Registration for the 96th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America closes on March 25. No registrations can be accepted after that date.
The meeting is hosted by Indiana University, Bloomington, and will take place entirely online, from 15-18 April 2021. The program and registration information are available here.
We wish we could welcome you in person to Bloomington, but we look forward to an interesting and exciting conference!
Please email any questions to maa2021@indiana.edu.
The MAA Graduate Student Committee is hosting a variety of events at the 2021 MAA Annual Meeting. Please join us for any or all. Click here to register for the Annual Meeting and access the GSC events: https://maa2021.indiana.edu/. We hope to see you there!
Transcription Workshop & Transcribathon
Thursday, 15 April
22:00 GMT / 18:00 ET / 15:00 PT
Join the IU Medieval Studies Institute Graduate Student Advisory Committee and the MAA Graduate Student Committee for an evening Transcription Workshop and weekend-long Transcribathon. Liz Hebbard will lead a manuscript transcription workshop Thursday evening to start off IU’s annual Transcribathon, which will run from Thursday-Saturday (April 15-17). No prior experience with manuscripts is necessary.
Graduate Student Social Hour
Thursday, 15 April
00:00 GMT / 20:00 ET / 17:00 PT
Join the MAA Graduate Student Committee and the IU Medieval Studies Institute Graduate Student Advisoy Committee for the graduate student virtual social hour at the MAA Annual Meeting. Drop in for an hour of connecting and conversation with fellow medievalist graduate students.
Mentoring and Morning Coffee
Friday, 16 April
14:00 GMT / 10:00 ET / 07:00 PT
Join the MAA Inclusivity & Diversity and Graduate Student Committees for a Mentoring and Morning Coffee at the MAA Annual Meeting. This mentoring event is designed to bring together medievalists at different points in their academic careers, from graduate students to senior scholars, and from across different fields, for an hour of conversation and mentorship.
Roundtable: Graduate Medievalists and the Institutions We Work In: Community and
Activism
Friday, 16 April
15:00 GMT / 11:00 ET / 08:00 PT
Session Sponsored by the MAA Graduate Student Committee and the IU Medieval Studies Institute Graduate Student Advisory Committee
Chair: Lauren Van Nest (University of Virginia)
Roundtable Participants: Abby Ang (Indiana University Bloomington), Christine Bachman (University of Delaware), Henry Gruber (Harvard University), Marian Homans-Turnbull (UC Berkeley), Nahir I. Otaño Gracia (University of New Mexico), Alexa Sand (Utah State University)
On the Way to the Future of Digital Manuscript Studies
Nijmegen, 27-29 October 2021
Over the last decades, the ability to exploit digital potential has radically impacted research in the field of manuscript studies. From the most basic facilities, such as the increasing availability of digitized images and documents, to sophisticated attempts at automatizing the entire process of critical editing, the development of digital tools is extraordinary: it has created unprecedented opportunities to mine the data, achieve innovative results, and display them, in ways which previously could only be imagined. In such a dynamic context, the number of valuable enterprises continues to grow: the time is ripe for a consideration of the achievements already obtained, and of the foundations that our current work is laying for long-term development of the field. Through the organization of this workshop, the ERC Project PASSIM seeks to provide an occasion to pursue this goal.
Scientific Committee: Mariken Teeuwen (Utrecht Universiteit – Huygens ING-KNAW), Olivier Hekster (Radboud Universiteit – KNAW), Shari Boodts (Radboud Universiteit), Gleb Schmidt (Radboud Universiteit), Riccardo Macchioro (Radboud Universiteit).
Confirmed Speakers: Marjorie Burghart, Mike Kestemont, Thomas Köntges, Inka Moilanen, Elena Pierazzo, Matthieu Pignot, Philipp Roelli, Dominique Stutzmann, Mariken Teeuwen, Anne-Marie Turcan-Verkerk, Martin Wallraff.
Venue. The workshop will be held on 27-29 October 2021, either on location in Nijmegen (ideally), in a hybrid form, or online depending on the development of the Covid-emergency. Board and lodging expenses will be borne by the Organization; unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee coverage of travel costs at this time.
Proceedings. We plan to publish the Proceedings as quickly as possible after the workshop as a volume or special issue of a relevant journal.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We are glad to announce the opening of the Call for Papers for 25 minutes long presentations.
Abstract Submission
If you would like to present a lecture at the Workshop, please send an application consisting of a short abstract (ca. 350 words) and concise CV (max. 1 pag.) to:
Riccardo Macchioro (r.macchioro@let.ru.nl) and Gleb Schmidt (gleb.schmidt@ru.nl).
Abstract submission deadline: 10 May 2021. Acceptance will be communicated shortly after, by 15 May 2021.
Early career scientists and scholars (Ph.D., Post-Doc) are especially encouraged to apply.
TOPICS
Three key areas are crucial for the advancement of digital manuscript studies: 1) the contribution of research projects with a specific goal to the field as a whole; 2) the capacity to expand their (web)application(s) to other disciplines rooted in textual source-material (such as history, philology, cultural studies, and more), and vice-versa; 3) the challenges entailed in developing and implementing common/universal standards and data models (e.g. for data structuring, storage, and interoperability). Taking into account this overall framework, the main focus of the contributions can be on the scholarly problems, as well as on the technical issues involved.
Possible topics include (without being limited to):
Digital approaches to historical phenomena: evaluation of the social impact of a given literary corpus; the reconstruction of disintegrated manuscripts; the digital restoration of dispersed medieval libraries; how digital frameworks enhance the study of the interaction between the materiality of manuscript objects and intellectual concepts like content and organization.
Data management, sustainability, interoperability: construction of big repositories of searchable metadata; the building of shared standards to encode metadata on manuscripts; networking, sustainability of structuring standards, interoperability and reusability of the data accumulated.
Digital stemmatology: translation of stemmatic principles into reception studies; approaches to stemmatology from a digital point of view; automatic grouping of manuscripts; approaches to overabundant manuscript traditions by means of automatic collation tools.
Computational approaches: deep learning and/or machine learning techniques for computational analysis (script identification, full-text analysis, authorship attribution, …); search for a balance between accuracy, exhaustivity, and serendipity, while programming and processing computational-statistical analysis; development and employment of OCR transcription tools.
Interaction between the machine and the human scholar: harmonization of (digital) phylogenetics with the exigency of a not (too) mechanic evaluation of the data; strategies to evaluate and classify the results obtained by launching queries on huge amounts of data.
Visualization strategies and tools: interpretation of the results of overarching queries; representation of connections between complex objects such as collections of texts; innovative digital editions.
For any questions or further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Riccardo Macchioro: r.macchioro@let.ru.nl; Gleb Schmidt: gleb.schmidt@ru.nl.
March 18 – 19, 2021
Conspiracy theories have captured the attention of people throughout history, and they have become especially influential in current politics. Some recent conspiracists have deliberately adopted the language of the Middle Ages to advance their agenda. In this conference we will break down the history of conspiracy theories dating back to the Middle Ages and compare them to contemporary beliefs. We’ll also discuss how the Deep State and QAnon theories influenced political messaging in the age of Trump. Each panel will conclude with an audience Q&A.
“Medieval French without Borders”
40th Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval Studies, Fordham University
March 20-21, 2021
This digital conference addresses the multilingual contact zones and social, cultural and literary contexts of exchange in which French featured between the ninth and the sixteenth centuries. A second language of several empires, a tongue of invaders, and an idiom spread by merchants, sailors, artisans, and pilgrims, French was a medium of both border-construction and border-crossing. The program includes papers on the dynamic relations between French and other languages including Arabic, Castilian, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Irish, Italian, Latin, Norse, Occitan, and Welsh. Such relations often exceed traditional explanatory frameworks of cultural prestige and the nation. Talks are available as online videos, which can be watched at any time before the conference. The conference weekend will be dedicated to the plenary lectures and discussion of the pre-circulated videos.
Plenary Lecturers: Wolfgang Haubrichs (Universität des Saarlandes) and Teresa Shawcross (Princeton University)
Round Table Panelists: Thelma Fenster (Fordham University), Karla Mallette (University of Michigan), Anne-Hélène Miller (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), Sara Poor (Princeton University), Jocelyn Wogan-Browne (Fordham University)
Program and online registration can be found here:
https://mvstconference.ace.fordham.edu/medievalfrenchwithoutborders/conference-program/
We are pleased to announce the thirty-first annual Medieval Studies Student Colloquium which will be taking place virtually March 26th-27th, 2021 on the theme of “Movement”. We welcome all to attend. This year’s event has two distinguished keynote speakers as well as thirty presenters. You will receive the full conference program as a downloadable pdf file upon registration (the program contains the Zoom links to the conference sessions and the keynote lectures): https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dgtKnhdcHUvX5JQ
Our keynote addresses will be delivered by Sharon Kinoshita and Michael Gomez:
Friday, March 26th, 3:00-4:30pm EST
Sharon Kinoshita: On the Road with Marco Polo: Movement and Space in Le Devisement du monde
Saturday, March 27th, 3:00-4:30pm EST
Michael Gomez: The Concept of “Movement” in Early West Africa: A Fitting Framework
We look forward to welcoming you at MSSC 2021! Please contact Alice Wolff at acw262@cornell.edu if you have any questions or if you need assistance.
All the best,
The Medieval Studies Student Colloquium Board of Directors
located in the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga Nation)
Thari Zweers, President
Alice Wolff, Vice-President
Lisa Camp, Treasurer
Sarah LaVoy, Secretary
POSITION OPENING: ASSISTANT EDITOR, HESPERIA (ASCSA PUBLICATIONS OFFICE)
The Publications Office of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, in Princeton, NJ, has a full-time vacancy, beginning in July for a well-organized and highly motivated individual to support the Editor of Hesperia in all stages of production for the ASCSA’s award-winning journal on Greek archaeology and material culture.
The Assistant Editor will be part of a small, friendly department that works closely with authors to produce scholarly publications of the highest quality. The successful candidate will coordinate the peer-review process, review permissions, conduct bibliographic research, typeset, proofread, and take on any other production tasks as requested by the Editor.
Required:
Preferred:
Excellent benefits, pleasant working conditions, salary commensurate with experience. Prospective applicants should submit a cover letter, resume (in PDF format), and the names of two individuals willing to serve as references. Applications for the position should be submitted via the online form at: https://ascsa.submittable.com/submit/656006a2-2e28-45cd-b7bc-5dc62bb67715/assistant-editor-for-hesperia.
The closing date for applications is Friday, April 2, 2021. The position begins July 1, 2021.
ASCSA is an EO/AA employer.
The ASCSA is an EEO/AA employer. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, ethnic origin, or disability when considering admission to any form of membership or application for employment.
REMINDER: DEADLINE TO REGISTER AS A MENTOR OR MENTEE:
March 18, 2021
*Please note that since the 96th Annual Meeting will be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be running the mentorship program digitally. Because of this, anybody can participate, regardless of their 2021 Annual Meeting attendance plans*
The Graduate Student Committee (GSC) of the Medieval Academy of America invites those attending the 96th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, jointly hosted by the Medieval Academy of America and the Medieval Studies Institute of the Indiana University (15-18 April 2021) and any other interested medievalists to participate in the GSC Virtual Mentoring Program.
The GSC Mentoring Program facilitates networking between graduate students or early career scholars and established scholars by pairing student and scholar according to discipline.
Mentorship exchanges are intended to help students establish professional contacts with scholars who can offer them career advice. The primary objective of this exchange is that the relationship be active during the conference, although mentors and mentees sometimes decide to continue communication after a conference has ended.
We have recorded an increased interest in the GSC Mentorship Program since it has been held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. We will attempt to match all those who register as a mentee with mentors; however, if need be, preference will be granted to those in order of form submission and any surplus will be given priority for the next GSC Mentoring Program (Virtual Kalamazoo 10-15 May 2021).
To volunteer as a mentor (faculty, librarians, curators, independent scholars) or to sign up as a mentee, please submit the online form, linked here, by 18 March 2021.
On behalf of the committee, thank you and our best,
Julia King & Lauren Van Nest
2020-2021 Mentoring Program Coordinators
The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, is pleased to announce its final lecture for 2020–2021: “Ps-Ptolemy’s Ὁ Καρπός and Byzantine Astrological Practice.” Dr. Darin Hayton, Haverford College, will explore ps-Ptolemy’s Ὁ Καρπός to elucidate the culture of astrology in the later Byzantine empire.
April 1, 2021 | Zoom | 4:00–5:00 pm (Eastern time)
This lecture will take place live on Zoom, followed by a question and answer period. Please register to receive the Zoom link. An email with the relevant Zoom information will be sent 1–2 hours ahead of the lecture. Registration closes at 11:00 AM on April 1, 2021.
Register here: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/ps-ptolemys-and-byzantine-astrological-practice
Mary Jaharis Center lectures are co-sponsored by Harvard University Standing Committee on Medieval Studies.
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.
Expand your understanding of book history during a Rare Book School course this summer. We are now accepting applications for our intensive courses on the history of manuscript, print, and digital materials.
Among our diverse array of online courses, we are pleased to offer several pertinent to those involved in the study of medievalism, early modernism, rare books, and manuscripts:
-H-20a: The Book in the Manuscript Era, taught by Raymond Clemens (22 hours)
-M-70a: The Handwriting and Culture of Early Modern English Manuscripts, taught by Heather Wolfe (22 hours)
-M-100a: Fragmentology, taught by Lisa Fagin Davis (22 hours)
These offerings include both adaptations of in-person RBS classes and brand-new courses. For more details, including costs and course descriptions, please explore our full schedule: https://rarebookschool.org/schedule/. Even more courses will be announced on the schedule page soon!
To be considered in the first round of admissions decisions, course applications should be submitted no later than March 8.
Applications received after March 8 will be reviewed on a rolling basis, however, please note that some classes do reach capacity during the first round of admissions. Visit our website at www.rarebookschool.org for course details, instructions for applying, and evaluations by past students. Contact us at rbsprograms@virginia.edu with questions.
Please share this information with colleagues, students, and friends.
We hope to see you in an online Rare Book School course soon!
With best regards,
The RBS Programs Team
