March 2016's Medievalist of the Month is Kouky Fianu (University of Ottawa):

You’re arriving at an airport for a research trip and the border control agent asks what you do. How do you answer?

That I'm a Professor of Medieval History.

What projects are you currently working on?

I'm finishing a book on the notaries of Orléans at the end of the Middle Ages, and starting a new project on the management of documents and archives at the Hôtel-Dieu of Orléans (12th-17th centuries).

What do you think is the best part of being a medievalist?

Working on a fascinating period, on a world so different from and yet so linked to our own. Understanding western civilization in-depth. Needing other disciplines (literature, philosophy, languages, etc) and a strong comparative dimension.

Why did you join the CSM? What other societies do you belong to?

It's important to have Canadian representation and contacts with others working on the period in Canada, to avoid isolation and to make it known that we exist. I am also a member of the SEMQ and of LAMOP (Laboratoire de médiévistique occidentale de Paris).

Where can we find/read some of your work?

On my departmental website and in university libraries.

Remember, to contribute your own profile to medievalist of the month get in touch at canmedievalistsPR@gmail.com!