Statement from the President of the Canadian Society of Medievalists 

In response to the experience of a colleague from Acadia University and a member of the Black Canadian Studies Association (BCSA) at the recent meetings of Congress held at UBC, the Canadian Society of Medievalists publicly states our support for colleagues in the BCSA. As medievalists, we are aware of the long history of violence towards and oppression of minority groups. We held a roundtable on racism at Congress to discuss racism both within the field of medieval studies and within the academy and society as a whole, along with the steps we can take to begin to address it. We are working towards, and hereby renew our commitment to, greater diversity and equity in medieval studies and within Canadian academia as a whole.

Déclaration du président de la Société canadienne des Médiévistes

En réponse à l’expérience d’un collègue de l’Université d’Acadia et d’un membre de l’Association d’études canadiennes noires (BCSA) lors des récentes réunions au Congrès qui s’est tenu à l’UBC, la Société canadienne des Médiévistes voudrait indiquer publiquement notre soutien aux collègues du BCSA. En tant que médiévistes, nous sommes conscients de la longue histoire de violence envers et d’oppression des minorités. Nous avons organisé une table ronde sur le racisme au Congrès pour discuter le racisme dans le domaine des études médiévales, tant au sein de l’académie et les mesures que nous pouvons prendre pour commencer à le résoudre. Nous le travaillons vers et renouvellera notre engagement pour une plus grande diversité et équité en études médiévales et au sein du milieu universitaire canadien dans son ensemble.

Canadian Medievalists,

Dalhousie University's Department of English has funding available to make offers to one or two more MA candidates. You can find out about our program here: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/english/programs/graduate.html. If you have promising medieval undergraduates (GPA 3.7 in English or higher), please encourage them to apply to Pamela Decker, gradengl@dal.ca.

If you want to find out more about our program, faculty, Dalhousie, or Nova Scotia, please feel free to contact Dr. Kathleen Cawsey (kathy.cawsey@dal.ca).

This event, taking place at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St, Ottawa on Wednesday, April 3, 7:00-9:00 pm with reception to follow, is offered in collaboration with the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies.

In 1519, printer and Christian Hebraist Daniel Bomberg began the monumental task of printing the 44 treatises of the Talmud, becoming the first to do so. It remains the model for all subsequent editions printed to this day. The printing of the Bomberg Talmud is a significant event in the history of printing, on par with the printing of the Gutenberg or Luther Bibles. 

This event will feature a keynote lecture by Dr. Bruce E. Nielsen, the Judaica Public Services Librarian & Archivist at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania. He is recognized worldwide as a leading expert on the Bomberg Talmud. Complementing the lecture will be a series of short talkbacks that lead into a round-table discussion with a diverse range of scholars.

Scholars giving talkbacks include Dr. Norma Joseph (Concordia University), a specialist in women and religion who will provide a feminist reflection on the legacy of the Talmud; and Dr. Pierre Anctil (University of Ottawa), who will speak to the textual tradition of the Talmud in Canada, as the 500th anniversary of the first full Talmud printing is also the 100th anniversary of the first Talmud printed in Canada.

Seating is limited, so please register by March 29, 2019. For more information about this event, email bac.invitation.lac@canada.ca. See also the event page on the Library and Archives Canada website, here.

Congratulations to our colleagues at the British Library and The Polonsky Foundation for their new website.

This curated selection explores medieval manuscripts that were digitised as part of The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700–1200. Discover stunning highlights of illuminated manuscripts set in their cultural and historical context and explored in a range of articles.

All of the 800 manuscripts digitised in the project are included in full on the website France et Angleterre: manuscrits médiévaux entre 700 et 1200 where you can view manuscripts side by side, and find manuscripts by date, language, place of origin, author or subject.

English: https://www.bl.uk/medieval-english-french-manuscripts

Français: https://www.bl.uk/fr-FR/medieval-english-french-manuscripts

The Jesuit Centre for Catholic Studies at St. Paul's College, University of Manitoba is hiring a one-year postdoctoral fellow in an interdisciplinary unit that advances a scholarly approach to the study of Catholicism. For more information see the posting: https://viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca/DEFAULT.ASPX?REQ_ID=06058

The Solway Fellowship in the History of Christianity (c.400–c.1800)

Closing date: Monday 15 April 2019

This post is full-time and fixed term for 9 months (1 October 2019 - 30 June 2020) https://recruitment.durham.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=016033

The Solway Fellowship is located in the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) and University College. IMEMS is one of the largest, most diverse and dynamic centres of medieval and early modern studies in the world, bringing together over eighty members of permanent academic staff, plus many postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, from all three faculties of the University. Archaeology, English, History and Modern Languages are particularly well-represented among its members, but the Institute has a specific brief to encourage and support links across disciplines and inter- and multi-disciplinary research initiatives. A generous benefaction to University makes it possible to offer this fellowship in any aspect of the history of Christianity between c.400 and c.1800.

Applications are invited for an Assistant Professor (Research) in any relevant subject area with a particular interest in the history of Christianity c.400–c.1800. The successful applicant will be expected to engage actively in the academic life of both the Institute and the College and to pursue a research project that will lead to high quality research outputs. We particularly welcome applications that bring religion into dialogue with other disciplines, including the sciences, and demonstrate engagement in any of these three areas: (1) projects that focus on our collections and/or our tangible and intangible heritage at the World Heritage Site; (2) projects that complement, or provide stimulating contrasts with, any current research initiatives by IMEMS members; (3) projects which contribute to IMEMS research themes.

The Requirements

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of the history of Christianity (c.400–c.1800), with the ability to engage fully in the services, citizenship and values of the University.

The University provides a working, research and teaching environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

To be eligible for the post, applicants must have been awarded their PhD by the time that they take up the post. Candidates must have capacity for and be making progress towards the independent development of internationally excellent research that produces high-quality outcomes, including some work that is recognised as world class. The essential research criteria for this post can be found on the Job Description.

The post is also open to candidates at a more senior level, but the appointment will be made at Grade 7.

How to Apply

For informal enquiries please contact Prof. Stephen Taylor (s.j.c.taylor@durham.ac.uk). All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We prefer to receive applications online via the Durham University Vacancies Site. https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.

 

Applicants are invited for a 4-year post-doctoral position with the project, “Re-Assessing St. Birgitta of Sweden and her Revelations in Medieval England: Circulation and Influence, 1380-1530,” funded by a Young Research Talents Grant from the Norwegian Research Council (8 million NOK [about $931,000/ 710,000 GBP]), awarded to Dr. Laura Saetveit Miles at the University of Bergen, Norway. The post-doc position will be editing unpublished Middle English versions of Birgitta’s Revelations for both digital and print editions. Over the 4 years, the position is 3 years of research integrated with 1 year of teaching and administration. The post-doc will be based in beautiful Bergen, Norway, and have at least 1 semester in England to work in the archives, fully funded; there is ample travel budget for attending conferences as part of the project team. UiB has a thriving medieval studies research environment, and the project has the support of the UiB library digital resources team, the UiB Literature & Religion Research Group, and the project’s own reference board of international scholars.

For full details including competitive salary level please see the job listing:

https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/165328/postdoktor 

DEADLINE 1 APRIL, START DATE 1 AUGUST

Any questions can be directed to Laura.miles@uib.no

The Hellenic Studies Program at Simon Fraser University invites applications for a full-time tenure-track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor who will hold the inaugural 5-year renewable Edward and Emily McWhinney Professorship in International Relations starting September 2019.

Excellence in research and teaching are the primary criteria for this position. Candidates must have a research expertise in comparative approaches to interstate relations and population movements with a focus on Greece, the Balkans, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The ideal candidate will have a successful record in their chosen specialization, be well regarded in their field, and should have already gained a significant reputation in academic circles. The chosen candidate must hold a PhD in either history, political science, sociology, international relations or a related area by the employment start date.

For more information, see the posting on the SFU website, here.

Forwarded on behalf of Professor David Townsend, Chair, Medieval Latin Studies, Centre for Medieval Studies:

We acknowledge with deep sadness the death of Professor A.G. Rigg on Monday, 7 January 2019.  George, as he was known universally to friends, colleagues, and generations of admiring and grateful students, died peacefully at home, in the presence of his beloved wife Jennifer, after a period of declining health.

George was born on 17 February 1937 at Wigan, Lancashire, where he received his secondary education at Wigan Grammar School, which was known for its strong reputation in Classics. As an undergraduate he attended Pembroke College, Oxford from 1955 to 1959 leading to a B.A. in the English School.  He wrote his D. Phil thesis, “An edition of a fifteenth‑century commonplace book,” under the supervision of Norman Davis. That work was published in 1968 as A Glastonbury Miscellany of the Fifteenth Century: a descriptive Index of Trinity College, Cambridge, MS 0.9.38.  Concurrently with his doctoral work he taught at Merton College, Oxford, when he first met Jennifer, as well later at Balliol College. From 1966 to 1968 he held a Visiting Assistant Professorship in the Department of English at Stanford University. In 1968 he took the position of Assistant Professor in the newly formed Centre for Medieval Studies and the Department of English at the University of Toronto, where he taught until his reluctant retirement (still mandated by law at 65) in 2002. As an emeritus, his generous and energetic mentorship of graduate students continued for many years thereafter.

His exacting philological standards secured his international reputation as a scholar of medieval Latin as well as of Middle English. His editions included the poems of Walter of Wimborne (1978), his controversial edition of the Z-Text of Piers Plowman (1983, with Charlotte Brewer) and a glossed epitome of Geoffrey of Monmouth, A Book of British Kings (2000). The latter was published as volume 30 of the Toronto Medieval Latin Texts, a series that George established and for which he served as general editor for its first thirty volumes. His many articles included a signal series of codicological studies of medieval Latin poetic anthologies which appeared in Mediaeval Studies. Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide, co-edited with Frank Mantello, remains an invaluable resource for students of the field, while his magisterial survey, Anglo-Latin Literature, 1066-1422, published in 1992, will remain the definitive reference work for decades to come.  He was elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 1997 and of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998.

His passionate advocacy for reading competence in medieval Latin as a central feature of serious advanced training in medieval studies led to the creation of the Committee for Medieval Latin Studies, which he chaired from its inception until his retirement, and to the system of examinations that remains a hallmark of a Toronto training in the field. It was his tireless and exacting but endlessly patient encouragement of students in their pursuit of a notoriously rigorous standard that exposed the greatest number of Toronto graduate students to his teaching over the years. Those who took his seminars, and above all those who benefitted from his kindness, enthusiasm, and bonhomie as their doctoral supervisor experienced even more abundantly his rare combination of extraordinary erudition, good humour, genuine humility, and quiet empathy.

We are all of us the poorer for the loss of this kind, good, and brilliant man. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer Rigg, sisters-in-law Joanne Hope and Ann Nicholson, and by his nephew, Rupert Hope. Warmest thanks to the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care for their unfailing kindness and support.

There will be a small ceremony at 11:00 am on Saturday, 19 January 2019, Humphrey Funeral Home, 1403 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON.  Phone: 416-487-4523.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to an animal rescue shelter or a charity of your choice.

The Centre hopes to hold a memorial on the University of Toronto campus in the Spring, and an informal remembrance at the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo prior to the annual CMS reception; details to follow.

David Townsend

Professor Emeritus of Medieval Studies and English

University of Toronto

Liberation Tours is offering a discount for Canadian Society of Medievalists members on its "Medieval Britain: Castles, Cannons & Crowns. Battlefields & Cultural Landmarks" tour, August 13-27, 2019. For more information and to download the brochure, please visit their website, here: https://www.liberationtours.ca/medievalbritain-csm.html.