CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Racism in Medieval Studies: Problems and Solutions

A Discussion Session at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Medievalists

Since the summer of 2017 it has become profoundly clear that the discipline of medieval studies has a racism problem. In July of that year, attendees at the International Medieval Congress brought attention to the fact that in spite of panels on topics such as diversity and otherness, medieval studies as a whole was fairly homogenous, and in terms of tone, at times, outright racist. In August, the “Unite the Right Rally” in Charlottesville, Virginia showed us that symbols from the medieval world were being coopted and used to support white supremacist agendas. Work by Medievalists of Color, the Public Medievalist’s series on Race, Racism and the Middle Ages, along with the with the work of scholars such as Geraldine Heng and Dorothy Kim, showed us that traditional ways of teaching medieval history and literature could homogenize and whiten the diversity found in the medieval world and that the academy itself was not equally welcoming for all scholars. In this era, with hate speech and hate crimes on the rise, medieval studies is trying to reorient itself to be more inclusive: in what we research and teach and in who is called on to research and teach it. It is in this context that this call for participation is situated.

The planned discussion session is aimed at exploring problems and solutions to combat this two-pronged issue of racism in medieval studies. The format of the session is a short series of 5-minute presentations of problems, questions or potential solutions, and then a wider group discussion that will encompass everyone in the room.  If you are interested in offering a five minute presentation, please email Donna Trembinski at dtrembin@stfx.ca with your name and topic of interest.  We’d like to include as many concerns, ideas and voices as possible.   

 

Medieval Studies and the TRC at the joint AMA/AMEMG conference 

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a joint conference of the Atlantic Medieval Association and the Atlantic Medieval and Early Modern Group in Sackville, New Brunswick. It started out in an almost-can’t-see-to-drive downpour and ended in a glorious fall day aflame with autumn colours.

The conference is about as small as you can get, and I almost didn’t go this year because I – and I’m sure I’m not alone in this – was swamped with teaching and admin. But small conferences like the AMA are so important. I attended some excellent papers, of course, and actually got the chance to make an astrolabe – Dr.  Samuel Gessner of the University of Lisbon was the keynote speaker, and the “Hands-on History of the Astrolabe” he presented was not a metaphor! (My arts-and-crafts skills are distinctly rusty, I might add.) The real value, though, was in making connections with other medievalists. Increasingly, many of us are the lone medievalists at our universities, and academic societies provide a welcome respite from the isolation and loneliness that can entail.

I was also “pricked” – to use a Middle English word – by a panel responding to the calls to action from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Hitherto I had felt a bit helpless in the face of the calls: yes, we can do more as institutions to support Indigenous students; yes, we can support calls for Indigenous literatures and histories, and work on making them mainstream – but honestly, I thought, as a medievalist, there’s not much I can do in my field. Saying “Indigenous peoples were around in the Middle Ages too and so we should study Indigenous cultures from 1000-1500” seemed a bit facile, to my way of thinking (never mind that it is imposing colonizing Western European periodization on the world, and risks cultural appropriation as well).

But the panel got me thinking about the ways in which Canadian medievalists can seriously and genuinely respond to the TRC in our scholarship as well as our institutions. We talked about incorporating Indigenous knowledge practices both in our classrooms, rethinking the top-down lecture approach, and in our scholarship, applying Indigenous theories and approaches to canonical texts. We talked about ways to avoid falling into the trap of “empty words” and “rote repetition” in our acknowledgements of the Indigenous territories our universities are built upon. We talked about countering the alt-right appropriation of medieval images and medievalism. And after the conference Lauren Beck compiled and circulated a bibliography of Indigenous literary and historical theory and methods.

In the coming months I will be posting more about these kinds of topics – both ways to counter the alt-right in our classrooms, and ways of thinking about Indigenous theory in our scholarship. I’d also like to know how you are responding to the TRC, not only in your institution but in your scholarship and teaching. And any Indigenous resources you can send me would be great as well.

Kathy Cawsey

President, CSM/SCM

The Centre for Medieval Literature (University of Southern Denmark, Odense, and University of York) invites expressions of interest for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowship applications, September 2019 deadline. Selected candidates will receive mentorship from the Centre for Medieval Literature in applying for an Individual Fellowship based at either the University of Southern Denmark or the University of York.

For more information, see the call at the Centre for Medieval Literature

Calls for applications

The Cluster (Understanding Written Artefacts, University of Hamburg) welcomes applications from across disciplines that show a clear focus on the study of written artefacts.

35 Positions: Research Associate, TV-L 13, 75% of standard work hours per week

15 Positions: Research Associate TV-L 13, full position

5 Positions: Research Associate TV-L 15

For more information, see Cluster of Excellence: Understanding Written Artefacts.

"Topographies of Interiority: Medieval Representation"

Calling for papers on topological representations of interiority in medieval literature. Since the “spatial turn” in the humanities and social sciences, the novel and modern incarnations of the lyric poem have been the focal texts of spatial approaches. Medieval representations of space and place present a challenge of alterity since as they do not confirm modern expectations of isometry, mimesis, or "accurate" mapping. Nevertheless, the pre-cartographic imagination of medieval cultures is not simplistic or monolithic, but present the modern reader with a different series of preoccupations and configurations. These preoccupations are enveloped in the diction of the soul and passions, but necessitate a two-way confluence and construction of the exterior world:

 Some topics might include:

• The employment or negation of place/space in the writings associated with mysticism
• The division of “the world” as an enemy of the soul, with "nature," "creation," or "the universe" as redeemable and/or distinct(?) categories
• The topologies of love and/or grief
• Spatial mnemonics and Memoria
• Dreamscapes
• Humoral influence in different spaces
• Medieval Maps/mapping and cosmological analogy
• Pilgrimage, exploration and interior resonances

Send paper proposals to  rbergen.ubc@gmail.com by December 10

Call for Papers - PCDP 2019: Fairies and the Fantastic

February 22-23, 2019

The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the Ohio State University invites abstracts and panel proposals on the topic of Fairies and the Fantastic.  The submission deadline is October 31, 2018.  In the Prologue to Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale, the narrator reminisces about a time when the land was full of fairies and the Elf Queen danced merrily on the green.  In the centuries since Chaucer, fairies, far from disappearing, have lived on in the popular imagination and its creations.  This conference is especially interested in Fairies and the Fantastic in the broadly conceived Medieval and Renaissance periods, but it also invites papers that look back to earlier examples of fairy belief or that explore the uses of fairies in later popular culture.  All approaches are welcome, from literary, artistic, cinematic, and gaming analyses, to historical and cultural investigations.  We also encourage papers with broad geographical scope that examine the ‘presence’ of fairies outside Western Europe--in Scandinavia, Persia, and other parts of the world.

Twenty-minute papers will be organized thematically into two-hour sessions of four papers each, ranging across two days. Submissions for entire sessions are welcome, in which case a session title and abstract should be submitted, along with individual paper titles and abstracts from the different presenters.

Abstracts for sessions and individual papers should be limited to 250 words.

Please submit them along with any questions to cmrs_gaa@osu.edu.

In keeping with the spirit of past PCDP events, the academic conference will be part of a broader ‘carnival’ of events and activities, including food- and culture-ways demonstrations; exhibits of artwork, books, and manuscripts; combat; gaming; and Cosplay.  We welcome proposals for non-academic presentations and activities.

Keynote address: Chris Woodyard, “The Many Roads to Fairyland”

The Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham University is seeking applications for the post of ZKS Lendrum Priory Library Junior Research Fellow

This post is full-time and fixed term for 12 months commencing 1 January 2019.

The ZKS Lendrum Priory Library Junior Research Fellowship is located in the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. 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.

Generous grants from the Zeno Karl Schindler Foundation and Chris & Margaret Lendrum make it possible to offer this Fellowship. The appointed Fellow will be known as the ZKS Lendrum Priory Library Fellow. Applications are invited for this Assistant Professor (Research) Junior Research Fellowship on any aspect of the physical and digitised collections of Durham Priory Library, including their origin, manufacture, content, decoration, and history of the texts. The successful applicant will be expected to engage actively in the academic life of the Institute and of the Durham Priory Library Recreated project, which is a collaboration between Durham University and Durham Cathedral. The project is digitising the substantial collection of medieval manuscripts and early-printed books from the Cathedral’s original Priory Library, which date from the sixth century onwards.

It is anticipated that interviews will be held 7 November 2018.

Closes midday on 30-Sep-2018

 

For more information and to apply click here

Tenure Track Assistant Professor of English in Medieval Literature & Culture, with expertise in race/ethnicity. Department of English.

Saint Louis University is a research university. Attractions include 2:2 load, amazing library holdings, the Vatican Film Library, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, several Latin reading groups, medievalist colleagues in English, German, Art History, History, Theology, and Philosophy, medievalists in the St Louis area, and a university with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.

(see our Clock Tower Accords: https://www.slu.edu/…/ke…/diversity/clock-towers-accords.php). https://jobs.slu.edu/postings/18815. 

CSM President’s note

Hello Canadian Medievalists,

Well, Labour Day is upon us and the fluster and flurry of a new teaching term has arrived. You will all have received Scrinium in your email boxes, so if you weren’t at Congress, you will know that I am the new CSM President (joined by Dominic Marner as Past President, Marc Cels as Vice President, Meredith Bacola as the indispensable Secretary/Treasurer ... as well as the even-more-indispensable Andrew Klein as webmaster, Christa Canitz and Sebastien Rossignol as Florilegium editors, Brandon Alakas, Kristin Bourassa, and Stephanie Lahey as social media co-ordinators, and various members of the Board and prize chairs). I am only realizing as I type what a great, and extensive, team of people there are in the CSM. Many thanks go to the people stepping down, especially to David Watt as Past President.

First, an apology – I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to Congress this year. This is what I was doing instead:

(Rievaulx Abbey)

I hope you all had a good summer and are ready for the fall. Send me information about your research and projects you’re involved in. We know that Canadian Medievalists are doing exciting things, but Canadians are a modest bunch, and too often we only find out what other medievalists are doing by accident. Send photos we can post too.

Have a great back-to-school season!

Veuillez m’excuser pour écrire en Anglais seulement.

vol. XXII issue 2 (automne/fall 2018)   2018 Annual Meeting in Regina: Recap Canadian medievalists flocked to the lakeside campus of the University of Regina for our annual meeting May 28-30, during Congress 2018. Allison Fizzard, Dean of Campion College, took care of local arrangements under the big Saskatchewan sky. Our meeting included a tour of the impressive collection of rare books and manuscripts kept at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, the renowned hockey boarding school in Wilcox. Papers on medieval history and literature, as well as medievalism and film studies filled our sessions. Several sessions were hosted jointly with the Scandinavian Studies Society. Thomas Dubois (University of Wisconsin at Madison) presented an insightful and timely plenary lecture on Nordic sacred spaces. Past President David Watts presented an expansive vision for manuscript studies in Canada. Conversation and conviviality continued at the Bushwacker brewpub Tuesday night and at our society banquet Wednesday night at the Grille. Many medievalists also attended sessions sponsored by other learned societies, as well as at Congress’s public talks and events. These included a spirited concert by Buffy Sainte-Marie. During our business meeting, our society’s prizes were awarded. The Margaret Wade Labarge Book Prize went to Shannon McSheffrey (Concordia) for Seeking Sanctuary: Crime, Mercy, and Politics in English Courts, 1400-1550 (Oxford, 2017). The prize committee noted that it’s “engaging and accessible nature makes it an essential book to read alongside … contemporary discussions [of sanctuary cities].” The Leonard Boyle Dissertation Prize was given to Kenneth Duggan (Vancouver Island U.) for “Communal Justice in Thirteenth-Century England,” King’s College, University of London (2017). The prize committee praised Duggan for “a superb command over an exceptionally large—and challenging—body of primary documentation … His interpretations of the documents go against the grain of prevailing scholarship in this field, and he derives exemplary and highly original conclusions from them.”  The Student Presentation Prize was awarded to Stephanie Lahey (University of Victoria) for “Professional Pages, Done Dirt Cheap: On the Genre of English Offcut Manuscripts.” Congratulations to our prizewinners, and many thanks to the members of each prize committee. Our incoming president is Kathleen Cawsey (Dalhousie), joined by a new vice-president, Marc B. Cels (Athabasca). Dominic Marne (U. of Guelph) becomes past president, and Meredith Baccola (U. of Manitoba) remains our secretary-treasurer. Jacqueline Murray, Allison Fizzard, Alison More, and Christine Eckholst joined incumbents on the Advisory Board: Michael Kightley, Brandon Alakas, Michael Treschow and Jessica Legacy.   Réunion annuelle de 2018 à Régina : récapitulation Les médiévistes du Canada se sont retrouvés au campus lacustre de l’Université de Régina pour leur rencontre annuelle, les 28-30 mai, à l’occasion du Congrès de 2018. Allison Fizzard, doyenne du Collège Campion, était responsable de l’organisation locale sous le grand ciel de Saskatchewan. Une visite de l’impressionnante collection de livres rares et de manuscrits conservés au Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, le renommé pensionnat de hockey à Wilcox, était au programme. Les sessions comprenaient des communications en histoire et littérature ainsi qu’en médiévalisme et en étude de films. Plusieurs sessions ont eu lieu en collaboration avec la Société d’études scandinaves. Thomas Dubois (Université du Wisconsin à Madison) a donné une conférence plénière perspicace et opportune sur les espaces sacrés nordiques. L’ancien président, David Watts, a présenté de manière éloquente sa vision pour l’étude des manuscrits au Canada. Les conversations et la convivialité ont continué à la brasserie Bushwacker mardi soir et au banquet de notre société mercredi soir au Grille. Plusieurs médiévistes se sont aussi rendus à des sessions organisées par d’autres associations ainsi qu’aux causeries et autres événements publics. Parmi ces derniers, on notera le concert énergique de Buffy Sainte-Marie. Les gagnants de nos prix ont été annoncés lors de la réunion administrative. Le Prix de livre Margaret Wade Labarge a été décerné à Shannon McSheffrey (Concordia) pour Seeking Sanctuary: Crime, Mercy, and Politics in English Courts, 1400-1550 (Oxford, 2017). Le comité du prix a noté que sa « nature engagée et accessible en fait un livre essentiel à lire dans le contexte (…) des discussions actuelles [sur les villes sanctuaires] ». Le Prix de thèse Leonard Boyle est allé à Kenneth Duggan (Université de l’Île de Vancouver) pour « Communal Justice in Thirteenth-Century England », King’s College, Université de Londres (2017). Le comité du prix a fait l’éloge de Duggan pour « une maîtrise superbe d’un corpus de sources exceptionnellement abondantes – et difficiles (…). Son interprétation des documents va à l’encontre des tendances dominantes dans son champ d’études et il en tire des conclusions extrêmement originales ». Le Prix de communication étudiante a été décerné à Stephanie Lahey (Université de Victoria) pour « Professional Pages, Done Dirt Cheap : On the Genre of English Offcut Manuscripts ». Félicitations à nos récipiendaires et un grand merci aux membres de chaque comité. Notre nouvelle présidente est Kathleen Cawsey (Dalhousie), à laquelle se joint un nouveau vice-président, Marc B. Cels (Athabasca). Dominic Marner (Université de Guelph) est maintenant l’ancien président et Meredith Baccola (Université du Manitoba) conserve le poste de secrétaire-trésorière. Jacqueline Murray, Allison Fizzard, Alison More et Christine Eckholst joignent le conseil consultatif, complétant le groupe formé par Michael Kightley, Brandon Alakas, Michael Treschow et Jessica Legacy. Congress 2019 – Call for Papers Canadian Society of Medievalists Annual Meeting Congrès 2019 – Appel à communicationsRencontre annuelle de la Société Canadienne des Médiévistes 3-5 June/juin 2019 Vancouver, B.C./C.-B.   The special theme for this year’s Congress is “Circles of Conversation,” but papers for the CSM Annual Meeting can address any topic on medieval studies. Proposals for sessions of three papers are also invited. Presentations may be in either English or French. Bilingual sessions are particularly welcome. Proposals should include a one-page abstract and a one-page curriculum vitae. Papers should be no more than 20 minutes' reading time. Proposals for complete sessions should include this information in addition to a title and a brief explanation of the session and its format. Please indicate if the proposed session would be suitable as a joint session with another learned society. Please submit proposals for individual papers by December 15, 2018 and proposals for sessions by January 15, 2019 by email to Kathy Cawsey, either by regular email (kathy.cawsey@dal.ca) or via our website’s email system (www.canadianmedievalists.org). You must be a member of the CSM by the time of your presentation.  *** Le thème du Congrès decette année est « Cercles de conversation ».  Les communications à ce congrèsannuel de la SCM peuvent toutefois traiter de tout sujet relatif aux études médiévales. L'invitation est également lancée pour des propositions de sessions entières. Les communications peuvent être données en français ou en anglais.  Lessessions bilingues sont particulièrement bienvenues. Lespropositions de communications devront inclure un résumé et un curriculumvitae d'une page chacun. La durée de lecture maximale des communicationsdevra être de 20 minutes. Les propositions de sessions entières devront inclure,outre les informations régulières, un titre et une courte explication ducontenu de la session et de son format. Veuillez indiquer si la sessionproposée serait convenable pour une session commune avec une autre associationsavante. Prière de soumettrevos propositions au plus tard le 15 décembre2018 pour des communications individuelles et le 15 janvier 2019 pour des sessions entières, par courriel à KathyCawsey (kathy.cawsey@dal.ca)ou par le courriel de notre site,www.canadianmedievalists.org.Vous devrez être un membre en règle de la SCM au moment de votre communication.  Florilegium Call for Submissions Florilegium invites article submissions in any field of medieval studies; papers taking an interdisciplinary approach are especially welcome.  Manuscripts (in MS Word) should be sent to the Editor, Dr. A. E. Christa Canitz, at <Florilegium@unb.ca>. Submissions are refereed double-blind by international and Canadian specialists. Papers must not contain any indication of authorship and must not be published or submitted elsewhere. Manuscripts should normally not exceed 8,000-9,000 words, including footnotes and bibliography, and should be formatted according to Chicago style. Papers may be written in either English or French. A brief abstract (one or two sentences) should be included with the submission.  Proposals and enquiries are also welcome and should be directed to the Editor at <Florilegium@unb.ca>.   Florilegium’s website at the University of Toronto Press can be found at http://www.utpjournals.press/loi/flor    Appel à contributions La revue Florilegium, organe de la SCM / CSM, accueille des articles dans tous les domaines des études médiévales. Les auteurs sont invités à soumettre leur manuscrit sous forme de document électronique MS Word à l’éditrice, la professeure A. E. Christa Canitz <Florilegium@unb.ca>. Tous les textes sont évalués anonymement par au moins deux lecteurs ou lectrices externes, du Canada ou de l’étranger, spécialistes de leur domaine. Les manuscrits ne doivent comporter aucune indication permettant d’identifier l’auteur ; les textes publiés ou soumis ailleurs sont exclus. Ils peuvent être rédigés en français ou en anglais ; ils ne doivent pas normalement dépasser 8 000 à 9 000 mots, y compris les notes en bas de page et la bibliographie, et ils doivent se conformer aux règles de présentation du Chicago Manual of Style. Un court résumé (une ou deux phrases) devra être joint à la soumission d’article. Les propositions et demandes d’informations sont également bienvenues et doivent être à adressées à l’éditrice à <Florilegium@unb.ca>. Le site web de Florilegium, aux Presses de l’Université de Toronto, se trouve à :http://www.utpjournals.press/loi/flor  Membership Thanks to those of you who have renewed your memberships already. Memberships are renewable starting on June 15 of each year. In 2018 we had 184 members, up from 143 in the previous year. We are trying to register 200 members for this year. Please encourage your colleagues to join. You can update and renew your own membership on the CSM website (https://www.canadianmedievalists.org/). Membership in the society can make a great gift for graduating students.   Membership fees support our annual meeting, pay for our prizes, and pay our dues to the CFHSS. The Society represents Canadian medievalists to the government agencies such as SSHRC and to international networks, such as CARA. CSM Members receive the society's journal, Florilegium, and news from the society. Members also receive a discount on Mediaeval Studies when it is purchased along with the membership. The rate for Mediaeval Studies is $68 including shipping and tax. That's 50% off the regular price!   Adhésion Merci à toutes celles et tous ceux d’entre vous qui avez déjà renouvelé leur adhésion. L’adhésion doit être renouvelée le 15 juin de chaque année. En 2108, nous avions 184 membres, alors que nous n’en avions que 134 l’année précédente. Notre objectif est d’atteindre 200 cette année. N’hésitez pas à enjoindre vos collègues à devenir membres par le biais du site web. Le site web (https://www. canadianmedievalists.org/accueil/~fr) vous permet de vérifier votre statut de membre et de renouveler votre adhésion en ligne. Une adhésion à la Société peut être, par exemple, un cadeau à vos étudiants fraîchement diplômés. Les frais d’adhésion servent à financer la rencontre annuelle, les prix et la cotisation à la FSH. La Société représente les intérêts des médiévistes auprès d’agences gouvernementales comme le CRSH et de réseaux internationaux comme CARA. Les membres de la SCM reçoivent la revue de la Société, Florilegium, et les nouvelles de la Société. Les membres de la SCM peuvent également se prévaloir d’un rabais sur le prix de la revue Mediaeval Studiess’ils s’abonnent en même temps qu’ils renouvellent leur adhésion. Le prix de Mediaeval Studies revient donc à $68, incluant taxes et frais de poste, ce qui correspond à 50% du prix régulier.  *** Sébastien Rossignol (Memorial University) makes it possible for us to circulate a French version of Scrinium alongside the English version. Traduction française par Sébastien Rossignol, Memorial University.