Dear Colleagues,
COVID-19 continues to bring uncertainty to all of us. Some of you who have registered for the Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America may be unable to attend, whether because you are particularly vulnerable to the virus or are a caregiver for someone who is, or simply because the risk of travel at this time is not something you want to take on.
At the same time, however, we still hope that the conference can take place. Our colleagues at UC Berkeley and others on the program committee have put in a great deal of effort to come up with an excellent program of sessions and events, and many people have worked very hard on their presentations. It is our intention at this point to hold the conference.
Many institutions, including universities, are currently banning large meetings. If UC Berkeley, or the city of Berkeley or the state of California, decide to do so, we will of course comply and cancel the meeting. We hope that if this is to happen we will know by the end of this week, but in any case we will let you know immediately.
We plan to offer at least a partial refund of registration fees for those who cannot attend, or for all registrants if the event is cancelled. The exact amount of that refund must wait to be determined until we know which contracts can be reduced or cancelled. Some expenses have already been incurred during the multi-year planning process.
Thank you very much for your patience. This is a very worrying situation for all of us. We hope to know more soon.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth Mazo Karras, President
Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director
Maureen Miller, Program Co-Chair
Katherine O’Brien O’Keefe, Program Co-Chair
