The CSM is sad to announce the passing of two retired Canadian medievalists:

Mary-Ann (Quick) Stouck (1941-2020). Retired medievalist, Dr. Stouck passed away in April after a fight with Cancer. Prof. Stouck taught in the English and Humanities programs at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, for 37 years. She served for a time on the Society's Advisory Board and as Secretary-Treasurer (1999-2001). SFU has posted her obituary on the English Department news page: https://www.sfu.ca/english/news/remembering-mary-ann-stouck--1941-2020-.html

To write a condolence to Dr. Stouck's family, please visit www.mckenziefuneralservices.com.

Hubert Eric Morgan (1941-2020) passed away April 8, 2020 in Halifax at the age of 79. Dr. Morgan specialized in Old and Middle English and Old Norse in the Department of English, Dalhousie University. Tributes can be posted on the obituary page: https://tjtracey.com/tribute/details/1109/Dr-Hubert-Morgan/obituary.html

It is with great regret that we pass on the notice thatCongress is cancelled due to COVID-19 and the need for social distancing.

CFHSS is looking into the logistics of holding some sort of virtual Congress; let Kathy Cawsey know if you would be at all interested in joining something like that. CSM is also exploring options for holding our AGM.

If you have already registered, Congress will refund your fees (both the general fee and the society conference fee). Let us all thank the organizers, who must be gutted by this decision.

Stay safe, stay apart, be kind. We'll all have a really big party once this is over.

"Into the DRAGEN's Den..." A feature on Steven Bednarski at St. Jerome's University (U. Waterloo) and the connections his project makes between today's climate change and the Middle Ages.

https://www.catholicregister.org/item/31198-into-the-dragen-s-den

A feature on the University of St. Michael's College (University of Toronto) and the importance of Medieval Studies.

https://www.catholicregister.org/item/31201-medieval-studies-goes-back-for-a-better-future

Thanks to a transformational gift to St. Michael’s by alumnus Dr. Tony Comper, President David Sylvester is pleased to announce the establishment of the Comper Professorship in Medieval Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. The donation reflects Dr. Comper’s firm belief that studying the humanities offers invaluable benefits both personally and professionally – and that St. Michael’s is on the right path with its renewal as a vibrant centre of undergraduate education at U of T.

Dr. Sylvester is also delighted to announce that Dr. Alison More is appointed the inaugural holder of the Comper Professorship. Dr. More is a highly regarded Latinist whose research investigates the intersections of social and religious culture in late-medieval Northern Europe. Read the full press release about this exciting gift and inaugural appointment. 

On Friday 21 February 2020, Erik Kwakkel (UBC) gave a Darwin College Lecture on "The Enigmatic Premodern Book".

The Darwin College Lectures are an annual series of public lectures at the University of Cambridge, UK, each "built around a single theme, approached in a multi-disciplinary way, and with each lecture prepared for a general audience by a leading authority on his or her subject"

A summary of Dr. Kwakkel's talk is below, and more information can be found here:

"The defining feature of the medieval manuscript—the premodern book at the heart of this lecture—is that its contents have been written rather than printed. A compelling feature of written text from the medieval period is that it produces two kinds of meaning. The first is the meaning of the words themselves: the most common reason for consulting a manuscript and the reason why it was produced in the first place. The other kind is hidden within the shape of the letters. As they copied a text, scribes included information about themselves in their handwriting. How the individual letters were formed depended on a range of variables, including the location and approximate moment of the scribe’s training, the institution in which the manuscript was produced, and even with how much care a text was copied. This is the enigma of the medieval manuscript: a wealth of information is enclosed in its material design, if we can decipher the code. What methods are available to untangle this enigma? What knowledge can be gleaned from how the medieval book was put together? Why is looking at this object as useful as reading it?​"

Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm has been named a Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Toronto's Department of English and Drama.

The University of Toronto Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and/or Black researchers. These fellowships will enable postdoctoral researchers to grow their scholarly profiles, undertake academic work at the University of Toronto, and strengthen the research environment at the University with diverse perspectives.

President David Sylvester is pleased to announce the establishment of the Comper Professorship in Medieval Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. This newly endowed position has been made possible by a foundational investment by St. Michael’s alumnus, Dr. Tony Comper, C.M., L.LD. (Hon). Dr. Sylvester is also delighted to announce that Dr. Alison More is appointed the inaugural holder of the Comper Professorship. Dr. More is a highly regarded Latinist whose research investigates the intersections of social and religious culture in late-medieval Northern Europe. Read more about the Comper Professorship here.

A new memorandum of understanding between the University of St. Michael’s College, the University of Toronto, and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies reaffirms Toronto’s status as North America’s centre for research in mediaeval studies.

The five-year memorandum formally expresses a commitment on the part of the three signatories to work together to further engage with the mediaeval period through research, teaching, and publication. While each party remains distinct, the agreement suggests possibilities such as joint academic seminars or colloquia, as well as scholarly collaboration.

The full press release about the memorandum can be found here: https://stmikes.utoronto.ca/news/new-agreement-underscores-ties-between-st-mikes-pims-and-u-of-t/

On behalf of the Canadian Society of Medievalists (CSM), we are soliciting paper proposals for the session ‘The Transmission of Style: Medieval Architecture and its Revivals.’ This session will be part of the CSM Annual Meeting within the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (Congress 2020), which will be hosted by Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, 1-3 June 2020. Please submit an abstract (250 words max) and brief CV (1-page max) to Candice Bogdanski (cbogdanski@brocku.ca) or Jessica Mace (mace.jessica@courrier.uqam.ca) by 15 March 2020. Papers can be submitted in French or English. Successful candidates will be contacted via email prior to 31 March. Please note that participants must be members of the Canadian Society of Medievalists (https://www.canadianmedievalists.org/join-us) as well as registrants for Congress 2020 (http://www.congress2020.ca/register).

 

Please circulate this CFP widely, and we look forward to receiving your paper proposals soon!

 

The Transmission of Style: Medieval Architecture and its Revivals

 

The legacy of medieval scholarship and material culture stretches far beyond its traditionally drawn boundaries. Particularly when living and working in a place like Canada, it is important to look for continued connections and associations, even if inconspicuous, and to consider a multitude of approaches to our understandings and interpretations of the medieval past. In line with the 2020 Congress theme of Bridging Divides, then, this session seeks to respond to the call to “focus on interdisciplinarity (bridging disciplinary divides) and on internationalization (bridging national divides)” and to “assembl[e] scholars, artists and members of the general public who engage with the world from differing viewpoints, offering a forum to share perspectives;” that is, perspectives and individuals that might extend beyond the temporally narrow category of “medievalist.”

 

As such, this session invites papers that broadly examine the transmission of style through time and space, from the medieval to modern eras. Contributors are encouraged to consider how architectural principles are developed and interpreted in their respective contexts, and more specifically, how specific decorative and structural aspects are translated and transferred from one place or era to another. To understand how and why these architectural styles are transmitted, presenters are urged to look beyond the formal aspects of architecture to considerations of patronage, masons/schools of architecture, literal networks of road and waterways, post-humanist narratives, the iconography of architectural copies, and notions of identity and belonging, among others. Papers might address the relationship of one building to another, several buildings as part of a style/school, the translation of medieval ideas to its modern revivals, and/or medieval revival buildings in their contemporary contexts. We welcome papers in both English and French from scholars at all stages of their careers. 

 

Session Chairs:

Jessica Mace, Ph.D. 

Candice Bogdanski, Ph.D. Candidate, FSA Scot.