1  

CARA Committee on Centers and Regional Associations

of the Medieval Academy of America June 2016 Newsletter

2016 CARA Meeting The  Annual  CARA  Meeting   took  place  on  Sunday,  28   February,   after   the   close   of   the   MAA   Annual  Meeting   in   Boston.   Thirty   representatives   of  Associations,   Centers,   Programs,   and   Libraries  gathered   to   talk   about   what’s   going   on   on  campuses   around   the   country   and   to   brainstorm  about  how  we  can  help  each  other   succeed.    The  attendees   heard   three   lectures   on   the   theme   of  “STEM   and   Medieval   Studies”:   “Cecilia  Gaposhckin,   (History,   Dartmouth   College),  “STEM   and   the   Liberal   Arts”;   Thomas   Burman,  (History,   University   of   Tennessee-­‐Knoxville),  “Marco  Madness:    STEM,  the  Humanities,  and  How  Cool  the  Middle  Ages  Are  in  West  Knoxville”;  and    Sean   Gilsdorf   (Medieval   Studies   Program,  Harvard   University)   and   Allyssa   Metzger  (Project   Manager,   Medieval   Object   Lessons,  Harvard   University),   “Telling   Stories   with  Medieval   Things,   or,   Putting   Medieval   Studies  (Back)   in   the   Modern   Classroom.”Our   thanks   to  CARA   Chair,   Anne   Lester   (Univ.   of   Colorado  Boulder)  for  organizing  and  chairing  the  meeting.  

Chair: Anne Lester (2018), Univ. of Colorado, Boulder

Secretary: Lisa Fagin Davis (ex officio)

Executive Committee

Phil Adamo (2017), Augsburg College Graeme M. Boone (2019), The Ohio State Univ. Tom Burman (2018), Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville Lilla Kopar (2017), Catholic Univ. of America Mike Ryan (2018), Univ. of New Mexico

http://www.medievalacademy.org/?page=CARA    

CARA @ Kalamazoo As   always,   CARA   had   a   strong   presence   at  Kalamazoo.   The   two   CARA   roundtables   were  well-­‐attended,  addressing  important  topics  and  sparking   lively   discussions:   Writing the Middle Ages for Multiple Audiences and Addressing Career Diversity for Medievalists.

The  annual  CARA  Luncheon   followed   the  same  model  as   last  year.  Each  of  the  more  than  forty  attendees   was   assigned   to   a   table   at   which  facilitated   discussions   of   various   topics   took  place:  Participants  shared  issues  of  concern  and  helped   each   other   think   about   solutions   and  strategies.  Some  discussions  have  continued  by  email   as   participants   follow-­‐up   on   ideas   and  suggestions.    

We   hope   to   have   even   more   CARA  Representatives  in  attendance  next  year.  Please  plan  on   joining  us  at   the  University  of  Toronto  on  Sunday,  April  9,  2017,  after   the  close  of   the  Medieval  Academy  Annual  Meeting.  

International Medieval Networks Representative

Simon Forde (CARMEN)

For more details about CARA sub-committees, see:

http://www.medievalacademy.org/?page=CARA_com  

CARA  Committee  

  2  

From  the  CARA  Chair  This  has  been  an  exciting  year  for  CARA  and  we  are  grateful  for  the  participation  of  all  affiliates.  We  continue  to  work  to  expand  our  membership  and  to  reach  out  to   new   and   developing   centers   and   associations.   To   that   end,   I   want   to   take   a  moment  and  simply  restate  what  CARA  is  and  how  it  hopes  to  be  of  use.  As  the  Committee   on  Centers  And  Regional  Associations,   CARA’s   goal   is   to  work   as   a  node  within  a  network  that  will  join  together  centers,  programs  and  associations.  As  it  states  on  our  website,  our  mission  is  “advocacy  and  problem-­‐solving.”  One  of  my  ambitions  as  Chair  of  CARA  is  to  find  new  ways  to  facilitate  the  networking  potential   of   the   committee.   To   this   end,   one   of   the   goals   of   the   annual   CARA  meeting  as  well  as  the  annual  CARA  luncheon  at  Kalamazoo  is  to  bring  together  program  representatives,  affiliates,  and  center  directors,  among  others,  to  share  insights   from   our   collective   experiences,   discuss   how   to   advocate   for   our  programs  within  our  respective  institutions  as  well  as  in  broader  public  forums,  and   to   inform   each   other   of   the   activities   we   cultivate   within   our   separate  institutions.  CARA  therefore  is  also  about  disseminating  information  and  learning  from  a  community.    

Even  so,  as  the  new  format  of  the  CARA  meeting  demonstrated,  it  is  also  designed  to   target   the   cultivation   of   specific   expertise   and   issues   pertaining   to   running  centers   and   associations   dedicated   to   the   flourishing   of  Medieval   Studies.   This  February  at   the  annual  CARA  meeting,  which  now   falls  on   the  Sunday  after   the  MAA  concludes,  we  gathered  to  hear  a  panel  of  directors  and  scholars  discuss  the  challenges   that   the   recent   overwhelming   emphasis   on   STEM   fields   pose   to  Medieval   Studies   Programs   in   many   of   our   universities,   colleges,   libraries   and  other   centers.  Much   useful   advice  was   shared   about   how   to   generate   new   and  renewed   interest   in   the  Liberal  Arts,   the  roots  of  what  a  Liberal  Arts  education  means,  how  to  engage   the   larger  community   in  Medieval  Studies  programming,  and   how   to  make  new   research   initiatives,   especially   those   that   exist   in   digital  formats,   accessible   and   open   for   public   and   even   primary   educational   use.  Following  the  CARA  lunch,  those  in  attendance  briefly  shared  updates  about  their  programs  and  plans  for  the  future.  This  May  at  the  CARA  luncheon  in  Kalamazoo,  while   our   time   was   short,   we   again   gathered   as   we   did   last   year,   in   tables  assigned  based  on  the  interest  and  themes  relevant  to  specific  participants.  This  generated   five  different,  but   lively  and  engaged  conversations  and  was  a  useful  time  for  networking  among  program  directors  and  coordinators,  for  discussions  of   future   plans,   and   for   gathering   information   as   programs   grow,   change,   and  adapt.  I  look  forward  to  another  exciting,  innovative  year  of  CARA  programing  in  2016/2017.  

-­‐  Anne  Lester,  CARA  Chair  (Univ.  of  Colorado,  Boulder)  

  3  

Program  Updates  

The   Medieval   and   Renaissance   Studies   (MARS)   program   at   the   University   of   Missouri  (http://medren.missouri.edu)   oversees   interdisciplinary   minors   at   the   undergraduate   and  graduate   levels,   and   sponsors/cosponsors   several   MARS   events   during   the   academic   year,  including  lectures,  abstract  workshops,  reading  groups,  and  social  events.    

Lectures   of   interest   to   the   medieval   and   early   modern   community   in   the   last   academic   year  included  this  year's  Paine  Lecture   in  Religion,  presented  in  November  2015  by  Prof.  Kathleen  E.  Kennedy,   University   of   Pennsylvania   State-­‐Brandywine,   on   "   The   Puzzle   of   Abbot   Islip's   Book,  Tudor  Pop  Music,  &  King  Henry's  Lady  Chapel."  The  annual  MARS   lecture  was   later   that  month  and   featured   Prof.   Dimitris   Krallis,   Simon   Frasier   University,   who   lectured   on   "Angry  Words   in  God's  Mirror:  Psogos  and  Personal  Attacks   in  Byzantium."    Dr.  Stephen  Mandal,  Director  of   the  Irish  Archaeology  Field  School  at  Trim,  presented  the  George  Forsyth  Jr.  Memorial  Lecture  for  the  Archaeological   Institute   of   America   on   "The   Blackfriary   Community   Heritage   and   Archaeology  Project  –  a  new  model  for  site  preservation  and  community  engagement  in  heritage."  

MARS-­‐affiliated   faculty   have   been   busy   with   their   own   work   as   well,   organizing   and   chairing  sessions   and  giving  papers   at   disciplinary   conferences   as  well   as   the  major  medieval  meetings.  The  2016  MARS-­‐sponsored  session  at  Kalamazoo  included  papers  on  "Endings,"  with  Prof.  Emma  Lipton  presiding.    Books  published  this  year  include  Marrying  Jesus  in  Medieval  and  Early  Modern  Northern   Europe:   Popular   Culture   and   Religious   Reform   (Ashgate),   by   Prof.   Rabia   Gregory  (Religious  Studies),  and  work  by  MARS-­‐affiliated  faculty  also  appeared  in  a  variety  of  journals  and  edited  books.    Prof.  Anne  Rudloff  Stanton  (Art  History  and  Archaeology)  was  awarded  the  Bonnie  Wheeler   Fellowship,   and   recent   PhD   graduate   Autumn   Dolan   (History)   was   awarded   the  Distinguished  Doctoral  Dissertation  Award  by  the  Office  of  Graduate  Studies.    Two  PhD  students  working  with  Prof.  Lois  Huneycutt  in  History  won  awards  from  the  Medieval  Academy  of  America:  Alexis  Miller  received  the  Helen  Ward  Cam  Dissertation  Grant,  and  Danielle  Griego  received  the  Schalleck   Award.     Finally,   seven   graduate   students   earning   MARS   minors   or   with   significant  coursework  in  medieval  and  early  modern  studies  completed  their  graduate  degrees  this  year.  

Two   collaborative   projects   are   currently   underway   between   faculty   at   MU   and   faculty   at   the  University   of   Missouri   at   Kansas   City.   For   the   last   two   years,   faculty   and   staff   from   the   two  campuses  have  worked  to  develop  (at  UMKC)  and  test (at MU) CODICES,  a  digital  studio  for  the  optical,   chemical,   and   computational   analysis   of   manuscripts   and   incunables.     MU   and   UMKC  faculty   also   are   collaborating   this   summer   with   the   Midwestern   monastic   communities   at  Conception   Abbey,  Mount   Scholastica’s  Monastery,   and   Clyde  Monastery   to   offer   an   intensive  course   on   Monastic   Worlds,   incorporating   lectures,   online   tutorials,   and   experiential   onsite  learning   to   introduce   students   to   various   aspects   of   medieval   and   modern   monastic  cultures.  

 

  4  

Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies The Center for Medieval Studies at Fordham University enjoyed a vibrant 2015-2016 academic year. We hosted several conferences, workshops, and lectures, fostered new academic and professional initiatives for students and faculty, and welcomed many medievalists as visitors, fellows, and research partners.

Our year began with a Symposium on Religiosity in Late Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia in September. The one-day symposium, co-organized by Martin Chase, SJ (English) and two colleagues from the University of Oslo, Karoline Kjesrud and Mikael Males (former Center for Medieval Studies Fellow), brought leading Nordic scholars of medieval mysticism together with their American counterparts. In October, the Center lent a hand to the Forty-First Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, co-hosted by Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center and several local partners, including CUNY and Columbia University. Our 36th Annual Conference, Manuscript as Medium, occurred March 5-6, 2016 and featured plenary speakers Jessica Brantley (Yale University), Kathryn Rudy (University of St. Andrews), and Andrew Taylor (University of Ottawa). We welcomed over 150 medievalists to Lincoln Center to share their love of manuscripts. Our 37th Annual Conference, The Generative Power of Tradition: A Celebration of Traditio, 75 Years is scheduled for March 25, 2017, and will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Fordham’s journal Traditio.

Our last formal gathering of 2015-2016 was held in April and highlighted the Center’s digital initiative, the Oxford Outremer Map Project. The Oxford Outremer Map Colloquium featured a discussion among specialists on the Cambridge Corpus Christi MS2* map of Palestine, which serves as the base for the project, and included contributions from Evelyn Edson (Piedmont Virginia), Paul Harvey (Durham), and Asa Mittman (CSU- Chico). Fordham PhD Candidate David Pedersen developed teaching modules to introduce the site to undergraduate classrooms, and student representatives from Marlborough College, along with professor and medievalist Adam Franklin-Lyons offered feedback on the classroom experience. Project director Nicholas Paul, lead researcher Tobias Hrynick, and project manager Laura Morreale were featured in a clip on the project, produced by Fordham News (http://goo.gl/DtnVc9)

Our annual lecture series continues to thrive. In September 2015, Sarit Kattan Gribetz (Fordham University) spoke on Mothers in the Manuscripts: Christian Origins according to the Jewish Life of Jesus (Toledot Yeshu), and in October, Joshua O’Driscoll (The Morgan Library & Museum) joined us for a lecture concerning The insight of inscriptions: Writing for Images in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. Our 2015-2016 Medieval Fellow Ronald Herzman shared Dante and the Frescoes at the Sancta Sanctorum in December 2015 to close out the Fall. Our Spring 2016 series began with Thelma Fenster, (Emerita, Fordham University) and Christine de Pizan and Poetic Justice for the Jews. Or not, followed by Dee Dyas (University of York) in February on The Dynamics of Pilgrimage: Sensory Experience and the Power of Place. Our Spring 2016 series finished in April with Jonathan Phillips (Royal Holloway) and The Memory of Saladin in the Modern Middle East.

(continued on next page)

  5  

(continued from previous page)

We held a robust workshop series this year, including Digital Day in August to introduce platforms used in digital projects at the Center, and the first ever Biduum Latinum Fordhamense in November. This seminar on the Seven Liberal Arts was geared to anyone interested in improving their Latin, starting with a lecture on Friday, followed on Saturday with intensive small-group Latin work, a Latin mass, and banquet. Fall 2016 will see a second Biduum Latinum, co-sponsored with the New York Botanical Garden, organized around the theme “Flora et Fauna.” The event includes a lecture by Robin Fleming (Boston College), a Latin tour of the NYBG’s premises (iter botanicum), and an exhibit showcasing the NYBG’s rare books. The year’s workshop series continued with an Introduction to Databases for Medievalists: Crusaders’ Charters, (Maryanne Kowaleski, Fordham) and our annual Compatible Careers for Medievalists panel, featuring Fordham medievalist alumni currently working outside of university teaching. Our workshop series concluded with a day-long Workshop on Parchment Making taught by US-American master parchment-maker Jesse Meyer (Pergamena) in April. Two master’s classes were offered to our students this year, including one on scholarly editing taught by Christopher Baswell (Columbia University/Barnard) in November and another on medieval maps by Paul Harvey (Durham University) in April.  

 

The   past   year   (2015-­‐2016)   has   been   a   very   busy   one   for   the   Hill   Museum   &  Manuscript  Library  (HMML).  IN  2015,  HMML  celebrated  its  50th  anniversary  with  special   lectures,   exhibits   and   events   on   our   home   campus   at   Saint   John’s  University  (Collegeville,  Minnesota).  The  Library  also  hosted  the  2015  meeting  of  the  Medieval  Association  of   the  Midwest   (October  2015).  This   association  grew  out   of   discussions   held   at   the   CARA  meeting   in   1975,   which  was   held   at   Saint  John’s   University.   Upcoming   events   in   the   HMML   facilities   include   the   Syriac  Workshop  in  July  2016  (a  collaboration  with  Dumbarton  Oaks  in  Washington,  DC)  and   a   conference   on  magic   in   the   Mediterranean   in   October   2016.   Meanwhile,  HMML  continues  its  preservation  work  in  Mali,  Egypt,  Jerusalem,  and  elsewhere.  In   order   to   make   its   preservation   work   more   accessible   to   scholars,   HMML  launched   vHMML   in   2015   (to   support   the   learning   of   paleography   and  codicology).  As  an  addition  to  vHMML,  the  Library  is  now  developing  the  vHMML  Reading   Room,   which   will   provide   greatly   improved   searching   options   and  metadata   for   use   of   its   digital   collections.   In   the   Fall   of   2015,   the   Library  announced  that  it  had  received  its  largest  grant  ever-­‐-­‐$4  Million  from  the  Arcadia  Foundation,   to  promote  preservation   initiatives.  Finally,   the  Library’s   rare  book  and   manuscript   collections   are   in   the   process   of   moving   into   their   newly  renovated  spaces   in  Saint   John’s  University’s  Alcuin  Library.   It  really  has  been  a  busy  year!  

  6  

College of William & Mary Program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

As it celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 2015-6 academic year, William & Mary’s Program in Medieval & Renaissance Studies presented with a variety of talks, lectures, courses, and special events. During the fall of 2015, Med-Ren kicked off the academic year by sponsoring two brown bag lunch talks showcasing the research of the program’s faculty members. Prof. Tom McSweeney of the William & Mary Law School spoke on “Magna Carta, the Fourth Lateran Council, and the Right to Trial by Jury” in September in honor of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta . In October, Prof. Tom Payne of the Music Department presented a talk describing his recent discoveries on “A Conductus, An Organum, and a Very Sore Loser: Philip the Chancellor, Perotin, and the Election of the Bishop of Paris (1227-1228).”

The program’s director, Prof. Suzanne Hagedorn, continued its efforts to reach out to the general public by giving a lecture at the Williamsburg Regional Library in August 2015 on “Geoffrey Chaucer and Medieval Manuscript” culture as a preview to two six week classes she taught through the Christopher Wren Association (a lifelong learning program Williamsburg retirees) on “Chaucer’s Courtly Poetry” and “Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales,” which ran from September through December. Both the students and the instructor greatly enjoyed the courses, and celebrated with cake and a bottle of “Chaucer’s Mead” at their conclusion.

During the spring semester, the program offered its gateway course “Introduction to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” now part of W&M's newly restructured liberal arts curriculum. Prof. Alex Novikoff of Fordham University’s History Department visited the class in February to speak on his research on Muslims in Medieval Spain and gave two presentations connected to the new curriculum: a brown bag lunch talk on the history of medieval universities and a stimulating public lecture on “The Ars Disputandi and the ‘Art’ of Disputation.” In April, a much-anticipated class visit by Prof. Anthony Grafton of Princeton University to discuss communities of learning during the early modern period and to deliver a public lecture on “The Winthrop Family and its Books” cosponsored by William & Mary’s Lyon G. Tyler Department of History and Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the speaker’s illness. Med-Ren looks forward to hosting Prof. Grafton at William & Mary during the 2016-7 academic year.

In addition to these lectures, Med-Ren joined forces with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival and the William & Mary English Department to host a lively and fun Shakespeare Sonnetathon on April 23rd to celebrate the Bard’s birthday and commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death. From 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on a sunny Saturday, students, professors, and Shakespeare fans from the local community read and performed all of Shakespeare’s sonnets in the historically appropriate setting of the Wren Building’s Grammar School Classroom, a reconstruction of the seventeenth century educational environment. At the lunch break, the sonneteers went outdoors to sing “Happy Birthday” to the Bard and to enjoy lemonade and a special cake with his likeness.

Finally, in May, Med-Ren, William & Mary’s Department of Modern Languages, and its Institute for Pilgrimage Studies assembled for a festive reception celebrating the retirement of Prof. George Greenia, a founder of both Med-Ren program and the Institute. Earlier in the semester, Prof. Greenia gave a Med-Ren brownbag lunch talk related to his pilgrimage studies research, titled “How St. James got a Blessing from the Pope” in which he discussed the rediscovery of the remains of St. James in Santiago de Compostela’s Cathedral in the nineteenth century and the 1884 papal bull issued by Pope Leo XIII, as well as his recently published translation of this document, a collaborative project with William & Mary undergraduates. Prof. Greenia was the visionary director of the Med-Ren program for a decade and an active participant in its programming. While we will greatly miss having him and his undergraduate courses as part of Med-Ren’s formal program, we look forward to his continuing participation in the Med-Ren community as Professor Emeritus; we wish him many happy pilgrimages to destinations near and far. Ultreya!

  7  

The   University   of   Oklahoma’s   Center   for  Medieval  &  Renaissance  Studies  made  progress  in  its  third  year  of  trying  to  revive  itself  after  a  long  period  of  inactivity.  In  January  we  put  on  a  series  of  events  in  coordination  with  the  month-­‐long   exhibit   of   a   Shakespearean   First   Folio   at  OU.   We   had   papers,   panels,   sword-­‐fighting  demonstrations,  a  “Seussified”  Romeo  and  Juliet,  a   family  day,  other  performances—all   received  very   enthusiastically   by   the   general   and  university   public.   We   got   our   logo   on  everything—including   the   First   Folio   T-­‐shirts  and  sticky-­‐note  pads—and  our  name  was  in  the  papers,  so  it  was  a  great  success.     Since   recovering   from   that,   we’ve   been  planning   the   launch   of   a   course   on   “Exploring  Medieval  and  Renaissance  Studies”  and  running  our   regular   monthly   lecture   series   with   the  Medieval   Fair   of   Norman.   Our   higher   profile  has,  excitingly,  begun  to  pull   in  colleagues  with  ideas  for  programs.  We’re  working  on  a  “Global  Shakespeare   Festival”   that   combines   film   and  live-­‐performance   presentations,   for   next  academic  year,  and  for  next  March  are  planning  a   two-­‐campus   “Science   of   Parchment”   event.  This   will   feature   visits   from   Profs.   Matthew  Collins   (Univ.   of   York)   and   Bruce   Holsinger  (Univ.   of   Virginia)   to   both   Oklahoma   State  University   and   the   University   of   Oklahoma,   to  discuss   their   current   interdisciplinary   project  on  parchment.  My  colleague  at  Oklahoma  State,  Jennifer   Borland,   is   working   with   the   Animal  Science   people   there,   while   at   OU   we   hope   to  mount   a   daylong   symposium,   including  presentations   from   OU   microbiome   scientists  and  manuscript  digitizers.     All   of   this   requires   a   lot   of   proposal-­‐writing.  (We  were  very  grateful  for  the  funding  we  got   from   the  Oklahoma  Humanities  Council  for  the  First  Folio  events,  but  I  am  still  in  shock  over   the   complexity   of   the   financial   reporting  

involved   in   spending   federal   money.)   OU  has   a   number   of   well-­‐funded   centers   and  institutes,   but   mostly   of   the   top-­‐down  variety,   while  we   are   very   bottom-­‐up,   still  trying  to  get  and  keep  the  dean’s  attention.  Next   academic  year,   it  will   be   a  priority   to  seek   some   sources   of   regular   funding.  One  cause   dear   to   my   and   other   hearts   is   a  scholarship   to   fund   travel   and   research  grants  for  grad  students.    

Joyce Coleman Director, Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies University of Oklahoma

Medieval   Association   of   the  Midwest  (MAM)  

MAM  held  two  conferences  within  the  2015  calendar   year—the   January   meeting   in  Madrid   served   as   the   2014   MAM  meeting,  and   the   October   meeting   in   Collegeville  (Minnesota)   was   the   2015   meeting.   The  society   grew   out   of   discussions   held   at   a  CARA  meeting   in  1975,  held  at  Saint   John’s  University   in   Collegeville.   The   first   MAM  conference   was   held   about   10   years   later.  So,   the   2015   meeting   was   also   the   40th  anniversary   for   MAM   as   a   society.   MAM’s  2016  meeting   is   scheduled   to   take  place   in  October  at  St.  Scholastica  College  in  Duluth,  Minnesota.  The  organizer  for  the  conference  is   William   Hodapp   and   the   theme   is  “Materiality   and   Performance.”  While  most  of   the  past   officers  have   continued   in   their  capacities,   Annette  Morrow  was   elected   as  the  new  executive  secretary  for  the  society.  Finally,   MAM’s   journal,   Enarratio,   is   now  fully   available   on   Knowledge   Bank   (The  Ohio   State   University)   and   at   the  commercial  vendor,  EBSCO.  

  8  

 

 

The  Institute  for  Medieval  Studies  at  the  University  of  New  Mexico  held  two  well-­‐attended   meetings   of   its   Work   in   Progress   Seminar   during   the   Spring   2016  semester.   The   first  meeting,   on  March   1,   featured   two   recently   graduated   PhD’s  from  the  English  Department:  Nicholas  Schwartz  spoke  on  “Archbishop  Wulfstan  and   the   Governance   of   England   under   King   Cnut,”   while   Lisa  Myers   delivered   a  paper  titled  “Invasion  and  Resistance:  The  Landscapes  of  the  Gesta  Herewardi.”  At  the   second   meeting,   on   March   31,   Associate   Professor   of   History   Michael   Ryan  described  his  recent  work  in  Venetian  archives  in  his  paper  “Discerning  Deceit  in  Late  Medieval  Venice.”  The  Institute  held  its  31st  Spring  Lecture  Series,  “Food  and  Festivity  in  the  Middle  Ages,”  April  18–21.  The  speakers  were  Paul  Freedman  (Yale  University),   Hugh   Magennis   (Queen’s   University   Belfast),   Christina   Normore  (Northwestern   University),   Charles   Perry   (Culinary   Historians   of   Southern  California),   and   Richard   Unger   (University   of   British   Columbia).   The   program  included   a   concert   by   the   University   of   New  Mexico   Early  Music   Ensemble.   The  event   attracted   a   total   attendance   of   a   little   over   fifteen   hundred.   In   February,  Institute  Director  Timothy  C.  Graham  received  the  Medieval  Academy  of  America’s  CARA  Award   for  Excellence   in  Teaching  Medieval   Studies,   traveling   to  Boston   to  receive  the  award  at  the  Academy’s  annual  meeting.  In  April  he  visited  the  Center  for  Medieval  and  Renaissance  Studies  at  the  Ohio  State  University,  where  he  led  a  workshop  on  “A  Testimonie  of  Antiquitie  and  the  Beginnings  of  Old  English  Studies”  and   delivered   a   public   lecture,   “Shakespeare   and   the  Medieval   Book   of   Beasts.”  Throughout   the   month   of   June,   Graham   is   teaching   his   intensive   four-­‐week  graduate  seminar,  “Paleography  and  Codicology.”  Three  students  taking  the  course  received  CARA  scholarships  to  assist  in  covering  their  tuition  costs:  Joseph  Genens  of  the  University  of  Missouri  (History),  Sarah  J.  Sprouse  of  Texas  Tech  University  (English),   and   Manon   Williams   of   the   University   of   Colorado   (History).   The  Institute   hosts   the   48th   Annual   Meeting   of   the   Rocky   Mountain   Medieval   &  Renaissance  Association,  June  16–18,  on  the  theme  “The  Past,  Present,  and  Future  of   Medieval   and   Renaissance   Texts.”   The   meeting   will   include   keynote  presentations   by   Siân   Echard   (University   of   British   Columbia),   “‘Examin’d   with  Original’:   Facsimiles   of   Medieval   Manuscripts   in   the   Post-­‐Medieval   World,”   and  Adam   Zucker   (University   of  Massachusetts,   Amherst),   “Pedantry,   Nonsense,   and  the  Text  of  Love’s  Labours  Lost.”  

 

  9  

Marist  College  The Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program (MARS) at Marist College is in its fourth year of offering an undergraduate minor. This was its first year as an official CARA affiliate and the coordinator, Dr. Janine Larmon Peterson, was delighted to represent the program and attend the CARA luncheon at the Medieval Academy of America Meeting in Boston in February. The minor now has 37 course offerings plus language courses. Students take five courses in at least three disciplines as well as an intermediate language course. Next year we will be seeking approval to have the minor officially offered at Marist’s branch campus in Florence, Italy (Marist-LdM) where many of our students spend a semester studying abroad, or even their entire freshman year in the Florence Freshman Experience program.

In fall 2015 MARS welcomed Prof. Mark Spitzer (University of Central Arkansas), who gave a talk on the image of the “wild man” in art and literature. In spring 2016 MARS invited Dr. Jennifer Edwards (Manhattan College) to speak on “#Femfog and Blurred Lines: The Risks of Academic Feminism in Public and Online,” with a response by Dr. Karen Schrier (Marist College), for an event co-sponsored with the Women’s Studies program. It also co-sponsored an event in honor of Shakespeare’s birth and death day. Two students presented their papers on medieval topics at the second annual Hudson Valley Medieval and Early Modern Undergraduate Symposium, held at Mount St. Mary’s College in Newburgh, NY in February.

Next year we have several activities planned. In the fall we are organizing an event around the “Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio” exhibit opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and an event regarding the “Black Legend.” In the spring we are organizing a talk about medieval studies and the digital humanities.

Janine Larmon Peterson Associate Professor of History Coordinator, Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program Marist College

University of Notre Dame 2015-­‐16   was   a   busy   and   productive   year   for   the   Medieval   Institute   at   the  University   of   Notre   Dame.   In   addition   to   our   slate   of   lectures   and   events  (https://goo.gl/Jh1unt),   we   held   our   major   conference   in   the   fall,   “Women  Leaders   and   Intellectuals   of   the   Medieval   World”   (https://goo.gl/Xyxaux),  wonderfully   well-­‐attended   and   with   immensely   thought-­‐provoking   sessions.  Following   that,   the   Institute   welcomed   John   V.   Fleming,   Professor   of   English  Emeritus  (Princeton),  as  its  annual  Conway  lecturer  (http://goo.gl/0vgkJq).  Prof.  Fleming  gave  his  lecture  series  on  “Asceticism  and  Literature  in  the  Middle  Ages.”  In  January  the  year’s  Mellon  Fellow,  Lindy  Brady  (U  of  Mississippi),  presented  her  book  manuscript,  Writing   the  Welsh   Borderlands   in   Anglo-­Saxon   England,   at   the  annual  Mellon  Colloquium.  The  Fellow  invites  three  external  respondents;  joining  this  year  were  Andrew  Rabin  (U  Louisville),  Paul  Russell  (Cambridge),  and  Elaine  Treharne  (Stanford).  The  Institute  also  hosted  a  number  of  distinguished  research  visitors   (http://goo.gl/PWFtV5).   In   2016-­‐17   we   look   forward   to   welcoming  William   J.  Courtenay   (https://goo.gl/1FBLsY)  as  our  Conway   lecturer  and  Laura  Veneskey   (Wake   Forest)   as   our   Mellon   Fellow  (http://goo.gl/ydRS0y).    

  10  

Spring has arrived early in Toronto, marking the end of a year featuring many

exciting developments: a junior faculty appointment in Medieval History, cutting-edge scholarship in Digital Medieval Studies, a new initiative in Ethiopic Studies, and planning for our turn to host the annual meeting of the Medieval Academy of America (6-8 April 2017). As many of you know, Toronto has hosted MAA every decade on the ‘7’ year since 1967, with the first Toronto MAA hosted by the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in 1949. We’re looking forward to meeting up with alumni and friends of CMS at the upcoming Congress at Kalamazoo (12-15 May) – if you’re there, please be sure to come to the Toronto reception, co-hosted by CMS and the University of Toronto Press, and meet medievalist friends old and new! For more, see our online newsletter (https://goo.gl/2vJ6K4). –– Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Director  

The  Worldwide  Medieval  Network  

http://www.carmen-­‐medieval.net  

  11  

University of MichiganMedieval and Early Modern Studies 1029 Tisch, 435 S. State St.,

Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003

Phone: 734-763-2066 // Fax: 734-647-4881 Program Associate: Terre Fisher (telf@umich.edu)

Faculty Contact, 2014-2016: Christian de Pee (cdepee@umich.edu)Department of HistoryUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor MI 48109-1003Phone: 734-763-6968

For further information about programs, degrees, and affiliated faculty, please visit our website: www.lsa.umich.edu/mems/ Lectures and Events: In 2015-2016, guest lecturers included Andrew Casper (Art, Miami University); Stephen Fleck (French, California State, Long Beach); Andrew Morrall (Bard Graduate Center, New York City); Sarah Stroumsa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Kendra Eshelman (Boston College); Jane Bernstein (Tufts University); Jill Stevenson (Marymount Manhattan College); Reid Barbor (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill); Andrew Sofer (Boston College); Miriamne Krummel (University of Dayton); Joe Lowenstein (Washington University, St. Louis); Frederick de Armas (University of Chicago); Matthias Tischler (University of Notre Dame); Matthew Kavaler (University of Toronto). Conferences, special lectures, and ongoing colloquia included "Michigan Medieval Seminar: New Directions in Early Modern Studies" (Sept); “Japanese Way of Tea” demonstration (Sept); “Cities, Saints and Memory in Late Antiquity: A Conference in Honor of Ray Van Dam” (Oct); “Digitizing the Early Moderns” (Oct); NES Lecture Series: “Kingship and Masculinity in Medieval Persian Literature” (Nov); MEMS Lecture Series: “Late Molière: An Early Modern Lyric Theater of the Absurd,” “The Cosmos of the Urban Craftsman” (Nov & Apr); "Performance and Materiality in Medieval and Early Modern Life" conference (Mar); “Swerving from the Sacred: Disenchanted Jews in the Vernon Manuscript” (Mar); “The Power of the Broken: Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici and Aphoristic Writing” (Mar); “Secular Among Nations” symposium (Mar); “After Alexander: Classical Texts in Arabic, Persian and Armenian” (Apr); “Digital Perspectives on Middle-Period Chinese Political History” (Apr); “Ships and Shippers of Pre-Modern Southeast Asia” (Apr); “The Comedy of Consent: Shakespeare’s Dream of Politics” (Apr); "Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di anima, et di corpo” (Apr); “Turing concoce a Cervantes” (Apr); “Parallel Lives: Don Quixote and Alexander the Great” (Apr); “Bible and Historiography in Transcultural Iberian Societies, Eighth to Twelfth Centuries” (Apr); Medieval Lunch Series (run by Forum on Research in Medieval Studies; roughly monthly); FoRMS Reading Group (once per term); and the Premodern Colloquium (monthly).  

Medieval  Studies  at  

Florida  State  University:  

http://arthistory.fsu.edu/medieval-­‐studies-­‐fsu/  

  12  

The Lone Medievalist At the 2015 International Congress on Medieval Studies, Drs. John Sexton and Kisha Tracy organized and sponsored through our blog MassMedieval (https://goo.gl/CqaDXi) a roundtable entitled “The Ballad of the Lone Medievalist,” which was geared towards the issues and opportunities faced by academic medievalists who were the only one of their kind at their institutions or in their departments. To our pleasure, it was a highly-attended event, and it was highly successful as well in generating conversation and interest. It seemed we had hit upon a common concern among our colleagues. At that time, we partnered with two graduate students – Sarah Barott and Rachel Munson – in order to develop an on-line presence for this project. Thus, The Lone Medievalist was born, including its own web site (http://goo.gl/HfdDiC). Our purpose, as stated on the site, is: “The Lone Medievalist is a project designed to bring scholars together who are the only medievalist scholars within their campus or larger community. This community will create a way for scholars to connect with peers and help keep skills such as language fluency, translation, and research sharp, as well as answer questions that medievalist scholars may have. Discussion about any and all topics medieval in nature is also strongly encouraged and warmly welcomed.” We do define “Lone Medievalist” very broadly, and we intend to be inclusive. The web site, at this point, provides a repository of syllabi, interviews with various Lone Medievalists, discussion forums, and a resources map. As of the writing of this article, we have attracted almost 600 likes on the Facebook page for The Lone Medievalist (https://goo.gl/lnaaOw). Followers can also find us on Twitter: @LoneMedievalist. Earlier in the year, we joined CARA and attended the luncheon at the 2016 Congress. At the Congress, we hosted another roundtable as well as our first business meeting, which brought together twenty to twenty-five attendees, discussing issues unique to this population of medievalists. In addition, we handed out name badge stickers to allow Lone Medievalists to find each other more easily, something we will continue to do at conferences in the future. Where do we go from here? First, we are currently editing a collection of short essays from and about Lone Medievalists, which we hope to have published this year. Second, we are organizing another roundtable at the 2017 Congress, entitled “Greater than the Sum of Our Arts: The Multitasking Life of the Lone Medievalist,” which will focus on the “many hats” that medievalists wear, often simultaneously. Third, we are exploring the possibilities of developing Google Hangouts for writing partnerships for our members and for language skills practice. These may appear during this summer. Four, we are hoping to branch out to more conferences, providing name badge stickers and other support for Lone Medievalists. Five, we will continue to develop and revise the web site so that it will be more useful, user friendly, and interactive. The Lone Medievalist team is quite excited about the organic development of this project. We welcome the help of others; please contact Kisha Tracy at ktracy3@fitchburgstate.edu if you are interested in volunteering. In the meantime, if you would like any Lone Medievalist merchandise, you can find it on our Cafe Press site (http://goo.gl/3i79oQ: all proceeds go towards funding the project).  

  13  

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

The Research Group continues to expand the range of its interests and activities — as reflected by its recently adopted

unofficial name: Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence. The Group exists to apply an integrated approach to the evidence of manuscripts and other written forms across the ages. Without buildings or paid staff, the organization is powered by volunteers, donors, and contributors, so that donations both in funds and in kind principally support the activities themselves. As a sort of university without walls, the Group is open to the academic and wider worlds, including established as well as independent scholars and others alike.

In 2015, the first year of its Affiliation with CARA, the Research Group marked 16 years as a nonprofit educational corporation based in Princeton, and 26 years as an international scholarly organization founded in England. After the many activities of our landmark anniversary year in 2014 (described in last year’s Report to CARA), we focused in 2015 upon the upgrade and expansion of our official website, as well as upon other publications.

As customary, we sponsor and co-sponsor sessions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. In 2015, there were 5 sessions, and 4 sessions in 2016, both with sessions co-sponsored by the Societas Magica and by the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida. Both years, we co-sponsored a Reception with the Societas Magica (2015) and the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University (2014‒2015). Also, we produced an illustrated and downloadable Program Booklet with the Abstracts of Papers for one or more of our Sessions. See http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/2015-international-congress-on-medieval-studies-events-accomplished/ and http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/2016-international-congress-on-medieval-studies-report/.

In time for the 2015 Congress, the Group launched its upgraded and redesigned website (in WordPress), with the old site (Drupal) archived online. In tandem, we issued our revised and illustrated Style Manifesto (http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/style-

manifesto/), incorporating our own multilingual digital font Bembino. Responding to requests for additions, we then issued Version 1.3 of this font, available for FREE via http://manuscriptevidence.org/bembino/. The next Version will soon appear, with Runes, Armenian, and more. We welcome requests, corrections, and improvements for the font, the most popular download on our website.

Begun in 2015, our blog on Manuscript Studies (http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/manuscript-studies) reports and illustrates a variety of manuscripts, fragments, and documents, sometimes with seals attached. Some ground-breaking posts are article-length. The Contents List (http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/manuscript-studies-contents-list) groups the subjects of the posts by category — with more to come. Guest-bloggers are welcome.

In 2016, after a year’s interval following its anniversary activities, the Group resumed its Symposia, starting at Princeton University in March with a focus on “Words & Deeds: Actions Enacted, Re-Enacted & Restored, from Late-Antique Theater to the Legacy of Otto Ege, by way of, inter alia, Saint-Denis and Gutenberg”. Speakers included the Executive Director of the Medieval Academy. See http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/2016-symposium-on-words-and-deeds/ and the illustrated 24-page Program Booklet, downloadable in PDF format.

The Group continues its long-term work of research, photography, conservation, and discussions of manuscript and other evidence. It prepares published reports from our sessions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. The Group also begins to plan sponsored sessions at other conferences as well, starting with a pair of Panels at the Convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA) to be held in November 2016.

In developing its activities, the Research Group seeks suggestions for subjects, venues, hosts, sponsorships, and collaborations. We invite announcements, reports, questions, comments, news, and editorial support for our e-Newsletter, FaceBook Page, and website. Proposals, donations, and contributions of many kinds are welcome.

— Mildred Budny, Director

  14    

MAA  at  Leeds  

If you’re going to be at Leeds this year, please join us Tuesday evening at 7 PM for the MAA Annual Lecture, to be presented by Elaine Treharne (Stanford Univ.), “Manuscript Edges, Marginal Time: Why Medieval Matters.” Afterwards, join Executive Director Lisa Fagin Davis and Speculum Editor Sarah Spence for the Medieval Academy’s open-bar wine reception. We hope to see you there!  

 

Center  for  Medieval  and  Early  Modern  Studies  (CMEMS)  

University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  

CMEMS  has  another  exciting  year  in  2015/16.    We  had  a  robust  event  calendar  that  included  invited  lectures  and  workshops,  faculty  book  launches,  and  work-­‐in-­‐progress   talks.     The   highlight   of   the   year  was   the   third   annual   James   Field  Willard  Lecture  in  Medieval  History  delivered  on  22  October  2016  by  Professor  John   Van   Engen,   entitled   “After   the   Year   1000:   Religion   and   Narrative   in   the  Making  of  Medieval  History.”    As  in  previous  years,  the  Willard  Lecture  was  the  keynote   address   for   our   annual   CMEMS   conference.     This   year’s   conference  theme   was   “Religion   and   (the   Master)   Narrative:   An   Interdisciplinary  Conference  on  Medieval  and  Early  Modern  Belief  and  Practice.”    We  welcomed  over   twenty   speakers   to   the   CU   Boulder   campus   for   this   conference,   which  featured   plenary   lectures   by   Professors   Sarah   Beckwith   (Duke   University),  Kenneth  Mills   (University   of  Michigan)   and  Nina   Rowe   (Fordham  University).    CMEMS   has   an   equally   exciting   event   calendar   planned   for   2016/2017.    Professor   Miri   Rubin   (Queen   Mary   University)   will   deliver   the   fourth   annual  James  Field  Willard  Lecture  in  October  in  conjunction  with  a  conference  on  the  theme   of   “Premodern   Ecologies:   An   Interdisciplinary   Conference   on   Human  Interaction   with   the   Natural   World   in   Medieval   and   Early   Modern   Europe”  (October  20-­‐22,  2016).    We  had  an  enthusiastic  response  to  our  call  for  papers  for   this   conference,   which   will   feature   plenary   lectures   by   Anne   F.   Harris  (Depauw  University),   Steven  Mentz   (St.   John’s  University),   and  Paolo   Squatriti  (University  of  Michigan).    We  are  looking  forward  to  hosting  the  annual  meeting  of  the  MAA  in  Boulder  in  March  2019!    https://cmems.colorado.edu