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The 2024 Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America begins at Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame is hosting medievalists from around the world as the annual meeting of the Medieval Academy of America begins. Even if you are not attending in person, you can watch some of the important events online.

Running from Thursday, March 14th to Saturday, March 16th, the academy’s annual meeting brings together several hundred scholars in the field of medieval studies. You can view the programme here.

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The four main plenary sessions are being live-streamed on YouTube, allowing anyone to watch. They are:

AudioVision in the Arts of the Liturgy at Conques, by Bissera V. Pentcheva – Thursday at 1:30 PM EST

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How Early Before it is Too Late? ‘Medieval’ Periodization, Epistemic Change, and the Institution, by Zrinka Stahuljak – Friday at 10:30 AM EST

Conscious Uncoupling: Migration without ‘The Migration Period’. Chronology, mobility, diet, and health in a small corner of early medieval Hampshire, by Robin Fleming – Saturday at 10:30 AM EST

From Tatian to Hunayn: Communities (and Continuities) of Knowledge between Late Antiquity and Islam, by Jack Tannous – Saturday at 1:30 PM EST

Medievalists will also be interested in the Medieval Academy of America’s Business Meeting, which will also be live-streamed on Friday at 1:00 PM EST. This year’s meeting will likely be highlighted by debate over the hiring of the next editor of Speculum, the academic journal run by the academy. With the current editor, Katherine L. Jansen, stepping down next year, the academy began searching for her successor. However, they noted that this was not a paid position, and they expected that whoever was chosen would need financial support from their university.

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Several prominent medievalists, led by Laura K. Morreale and Anne E. Lester, have voiced their objections to the idea of offering a non-paid position. In a statement, they note ” the MAA advertisement of a 20-30 hour/week unpaid editorship contradicts much of what the MAA has claimed to be working towards, such as opening the field to the increasing number of medievalists who do not enjoy tenured university positions, or moving beyond the elite spaces that Medieval Studies has historically inhabited. ”

The business meeting will likely be a venue for more objections to be raised, and whether or not efforts can be made to offer money for the position.

Please visit the meeting website for more details.

Top Image: The campus of the University of Notre Dame. Photo by Derek Jensen / Wikimedia Commons

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