On the other hand, her mocking of poor medievalists stuck in small liberal arts colleges with no one to talk to but themselves struck me as rather a low blow. I would say that that is one of the advantages of Kalamazoo, and colleagues in that situation deserve a beer and our sympathy, not derision. Also, from the various vehement (and occasionally profane) discussions of her article on the blogs, one gets the impression that Allen didn't go to many of the sessions she critiques, since her factual details are incorrect. Papers she discusses were not actually given, quotes are taken out of context, and so on. Some folks who have done background research on her have discovered that her previous entries at the 'Zoo have mostly been Chaucer-related, so her 'Byzantine studies' label is something of a mystery.
Here is some of the most relevant blog coverage of this little thunderstorm:
Dr. Richard Nokes has some of the best entries at Unlocked Wordhoard: http://unlocked-wordhoard.blogspot.com/2008/05/dark-age-for-medievalists.html.
Gabriele's pointed question probably the best. It is a serious issue, that.
Nokes has also usefully provided a summary of other blog comment, at
http://unlocked-wordhoard.blogspot.com/2008/05/dark-age-for-medievalists-round-up.html.
Of course, Larry Swain's page, mentioned in my previous post.
Lisa Spangenberg also has an interesting page:
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/news/2008/05/about-that-dark-age-for-medievalists.html.
And Melissa Snell, who blogs on/for About.com (never quite knew what to make of About, but their info is usually quite good...)
http://historymedren.about.com/b/2008/06/04/misrepresented-medievalists.htm.
As you will soon see by clicking on any of the above links, it's all pretty negative.
But, just to leave you with a positive, and perhaps a little perspective on this supposedly well-publicized put-down of our field, here's an email which I recently received from the ICM Leeds (edited for brevity): note the emboldened text. I guess that, despite articles such as Allen's, medieval studies aren't in such bad shape...Like I said, funny, more than anything else. To be continued...
Dear colleague,
Please find below the latest instalment of the Leeds International Medieval Congress
Newsletter. The newsletter will also be available online at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/IMCNewsletter.pdf from 15 August. We hope through the
newsletter to keep in touch with IMC participants past and present, and to inform
them of forthcoming IMC events.
We would appreciate if you could print out this leaflet and display it in your
institution or department/school.
We aim to make this newsletter a regular occurrence - if you prefer not to receive
this newsletter in the future please let us know by return email. We always
appreciate your feedback, so do please feel free to suggest improvements to this
newsletter, and to let us know what you would like to see included in future issues.
With best wishes for the summer,
Axel E. W. Müller
Director, International Medieval Congress
1.1 Academic Programme
The IMC 2008 took place between 7-10 July at the University of Leeds, UK. 1464
medievalists attended, from 41 different countries, making this yet another
successful year.
The Congress continues to draw in international participants with 30% coming from
Europe (excl. UK) and over 12% from the US and Canada. This year also attracted a
wide number of delegates from as far afield as Australia, China and Israel. Some 325
sessions and roundtable discussions explored all aspects of the European Middle Ages,
with papers on subjects as diverse as 'Grenzen und Grenzmarkierung in den
mittelalterlichen Natur', 'Le souverain dans l'exégèse carolingienne', 'Medieval DNA:
On the Use of Molecular Genetic Methods for Exploring the Past', and 'Come la grazia
eccede l'agire etico e realizza la politica della convivenza civile e della
comunicazione'.
Press coverage of the IMC explored a number of topics arising out of sessions and
roundtables at the Congress. These were linked to the special thematic strand and
ongoing research as well as specific IMC events and resulted, amongst others, in
articles by the Guardian Online and local press, showing that medieval studies is
still generating interest from the general public.
Amongst many positive comments about the Congress, participants said that IMC 2008
was 'a smashingly good Congress' and that the 'plenaries were outstanding'. This
year's special thematic strand, Natural World, was particularly challenging and
generated both interest and enthusiasm, with more than 150 sessions presented under
the auspices of the strand, including keynote addresses by Oliver Rackham, (Corpus
Christi College, University of Cambridge) and Richard C. Hoffmann, (Department of
History, York University, Toronto, Ontario). The Natural World strand was
co-ordinated by Brigitte Resl, (School of History, University of Liverpool) and we
would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all her work this past year. The
strand opened up new avenues of interest in these subjects, and we hope all who
presented in or attended sessions on the Natural World found the experience a
positive one.
Section 2: Looking Ahead
2.1 IMC 2009: 13-16 July 2009
Paper proposals must be submitted by 31 August 2008, session and roundtable proposals
by 30 September 2008.
Plans for next year's Congress are well underway. As in previous years, papers and
sessions on all aspects of the study of the European Middle Ages are most welcome, in
any major European language.
A focus for 2009 will be the special thematic strand on 'Heresy and Orthodoxy'. The
full call for papers is available on our website at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2009_call.html
The Core Strands are:
* Anglo-Saxon Studies
* Archaeology
* Art and Architecture
* Byzantine Studies
* Celtic Studies
* Central and Eastern European Studies
* Church History and Canon Law
* Crusades and Latin East
* Culture and Society
* Daily Life
* Drama
* Gender Studies/Women's Studies
* Geography and Settlement Studies
* Government and Institutions
* Hagiography and Religious Writing
* Historiography (Medieval and Modern)
* Jewish Studies
* Language and Literature -Comparative
* Language and Literature -Germanic
* Language and Literature -Middle English
* Language and Literature -Romance Vernacular
* Late Antique and Early Medieval Studies
* Latin Writing
* Literacy and Communication
* Material Culture
* Medievalism and Reception of the Middle Ages
* Mediterranean and Islamic Studies
* Monasticism and Religious Life
* Music and Liturgy
* Philosophy and Political Thought
* Scandinavian Studies
* Science, Technology and Military History
* Social and Economic History
* Sources and Resources
* Theology and Bible Studies
We prefer proposals to be completed online - a quick, easy, and secure method. To
submit a proposal, go to http://imc.leeds.ac.uk/imcapp/
Remember to order your equipment for 2009 on your proposal form! Check
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/equipment.html for more details.
3.2 International Medieval Bibliography: Call for Contributors
The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB), based at Leeds since 1967, is a
multi-disciplinary database of Medieval Studies which helps underpin the work of the
IMC. Now, after the implementation of the IMBOnline, the bibliography is working to
greatly expand its coverage of publications. To this end, the editorial team is
looking for individuals or organisations to become contributors to join its existing
range of partners throughout the world. Contributors take responsibility for
identifying and cataloguing publications relating to specific subject or geographical
areas, and are rewarded with free subscriptions to IMB (online or print), other free
publications and other benefits. Contributors are sought who are based in the USA,
France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, Israel, Lithuania, Greece, Cyprus,
Latvia, Romania, and the Arab world, particularly with interests in archaeology, art,
regional and local history, and vernacular languages. If you are interested in
becoming a contributor, cont
act the editor, Dr Alan V. Murray, at A.V.Murray@leeds.ac.uk.
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