The Institute for Medieval Studies Medieval Works in Progress and the Medieval Students Student Association sponsored today a lecture by visiting scholar Dr. John McKinnell titled: Beware of Your Family! Murderous Relatives in the Legends of the Early Kings of Sweden.

Dr. McKinnell has been serving as a visiting scholar this semester, teaching a course in Viking mythology.

Labels: Campus Events, lecture, visiting scholar

Marisa Sikes was nominated by one of her current English 101 students, Alexsandra Serrano, to be an honoree at a luncheon sponsored by American Indian Student Services during Nizhoni Week on the UNM campus. Alex thanked Marisa for making the classroom an open environment in which she felt she could have a voice.

The luncheon was organized in order to recognize UNM faculty and staff who have had a positive influence on Native students through teaching, advising, or other modes of support. The luncheon also facilitated interdepartmental conversations about diversity and advocacy on campus during Nizhoni Week. Nizhoni Week is a week of student-centered activities, open to the public, during which Native students, Native student organizations, and supporting UNM departments celebrate and share Native culture with all of UNM and the surrounding Albuquerque community.

At the luncheon ceremony Marisa received a certificate from AISS, which featured Alex's praise of her.

Nizhoni Week continues on campus through Sunday, and the remaining events can be viewed here.

Last week both Jen Nader and Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen won awards that illustrate their teaching effectiveness and success as graduate student teachers of First-Year English courses here at the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of New Mexico. The winners of the awards from this year will become judges for the Spring 2009 FYE Teaching Awards, which are open to all graduate student instructors within the department and were chosen by the Interim FYE Director and a committee of Rhetoric and Writing Graduate Student TAs.

Jen Nader won the award for Outstanding Instructor.

Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen won the award for the best sequence designed for an English 101 or 102 class.

Jen and Doug will receive certificates and a monetary award at an awards ceremony at the end of this semester, May 14. Doug’s winning sequence and a general announcement regarding this years’ winners of the FYE Teaching Awards should be posted soon on the UNM English Department Homepage. We’ll update our blog here too after the award ceremony.

Southeastern Medieval Association CFP: Bodies, Embodiments, Becomings
2-4 October 2008 @ Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri

This conference looks like it will be exciting, especially since one of its plenary speakers is Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, who has written extensively on medieval concepts of the monstrous.

Abstracts are due via e-mail by May 30th.

Call for Papers
In his book Medieval Identity Machines, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen writes that we know the human body "is divisible into semidiscrete systems (nervous, digestive, circulatory, excretory, reproductive), but that these structures nevertheless form a bounded whole, a singular organism. The human body is therefore described as a marvel of God or of evolution, a system so autnomous from its environment that it can dream theology and science in order to envision how it came to be the culminating creation in a world of similarly distinct bodies and objects." But what if the body is less than this idealization and also "more than its limbs, organs, and flesh as traced by an anatomical chart"? What if it is "open and permeable," and what if "corporeality and subjectivity--themselves inseparable--potentially included both the social structures (kinship, nation, religion, race) and the phenomenal world (objects, gadgets, prostheses, animate and inanimate bodies of many kinds) across which human identity is spread?" Cohen urges us to see bodies as "sites of possibility" that are "necessarily dispersed into something larger, something mutable and dynamic, a structure of alliance and becoming," and which are always on the verge of escaping "the confines of somber individuality" in order to connect with other bodies and other worlds. Therefore, there is no "being," per se, only "becoming."

For the 34th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Medieval Association, we invite paper and session proposals on any topic relative to the Middle Ages, but we especially encourage those proposals that address any and all aspects of the body, embodiment, and becoming in medieval arts and letters. Consider our definition of body to be wide open, to include human and nonhuman bodies, bodies of language and manuscripts and texts, bodies of history, bodies of knowledge, and bodies (of all types) as sites of transformation and possibility, of departures and arrivals, of enclosure and openness. Consider, also, if you will, the gendered body, the racialized body, the phenomenological body, the sexualized body, the colonial body, the medicalized body, the pathologized body, the animal body, the erotic body, the loving body, the spiritual body, the abnormal body, the medieval body, the communal body, the hybrid body, the post/human body, and so on. Consider the relationships between body and self-identity, between body and art, between body and mind, body and culture, body and technology, body and world, and so on. Consider, finally, the ways in which bodies and embodiment emerge out of historical times and spaces, and out of historical processes of becoming (coming-to-be through time and space).

Deadline for Submission: Friday, 30 May 2008

Send Paper or Session Abstracts to:
Eileen Joy Department of English
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
ejoy@siue.edu

*Submissions must be made via email.

Medieval Academy of America CFP for Chicago 2009

For those of you interested in presenting at a prestigious conference, the MAA released its annual call for papers earlier this spring. The basic information is below, or if you would like, you can access the MAA Newsletter online here:

http://www.medievalacademy.org/pdf/2008spring.pdf

The CFP appears on pg. 2 of the newsletter, and the abstracts are due by 15 May. If you look at the newsletter directly, be sure to check out the E-Resources listed on pg. 4.

Chicago 2009. The annual meeting of the Medieval Academy will be held 26–28 March 2009, at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel, hosted by the Illinois Medieval Association, DePaul University, Loyola University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Program Committee invites proposals for papers on all topics and in all disciplines and periods of medieval studies. Any member of the Medieval Academy may submit a paper proposal, except that those who presented papers at the annual meetings of the Medieval Academy in 2007 and 2008 are not eligible to speak in 2009. Please do not submit more than one proposal. Sessions usually consist of three thirty-minute papers, and proposals should be geared to that length. A different format for some sessions may be chosen by the Program Committee after the proposals have been reviewed. Session organizers may wish to propose different formats for their sessions, subject to program Committee approval.

Themes. The annual meeting of the Medieval Academy brings together medievalists from all disciplines and time periods. The Program Committee will capitalize on this strength by encouraging sessions that (1) address subjects of interest to a wide range of medievalists, and (2) put
scholars from different disciplines and time periods in dialogue with each other. We are seeking innovative proposals for papers and sessions and
hope to see cross-disciplinary participation wherever possible. For both the commissioned and the open sessions, we are looking for the broadest
possible range of proposals of topics and of time periods, within and across all the disciplines.

Selection procedure. Papers will be evaluated for promise of quality and significance of topic. Session organizers make an initial selection of
papers and submit a plan to the Program Committee, which makes final decisions by 15 September 2008. Notification of acceptance or rejection
will take place shortly thereafter.

Submissions. Proposals should be submitted, in two copies, to Barbara Newman, Dept. of English, University Hall 215, 1897 Sheridan Rd.,
Evanston, IL 60208-2240. The deadline is 15 May 2008. Please do not send proposals to session organizers or to the Academy office.
The proposal must have two parts: (1) a cover sheet containing the proposer’s name, statement of Academy membership (or statement that the
individual’s specialty would not normally involve membership in the Academy), professional status, postal address, home and office telephone
numbers, fax number (if available), e-mail address (if available), and paper title; (2) a second sheet containing the proposer’s name, session for
which the paper should be considered, paper title, 250-word abstract, and audio-visual equipmentrequirements. If the proposer will be at a different address when decisions are announced in September, that address should be included.

Topics. The Program Committee solicits papers for the sessions listed below. For information about a specific session, contact the session organizer.
1. Music and Mysticism. Organizer: Anne Robertson (Univ. of Chicago)
2. History of Emotions. Organizer: Barbara Rosenwein (Loyola Univ.)
3. Matters of Exchange: Byzantine Art and the Mediterranean. Organizer: Cecily Hilsdale (Northwestern Univ.)
4. Theology in the Early Middle Ages. Organizer: Willemien Otten (Univ. of Chicago)
5. Biblical Exegesis. Organizer: Frans van Liere (Calvin Coll.)
6. Jewish and Christian Magic. Organizer: Kate Mesler (Northwestern Univ.)
7. Political Theorists and the Rule of Women. Organizer: Theresa Earenfight (Seattle Univ.)
8. Medieval Drama across Boundaries. Organizer: Edward Wheatley (Loyola Univ.)
9. Chicago’s Chaucer: Manly and Rickert’s Edition, Seventy Years On. Organizer: Christina von Nolcken (Univ. of Chicago)
10. Bishops in the Empire. Organizer: Jonathan Lyon (Univ. of Chicago)
11. Parish Life: Town and Country. Organizer: Katherine French (SUNY-New Paltz)
12. Metalworking: Sacred and Secular. Organizer: Scott Montgomery (Univ. of Denver)
13. Medieval Chinese Philosophy. Organizer: Brook Ziporyn (Northwestern Univ.)
14. Minority Languages and Interlinguistic Contact. Organizer: Ray Wakefield (Univ. of Minnesota)
15. Roads, Bridges, and Waterways. Organizer: Chuck Bowlus (Univ. of Arkansas-Little Rock)
16. Fires and Phoenixes: Catastrophe and Opportunity. Organizer: Richard Kieckhefer (Northwestern Univ.)
17. Angels and Demons. Organizer: Dyan Elliott (Northwestern Univ.)
18. Late Medieval Ecclesiology. Organizer: Takashi Shogimen (Univ. of Otago, New Zealand)
19. Humanist Hagiography. Organizer: Ray Clemens (Illinois State Univ.)
20. Santiago: A Computer Model of the Pilgrimage Church. Organizer: John Dagenais (UCLA)
21. Law and Legal Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. Organizer: Andrew Rabin (Univ. of Louisville)
22. The Romance of the Rose and Its Offshoots. Organizer: Lori Walters (Florida State Univ.)
23. Cultural Crossings: Medieval Travel Writing. Organizer: Susie Phillips. (Northwestern Univ.)
24. Urban Legends: Foundational Myths and Medieval Cities in Western and Eastern Europe. Organizer: Alfred Thomas, Univ. of Illinois-Chicago)
25. British Holy Women. Organizer: Anne Clark Bartlett (DePaul Univ.)
26. 1300 Years of Reading Aldhelm. Organizer: Carin Ruff (Cornell Univ.)
27. New Directions in Boethian Studies. Organizer: Philip Phillips (International Boethius Soc., Middle Tennessee State Univ.)
28. Mapping Baltic Worlds: Centers, Peripheries, Conversions, and Crusades. Organizer: Elspeth Carruthers (Univ. of Illinois-Chicago)
29. Iberian Voices. Organizer: Ron Surtz (Princeton Univ.)
30. Translation and the Canon: Redefining the Boundaries of “Medieval Spain.” Organizer: Maria Menocal (Yale Univ.)
31. History, Law, and Theology: Iberian Cultures in the Americas. Organizer: Sabine MacCormack (Univ. of Notre Dame)

Other topics. The Program Committee welcomes submissions on other topics and will organize additional sessions to accommodate the best submissions.

Session proposals. The Program Committee will consider proposals for entire sessions if their subject matter does not conflict with that of other sessions. Please consult with the Program Committee chair before preparing a proposal. Session proposals require the same information
as individual paper proposals; abstracts for the papers in the proposed session with be evaluated by the Program Committee.

Audio-visual equipment. Requests for audiovisual equipment must be made with the proposal. Late requests cannot be honored.

Graduate Student Prizes. The Medieval Academy will award up to seven prizes of $300 each to graduate students for papers judged meritorious by the local committee. To be eligible for an award graduate students must, of course, be members of the Medieval Academy and, once their proposed papers have been accepted for inclusion in the program, must submit complete papers to the Program Committee by 10 January 2009.

Program Committee. The Program Committee consists of Barbara Newman, Chair (Northwestern Univ.), Anne Clark Bartlett (DePaul Univ.), Thomas Bestul (Univ. of Illinois-Chicago), Rachel Fulton (Univ. of Chicago), Theresa Gross-Diaz (Loyola Univ. of Chicago), Richard Kieckhefer (Northwestern Univ.), Susie Phillips (Northwestern Univ.), and Christina von Nolcken (Univ. of Chicago).

Local Arrangements Committee. The Local Arrangements Committee consists of Thomas Bestul, Chair (Univ. of Illinois-Chicago), William Fahrenbach (DePaul Univ.), Mark Johnston (DePaul Univ.), Barbara Rosenwein (Loyola Univ.), and Christian Sheridan (St. Xavier Univ.).

I've been looking for a copy of John Mitchell Kemble's Beowulf for a project I am doing in my medieval research and bibliography class. This book is not easy to find, and I was even planning a road trip to the University of Arizona to look at thier library copy. I also tried to order it through inter-library loan, but being that it is an old, rare book, I wasn't expecting it.

Then I discovered Google Books. All I have to say is, wow! And here it is, in full text. You can even dowloand a PDF.

The site seems to have full text on many old books that no longer have copyright issues. Newer books have either limited preview or nothing.

Anyway, I suspect I'll be visiting Google Books frequently. In fact, I'm a bit concerned that I might spend too much time looking around and archiving books.

I've added a link to Google Books on our web resources page.

Labels: Beowulf, Research, Site Updates

Thomas E. Chávez, former Director, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque; former Director, Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe

Dr. Chávez's concluding presentation summed up the presentations given during the week, emphasizing the theme of combinations of cultures. He then went on to discuss the changes in Spanish culture that occurred once it reached New Mexico. Special consideration was given to images of the Virgin Mary, particularly a 11th or 12th century Our Lady of Guadalupe from Guadalupe, Spain. He also discussed the role of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in creating animosity in Europe, particularly between England and Spain, in the shaping of the Southwest. Dr. Chávez concluding by saying that New Mexico is the "hub of this meeting," and this intermingling of societies, along with the other intermingling discussed during the week, is still part of the "cultural baggage" of the area.

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

The UNM Early Music Ensemble wonderfully performed several songs related to Spanish roots in early New Mexico.

“Ayo visto lo mappamundo,” Anonymous (Naples, c.1450)

“Mariam matrem,” Anonymous (Libre Vermell, 14th century)
“Belial vocatur,” Anonymous (Codex Las Huelgas, 13th century)

“Quen a omagen,” Anonymous (Cantigas Santa María, 13th century)
“Santa Maria amar devemos,” (Cantigas Santa María, 13th century)
“Como poden per sas culpas,” (Cantigas Santa María, 13th century)

“Albuquerque, Albuquerque,” Anonymous (Cancionero musical de palacio)
“Guarda, dona, el mio tormento,” Anonymous (Cancionero musical de palacio)
“In te, Domine, speravi,” Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521)
“Antonilla es desposada,” Juan del Ençina (1468-1529/30)
“¡Deh fosse la qui mecho…!” Anonymous (Cancionero musical de palacio)
“Fata la parte,” Ençina

“Que todos se pasan en flores,” Anonymous (Cancionero de Upsala)
“Por las sierras de Madrid,” Francisco de Peñalosa (c.1470-1568)
“Recercada segunda,” Diego Ortiz (c.1510-c.1570)

“Un sarao de la chacona,” Juan Arañés (?-c.1649)
“A la fuente de bienes,” Juan de Herrera
“Ave sanctissima Maria,” Anonymous (Guatemala City Cathedral)

“Lavava y suspirava,” Anonymous (Sephardic song)
“Por allí pasó un cavallero,” Anonymous (Sephardic song)
“Rahelica baila,” Anonymous (Sephardic song)

Here’s a list of the performers:
Colleen Sheinberg: director, voice, recorder, vielle, harp, percussion
Gaby Benalil: voice, vielle, crumhorn, recorder, viola da gamba, percussion
Bill Burns: voice, recorder, crumhorn, percussion
Yuval Carmi: voice, recorder, percussion
David Duncan: voice, shawm, recorder, vielle, viola da gamba, percussion
Gwen Easterday: voice, organ, hurdy gurdy, recorder, harp, percussion
Zack Kear: voice, lute, shawm, saz, harpsichord, recorder, percussion
Don Partridge: voice, recorder, crumhorn, percussion

One particularly interesting song, “Fata la parte,” the tune of which was surprisingly upbeat, told the story of a man discovering his wife’s infidelity. Here is a translation:

Fatal news! Fatal news!
Come all and hear!
that Miçer Cotal’s wife
is dead!

“Because I found her
with a Spaniard
alone in his house
therefore I killed her.
The Spaniard has escaped
by his strength and cunning.”

“Miçer, my friend,
mercy to her and to you.
Leave it to me
and don’t trouble yourself.
Very bad it seems to me,
is he who puts the horns on you.”

(tr. Paola Quargnali)

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

The MEGSE Website has now officially launched.

Many thanks to Dr. Helen Damico, Megan von Ackermann, Amy Jameson, and the UNM English Department for their support in this endeavour.

Labels: Site Updates

Sylvia Rodriguez, Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

Stanley M. Hordes, former New Mexico State Historian

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

Amy G. Remensnyder, Brown University

Dr. Remensnyder's webpage: http://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=10097

Dr. Remensnyder's presentation used a 1992 controversy in Santa Fe concerning an artwork depicting a sexualized Our Lady of Guadalupe as a means to discuss the history of the Virgin Mary as an image of military conquest and geological purity. During this controversy, a protester referred to Mary as La Conquistadora, the name of another controversial statue connected to Spanish colonialism. The Bishop of Santa Fe then stepped in by referring to La Conquistadora not as a military conqueror, but representing "conquering love." Dr. Remensnyder then went on to show the link to the medieval use of Mary as a patron of military victory, and went on to characterize this peaceful view of La Conquistadora as "wishful rewriting of the past." She also linked the use of Mary as a means to establish geological purity, either spiritual or literal.

Dr. Remensnyder concluded by showing a recent artwork depicting La Conquistadora as a Pueblo corn maiden, with hopes that this would signify the beginning of La Conquistadora standing as a symbol of peace between cultures.

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

Brian D. Vallo
Museum Director, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center; former First Lieutenant Governor, Acoma Pueblo

One fascinating aspect of New Mexico culture is the existence of Native American pueblos. Mr. Vallo’s presentation gave us a look into those pueblos, with an emphasis on how the Catholic culture of Medieval Spain collided with ancient Native culture and how this fusion of culture still exists today. Each of the Pueblos still retains a mission church from the Spanish colonial days, and in each of these Pueblos excepting the Zuni, the feast day of the saint for which the church was named is honored with a ceremony, open to the public, that has elements of both Catholic and Native culture.

The incorporation of Catholic symbolism into Pueblo culture remains a point of controversy. For example, there is a debate as to whether mission churches in the Pueblos should be understood as permanent symbols or not. Some want them gone, while others incorporate the Churches into their own culture. In any case, as Mr. Vallo pointed out, the symbols from the Churches have taken on an entirely different meaning for Pueblo residents than they did for the Christians who brought them. Examples range from the use of religious iconography to the use of symbols of authority. These symbols are sometimes seen redefined in the context of Pueblo culture and tradition, and other times viewed as symbols of oppression.

In any case, the “complex connections” continue to emphasize, says Mr. Vallo, that the Natives of the Pueblos “are still at a place where we are trying to make sense of the world.”

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events