The Medieval Academy Blog

At its meeting of April 14 the Council of the Medieval Academy

reviewed and discussed proposed by-laws revisions as crafted by by-laws committee

co-chairs Charles Donahue and Janet Loengard and members Renate

Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Carmela Vircillo Franklin, and John Magee. After the language

of the changes met with unanimous approval, Council referred the document to

the Fellows, who had to cast their vote by June 27. The Fellows voted overwhelmingly

(59-5) to approve the revised by-laws.

The office staff is currently updating the website and other documents

to reflect the changes.

Prof. Paul E. Szarmach,

Executive Director, The Medieval Academy

The Graduate Student Committee of the Medieval Academy of America invites those attending the IMC in Leeds to participate in the MAA-sponsored graduate student mentoring program. The program facilitates networking between graduate students and established scholars by pairing a student and scholar according to discipline.

The mentorship exchanges are meant to help students establish professional contacts from whom they can receive career advice. The primary objective of this exchange is that the relationship be active during Leeds, although mentors and mentees sometimes decide to continue communication after a conference has ended.

If you would like to volunteer as a mentor, please submit the online form by Monday, June 27: http://medievalacademygsc.org/gradstudents/form.html

Best,
Sarah C. Parker, on behalf of the Graduate Student Committee

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions in collaboration with The University of Western Australia, The University of Adelaide, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney and The University of Queensland, seeks to appoint nine exceptional postdoctoral researchers to contribute to research projects in the history of emotions in Europe, c. 1100-1800.

The Centre addresses big questions: to what extent are emotions universal? How, and to what extent, are they culturally conditioned and subject to historical change? What are the causes and consequences of major episodes of mass emotional experiences? How are emotions created and conveyed through the arts? How does Australia’s emotional heritage influence today’s social and cultural patterns?

The Centre draws on advanced research expertise at five nodes in Australia (the universities of Western Australia, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland), plus research partnerships in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Our approach is strongly interdisciplinary, with researchers spanning the fields of social and cultural history, literature, art history, museology, Latin studies, history of medicine and science, musicology and performance practice.

These prestigious research positions (with additional $16K pa research support) offer an exciting opportunity for innovative and enthusiastic scholars with demonstrated track records in medieval and/or early modern studies and a capacity to engage in interdisciplinary research.

Benefits include 17% superannuation and generous leave provisions. Some relocation allowance for successful applicants will be considered. These and other benefits will be specified in the offer of employment.

The University of Western Australia

· Research Associate (Interpretations and Expressions of Emotion) (Ref: 3449)

For position information go to: https://www.his.admin.uwa.edu.au/jobvacs/external/academic/ads.htm

CLOSING DATE: 29 APRIL 2011

The University of Adelaide

· Research Fellowship in Medieval or Early Modern Europe, (Position number 16567),

· Research Fellowship in the Emotional History of Law, Government and Society in Britain, 1700-1830, (Position number 16568),

For position information go to: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/jobs/current/

CLOSING DATE: 21 APRIL 2011

The University of Melbourne

· Research Fellowship in Emotions and Sacred Sites

· Research Fellowship in Texts describing Emotions

For position information and to apply online go to: http://www.hr.unimelb.edu.au/careers

CLOSING DATE: TBA

The University of Queensland

· Research Fellowships: Reason and the Passions in English Literature, 1500-1800 (2 positions)

For position information go to: http://www.seek.com.au/JobSearch?AdvertiserID=852832

CLOSING DATE: 21 APRIL 2011

The University of Sydney

· Postdoctoral Research Associate in Emotions related to Suicidal Impulse (Ref 160/0111)

· Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Emotional Responses to Public Death (Ref 161/0111)

For position information and to apply online go to: http://usyd.nga.net.au/cp/index.cfm

CLOSING DATE: 1 MAY 2011

Dear Members of the Medieval Academy:

On behalf of the members of the Search Committee and the Council, I am delighted to be able to inform you that Eileen Gardiner and Ronald G. Musto have been jointly appointed as Executive Director of the Academy and Editor of Speculum. We are delighted that they have accepted the appointment and have agreed to assume the position on 1 September 2011.

The Search Committee reviewed the applications of many excellent and worthy candidates and interviewed several of them. We were impressed by the number and the quality of the applications.

In the end we decided that Eileen and Ron could best fill the position whose description the Council approved at the last Annual Meeting. Their vision for the future of the Academy is solidly practical, challenging, and exciting, as you will soon find out. Their many contacts with Europe (and particularly with Italy) will ensure for the Academy the continuation of our ties and work with colleagues abroad.

Their experience in publishing and in electronic technology will be a great boon to our office and to our publications program. I include below short biographical sketches that Eileen and Ron have provided us, and their formal CVs will soon be available on the website. They will be joining us in Tempe for the Annual Meeting, where we hope you will be able to make their acquaintance.

Eileen and Ron have written me: “We are both highly honored and delighted by the Academy’s decision. We hope to bring our enthusiasm, experience, and dedication to scholarship and its communication to our new roles at the Medieval Academy. We look forward to working with our fellow medievalists in the years ahead to achieve the goals of the MAA and to advance its central position as one of the world’s preeminent learned societies.”

With every good wish,
Peggy (Elizabeth A.R.) Brown, President
For Rick Emmerson (co-chair of the Search Committee); Alice-Mary Talbot (First Vice-President); Maryanne Kowaleski (Second Vice-President); and the other members of the Search Committee, Herb Kessler, Susan Noakes, and Harvey Sharrer

Eileen Gardiner holds a Ph.D. in English and Medieval Studies, with a specialization in medieval literature, from Fordham University. She has taught on the university level and published several articles and books on medieval vision literature, including her Visions of Heaven and Hell Before Dante. She is the winner of an American Association of University Women Fellowship. She has worked in many aspects of the book trade since 1967, and in 1985 cofounded Italica Press (http://www.italicapress.com/) in New York City. Since 1986 she has been active in developing Italica Press’s series of electronic books in medieval studies and is the editor of The Holy Land on Disk. She is also the editor of Hell-on-Line (http://www.hell-on-line.org/), a website that comprises a comprehensive collection of visions, tours and descriptions of the infernal otherworld from various religious and cultural traditions; and The Pilgrim’s Way to St. Patrick’s Purgatory (http://www.pilgrimswaytopurgatory.org/Site/), an online project that traces for the modern pilgrim the medieval route from Dublin to Lough Derg in County Donegal. With Dr. Musto she is the co-author of the article on “The Electronic Book” in The Oxford Companion to the Book (http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Reference/?view=usa&ci=9780198606536) (2010), and with him is co-author of The Digital Humanities: A Primer for Scholars and Students, to be published by Cambridge University Press. With Dr. Musto, she has been co-director of ACLS Humanities E-Book (http://www.humanitiesebook.org/) since 1999.

Ronald G. Musto holds a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University and specializes in the Italian Trecento. He has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University, New York University, and Duke University. He has held American Academy in Rome, NEH and Mellon Foundation fellowships and published seven books and various articles, including Apocalypse in Rome: Cola di Rienzo and the Politics of the New Age (AHA Marraro Prize, 2004); and Renaissance Society and Culture (ed., with John Monfasani). He has worked in the book trade since 1967, and in 1985 with Dr. Gardiner he cofounded Italica Press (http://www.italicapress.com/), where he has developed numerous print and electronic projects. With Dr. Gardiner he co-authored “The Electronic Book” in The Oxford Companion to the Book (http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Reference/?view=usa&ci=9780198606536) (2010) and with her is co-author of The Digital Humanities: A Primer for Scholars and Students, to be published by Cambridge University Press. He is editor of Peacedocs.com (http://www.peacedocs.com/), general editor of the five-volume Documentary History of Naples (http://www.italicapress.com/index128.html), and co-author of Medieval Naples, 400-400 (http://www.italicapress.com/index132.html). His forthcoming contributions include “Introduction: Naples in Myth and History,” in Marcia B. Hall, Artistic Centers of the Italian Renaissance: Naples (New York: Cambridge University Press); and “Cola di Rienzo,” “Rome,” and “Naples” in Oxford Bibliographies Online: Renaissance and Reformation, ed. Margaret King (New York: Oxford University Press). He is working on two other book projects: one on Giovanna I of Naples, and one on Trecento historians in the Italian South. With Dr. Gardiner, he has been co-director of ACLS Humanities E-Book (http://www.humanitiesebook.org/) since 1999.