul Hyams (Cornell University), Nicole Marafioti (Trinity University), Carol Neuman de Vegvar (Ohio Wesleyan University), Elizabeth Parker (Fordham University), Charles Rozier (University of Durham), Nancy Sevcenko (Independent Scholar), Alan Stahl (Princeton University), Carol Symes (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Wendy Turner (Augusta State University), Sara Uckelman (Tilburg University), and David Wallace (University of Pennsylvania).

The MAA is planning a similar program to provide mentorship to junior faculty members engaged in their first appointments or between appointments. So far there is enthusiastic support for this idea, and we hope to debut it at the MAA 2013 Annual Meeting in Knoxville.

The 2012-2013 Graduate Student Committee includes Rachel D. Gibson (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), Caitlin Taylor Holton (University of Guelph), Sebastian J. Langdell (Oxford University), Elizaveta Strakhov, chair (University of Pennsylvania), Ethan Zadoff (CUNY Graduate Center). Michelle Urberg (University of Chicago) was the past chair, and Sarah Celentano Parker (University of Texas), who has just rotated off the committee, managed the mentorship program. Caitlin Taylor Holton now coordinates this program.

Balthasar from the Three Kings. Germany, Swabia, before 1489. From the high altar of the Cistercian abbey of Lichtenthal. The Cloisters Collection, New York. Accession 52.83.1-.3.

The Medieval Academy of America has long provided a variety of benefits of membership, including numerous fellowships, prizes and grants for travel, research and publications. Please see the list below with their deadlines, then follow the links for complete descriptions and application information. We encourage all eligible members to apply for these grants.

Graduate Student Fellowships and Awards
Birgit Baldwin Fellowship (Deadline 15 November 2013)
Schallek Fellowship (Deadline 15 October 2012)
Schallek Awards (Deadline 15 February 2013)
Medieval Academy Dissertation Grants (Deadline 15 February 2013)
Leyerle-CARA Prize (Deadline 31 January 2013)
CARA Tuition Scholarships
▪     Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame (Deadline 1 May 2013)
▪     Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto (Deadline 1 March 2013)

Service Awards
Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service (Deadline 15 November 2012)

Teaching Awards
CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching (Deadline 15 November 2012)

Independent Scholars/Unaffiliated Faculty
Travel Grants (Deadlines 1 November 2012 and 1 May 2013)

Book Awards
Haskins Medal (Deadline 15 October 2012)
John Nicholas Brown Prize (Deadline 15 October 2012)
Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize (Deadline 15 October 2012)
MAA Book Subventions (Deadline 1 May 2013)

Boethius, De Musica, from Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, MS V. A. 14.

The MAA is delighted to announce an impressive collection of awards garnered by MAA members during the past fellowship season.

The American Council of Learned Societies announced eleven MAA winners.
One in the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship Competition:
Tekla Bude (University of Pennsylvania)

Three in the ACLS New Faculty Fellows Competition:
Seth Hindin (University of California, Davis)
Andreea Marculescu (Harvard University)
Jeanette Patterson (Princeton University)

Four in the ACLS Core Fellowship Competition:
Mary Edsall (University of Massachusetts, Boston)
Carmela Franklin (Columbia University)
Noah Guynn (University of California, Davis)
Michael Sargent (City University of New York, Queens College)

Two in the Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowship Competition:
Jessica Goldberg (University of Pennsylvania)
Jessica Rosenfeld (Washington University in St. Louis)

And one in the ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowship Competition:
Margot Fassler (University of Notre Dame)

Among the 181 fellowships awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, three medievalists, all members of the MAA, were included:
Olivia Remie Constable (Notre Dame University)
Margot E. Fassler (Notre Dame University)
Thomas F. Madden (St. Louis University)

In addition to the previously presented awards, the MAA’s own Dissertation Grant and the Schallek Awards winners were announced in early May.

Schallek – Richard III Society – Awards:
Paul Broyles (University of Virginia)
Anna Larsen (University of Notre Dame)
Sophia Rochmes (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Samantha Segui (Fordham University)
Elizaveta Strakhov (University of Pennsylvania)

MAA Dissertation Grants:
Sarah Celentano Parker (University of Texas), Grace Frank Dissertation Grant
Allison Fox (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Robert and Janet Lumiansky Dissertation Grant
Jamie Reuland (Princeton University), Frederic C. Lane Dissertation Grant
Andrei Gândilă (University of Florida), E.K. Rand Dissertation Grant
Basit Qureshi (University of Minnesota), Charles T. Wood Dissertation Grant
Constance Kassor (Emory University), Hope Emily Allen Dissertation Grant
Divna Manolova (Central European University), Etienne Gilson Dissertation Grant

CARA Tuition Scholarships, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of New Mexico
Liza Anderson (Yale University)
Meagan Loftin (University of Washington)

Cod. Pal. germ. 848, Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Codex Manesse), Zürich, c.1300-c.1340, fol. 82v.

At the Fellows Business Meeting at the 2012 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, on the recommendation of the Fellows Nominating Committee, the Fellows assembled voted to move the deadline for nominations to 15 October to give the committee additional time to compile the candidates’ dossiers for any additional nominations.

Thanks to the generous decision of several Fellows to take emerita/emeritus status, as of this date there are seven openings for new Fellows, for which we would need to receive at least fourteen nominations.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous gesture of these emeritae and emeriti Fellows:

Michel Huglo, University of Maryland
Suzanne Lewis, Stanford University
James J. Murphy, University of California, Davis
Florence H. Ridley, University of California, Los Angeles
Brian Tierney, Cornell University
A.G. Rigg, University of Toronto
John Williams, University of Pittsburgh.

Tripoli, Bohemond VI or VII, gold bezant, 1251-87. Courtesy of Princeton University Numismatic Collection.

On Tuesday, July 10th at 7:30 pm, Dr. Alan Stahl (Princeton University) will be presenting the annual Medieval Academy of America Lecture at Leeds and speaking on “The Mediterranean Melting Pot: Crosscurrents in Medieval Coinage.” Dr. Stahl is the curator of Numismatics at Princeton University.  A reception, hosted by the MAA, will follow immediately. We hope that if you are at Leeds you will join us for the lecture in the Lawnswood room and reception (Weetwood: Breakout Area).

Preview: In the half millennium from 1000 to 1500, Europe went from being a marginal participant in the eastern Mediterranean to playing an active and even dominant role in its economic and political life. Nowhere is this growing hegemony more concretely exemplified than in the numismatic realm. From reliance on the small, and often base, silver penny of the central Middle Ages — all but useless for long-scale commerce or major capitalization of military expeditions — European mints gradually added denominations of large silver and gold coins based on Byzantine and Islamic models. As European dominance in the monetary sphere grew, its new coinages became the basis of Mediterranean trade and were adopted by Latin colonial minters and, in turn, became the basis for issues by autochthonous Eastern rulers.

Printer, from Jost Amman and Hans Sachs, Das Ständebuch. Frankfurt am Main 1568.

Ten titles from the Medieval Academy Books series are now available through amazon.com and its print-on-demand program. To find these books you can use the advanced search option, search by publisher “Medieval Academy of America” and sort the results by publication date. Additional titles will continue to appear until all of the 105 titles published by the MAA itself are available. They will appear in paperback format and be reasonably priced for scholarly and classroom use.

As they become available online, we will also be hyperlinking these titles on our website at http://www.medievalacademy.org/books/book_mab.htm.

The Medieval Academy Books series was initiated in 1928 — just three years after the founding of the MAA. The first publication was Lane Cooper’s Concordance to Boethius. The latest volume to be published is number 112, The Cartulary of Countess Blanche of Champagne, edited by Theodore Evergates.