Modern Medieval

The specre of '68, student activism and the 'student university'

2011-11-21T06:11:00.004-05:00

A spectre is haunting UK higher education, that spectre is 1968. The protests which took place during the late 1960s represent the high water mark for student activism in Europe and abroad. Inspired by student protests and the civil rights movement in America, and the Prague Spring and similar uprisings in eastern bloc countries, students and workers joined forces in central Europe to oppose the

London's Burning

2011-11-09T11:40:00.001-05:00

Today we're fortunate to have a guest post by Scott Jenkins, a postgraduate at Swansea University (UK). Hopefully, this will be the first of many more posts. Welcome, Scott! The whole piece reads like an apologia for a certain segment of the Bush II administration -- Rice, Card, etc. Everything -- even the response to Katrina! -- was

Blogging, Twitter, and New Paradigms: Thoughts from Kalamazoo

2009-05-12T16:06:00.007-04:00

My thoughts here are kind-of half-baked, springing from some conversations with very intelligent people at the infamous Kalamazoo. 2 panels in particular. Please bear with me.The first, the panel I was on was, in truth, rather sparsely attended but still generated some interesting discussion around the topic of the "medieval," especially I think because we had the benefit of a specialist on East

The Next Age of Discovery

2009-05-08T16:22:00.002-04:00

The Wall Street Journal today published an article by one Alexandra Alter on the preservation of manuscripts, digitally: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124173896716198603.html. Writ large in the article is Fr. Columba Stewart, head of the Hill Manuscript Library in MN.

HA CFP

2009-05-07T01:06:00.001-04:00

Call for PapersThe Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe invites submissions for our upcoming issues. In each issue, we plan to publish papers on any topic that falls approximately in the era between 300 and 1200 CE and within the general geographical region of Northwestern Europe and periods, and areas. Each issue contains:*a general section of papers and notes that covers

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

2009-05-05T16:14:00.001-04:00

Well, kids, go, engage in the best Modern Medieval event there is! Wishing all who are going up a fabulous conference.

Jesus Killed Mohammed

2009-04-27T08:35:00.004-04:00

From the May 2009 Harper's magazine, Jeff Sharlet has an article about the "christianization" of the United States military (behind pay wall, unfortunately). On the right is the issue's cover, complete with 14th-century illustration of the taken of Jerusalem by the First Crusaders. I've talked a bit about this stuff elsewhere, but I thought I'd draw attention to Sharlet's article for a few

Pope Benedict XVI & Ambrose Autpert

2009-04-23T14:04:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday (4/22/09) Pope Benedict XVI addressed a general audience in St. Peter's square and took as his theme, Ambrose Autpert, 8th-century monk, abbot of San Vincenzo al Volturno, and tutor of Charlemagne himself. You can watch a bit of it above. The full-text, however, can be found here. Apparently, this is "part of a catechetical series he is giving about great writers of the Church in

postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies

2009-04-22T13:09:00.001-04:00

Just announced by Eileen Joy, of ITM fame. Read a bit about it here. Read the press release here.Read the prospectus here.

"Christianity and the Emperor between Diocletian & Constantine"

2009-04-19T21:49:00.004-04:00

Just this past Friday, Prof. Samuel Collins (George Mason University) came and gave a talk for the Medieval & Early Modern Studies crowd at Virginia Tech. It was tremendous. But don't take my word for it; have a listen yourself.Listen to the podcast(requires iTunes)

CFP: Conference on Medievalism

2009-04-10T10:37:00.002-04:00

Discovered via the Studies in Medievalism blog:Studies in Medievalism invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference, October 8-11, 2009. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of Medievalism, and especially those that focus on this year's theme of “Medievalism and Religion.”This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring

April Fool's! Oh, Wait... (Obama & Joachim Revisited)

2009-04-01T12:12:00.004-04:00

It's only fitting, I guess, that speaking of prophets makes you prophetic yourself. Way back in August 2008, I found a short Italian news article saying that Barack Obama was a reader of 12th-century mystic and theologian Joachim of Fiore, and that Obama had referenced Joachim no less than 3 times during Obama's presidential campaign. I did some digging and came up with nothing. I'm

History Matters: Blog Forum

2009-03-30T14:16:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't seen this, and since it's now completed, go read the series of posts around Judith Bennett's History Matters now.Notorious, Ph.D.HistoriannTenured RadicalAnother Damned MedievalistJudith Bennett herself, via Notorious Ph.D. Also, a related but unrelated series of posts at Magistra et Mater.Post, the firstPost, the secondPost, the thirdPost, the fourthPost, the fifthPost, the

Rap Canterbury Tales

2009-03-22T09:03:00.000-04:00

So, my google news "medieval" aggregator picked up this gem. Apparently, a medievalist and budding rap artist named Baba Brinkman has put together a "Rap Canterbury Tales." Enjoy.There's more on Youtube, or you can buy it via iTunes, if you're interested...

The Humanities and the Financial Crisis

2009-03-20T11:21:00.003-04:00

Via InTheMiddle, there's this article in today's Chronicle of Higher Education by the director of the National Humanities Center. Allow me to quote some: Why should society support the humanities when so many people are suffering from the effects of the economic crisis? What claim do the humanities, or scholarship generally, have on increasingly limited resources? Shouldn't such pursuits be

Against Academic Journals: Opening Thoughts

2009-03-15T15:38:00.008-04:00

Some thoughts.Budgets suck, especially when they're being cut. We're being socked, which really shouldn't be that big of a surprise, given every state's financial situation -- ours included. But, now having served on a library committee, I think I actually understand budgets a bit better -- or at least how they work regarding academic libraries. To that end, I have a modest (if, perhaps,

Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

2009-03-08T18:31:00.002-04:00

Via our good friend, the Great Nokes, at Unlocked Wordhoard, I learn that not only does the Society for Popular Culture and the Middle Ages exist, a fact that had previously escaped me, but they have a web page/blog:http://popularcultureandthemiddleages.org/

Put Me in the Zoo

2009-03-03T21:24:00.005-05:00

Won't you see what I can do? I can't make my spots disappear though...Anyway, since it's coming to that time of year again, and others are promoting themselves, why not do the same?Sat. 5/9 1:30pm Session 456Fetzer 2020Medieval across Time and Space (A Roundtable)Organizers: Matthew Gabriele, Virginia Tech and Julie Hofmann, Shenandoah Univ.Julie HofmannMatthew GabrieleManan Ahmed, Univ. of

South Park and Beowulf

2009-02-27T14:18:00.003-05:00

I suppose this post is really a little off topic. But I found it so odd and striking that I had to share. I'm reading an article by Gale Owen-Crocker titled "Horror in Beowulf: Mutilation, Decapitation, and the Unburied Dead" published in a festschrift for Don Scragg. In the midst of this article, making a point that having a decapitated head paraded around the hall would be a bit of a shocker

Offprints Free to a Good Home

2009-02-25T14:18:00.002-05:00

I don't know why journals give you hard copy off-prints anymore, instead of just PDFs. Anyway, in the process of straightening my office, I ran across a stack of old offprints of mine. If you want a hard-copy of either of the following, please send me an email with your mailing address and which one you'd want, and I'll be happy to pop one in the mail for you. First-come, first-served (until

The Public Intellectual

2009-02-23T10:55:00.004-05:00

The most recent Carnivalesque, over at Notorious Ph.D., has generously spotlighted an older post of mine on being/ trying to be a public intellectual. It even got picked up by a French history blog. Anyway, with the renewed interest (and site traffic), it seems an appropriate time to revisit some of the issues raised and see where we are.Things like the coming blog forum on Judith Bennett's

Gatorade Gets Medieval

2009-02-05T11:24:00.002-05:00

Thanks to In the Medieval Middle, we find Kevin Garnett and his intrepid band (including Derek Jeter, Jimmie Johnson, Usain Bolt, Misty May-Treanor, Keri Walsh, and Alicia Sacramone -- with cameos from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan) traipsing across the Monty Python-esque landscape in their search for a new energy drink. Awesome.PS -- Sorry for the short posts lately. More will be

Medieval Answer to a 21st Century Problem?

2009-02-04T11:46:00.001-05:00

Quite apart from the somewhat historical inaccuracies and assumptions, I nonetheless found today's political cartoon by Matt Bors humorous and thought I'd share:http://www.mattbors.com/archives/489.html

Congress Program

2009-02-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

The 2009 Congress Program is live and online! Spread the word:http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/index.html

The Holy Hand Grenade

2009-01-29T16:44:00.002-05:00

I like to think, in my own small way, I contributed to this outstanding academicy discovery. Sometimes, the very process of discovery is fun and interesting...

In Honor of Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Interesting (?) Website

2009-01-16T16:00:00.002-05:00

This is kind-of off topic, but does anybody out there know anything about/ have any thoughts on academia.edu? Seems kind of interesting...

Wanna be a Monk?

2009-01-14T10:36:00.003-05:00

Apparently, monasteries are no longer the draw that they were in the 11th century and modern abbots (and bishops) are realizing this. But in the spirit of "try before you buy," some Anglican and Roman Catholic monasteries and nunneries in England are now offering "taster" weekends. Go to the monastery, stay there for a couple of nights, pretend you're a monk, and see how you like the whole

The State of the Humanities (USA)

2009-01-07T10:05:00.002-05:00

The Humanities Indicators Protoype has just been unveiled. You can read about the project on their site, at The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required), or at InsideHigherEd.com. Too much data to go through this minute, but hopefully I'll have some thoughts soon.You go directly to the data though.

Revisiting the Crusades (with or without a degree)

2008-12-20T11:00:00.007-05:00

So, bear with me here. This is going to be a long post, but I think it's going somewhere...On 12/10/08, in The Roanoke Times, a local resident (in response to Gov. Tim Kaine's tacit support of the Virginia State Police superindendant's decision to remove [as much as possible] specifically Christian references in prayer at their events -- inevitably, it's turned political) wrote a letter to the

PEAA

2008-12-19T09:36:00.001-05:00

Announcing the first annual Praemium Ephemeridis Aetheriae Auctoribus awards (Award for Authors of Ethereal Diaries). Ok, I'm not that caffeined (rhymes with fiend) yet, so if you have a better name or acronym, write in. Anyway, here's the deal. Nominate the best medieval blog *entry* of the year that is not one written by you. So: medieval, an entry, written by someone other than the person

Dante's Inferno, the Game...

2008-12-16T10:41:00.004-05:00

Oh, dude. Electronic Arts (EA) is apparently now producing a game based on Dante's Inferno. Apparently, Dante will travel through Hell's 9 levels in pursuit of his "beloved Beatrice." Oh, but wait, there's more! It'll be an action-adventure game!Double dude! I just found the website. (Trailer from YouTube) This is not the Dante I remember...Yikes! If only he could've been that bad-ass

Review: Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam

2008-12-01T16:45:00.007-05:00

Recently, the lovely people at Columbia University Press sent me a copy of Jonathan Riley-Smith's The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam for review.Buy it here or here.-----It's probably not too much to say that Jonathan Riley-Smith (recently retired from Emmanuel College, Cambridge) revolutionized the study of the crusades. For example, his The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (

Sanctuary

2008-11-23T22:38:00.000-05:00

I'm a Sci-Fi fan. Always have been. So when the Sci-Fi channel's new show Sancturay aired I was interested, especially as I had viewed Stargate and Stargate Atlantis and Amanda Tapping from those shows was the star of the new one. The premise of the show is that there are "abnormals" in the world, creatures and beings whose evolutionary path is different. Thus, a chameleon like lizard that

Arthuriana Modern Medieval Style

2008-11-23T13:41:00.001-05:00

Its not precisely Medieval nor Modern, part Arthurian, part Star Trek, part Monty Python, but completely and utterly uproarious and priceless. Thanks to Will Wheaton, who thanks his source....http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/11/tis-a-silly-pla.html