For this post, we welcome guest blogger Alicia Walker of Bryn Mawr College. This essay was slated to be run in March 2020, but its posting was delayed by the onset of COVID-19. We thank our readers for their patience as we move forward with our work in the midst of the new normal. For […]
Untangling the Myth of Linguistic Purity in the Medieval Classroom
This guest post by Sharon Rhodes considers a subject of great interest in medieval studies at present, the use of the term “Anglo-Saxon.” Rhodes takes a fresh approach to the subject, focusing on how to teach Old English language and literature (with relevance for the teaching of related subjects, such as medieval English art, history, etc.) without welcoming or fostering the racist fantasies about linguistic and cultural “purity” that have plagued the field more or less since its inception.
CFP: POLITICAL MEDIEVALISM (Studies in Medievalism XXX)
From Hitler’s “Third Reich” to Bush’s “crusade” against terrorism, professional politicians have often invoked the Middle Ages to justify their actions. But they are far from alone, for many of their constituents have also deployed medievalism for political purposes, as in condemning impoverished countries for “failing to escape” the Middle Ages.
In Support of Substantive Change at ISAS
The Material Collective is grateful to Mary Rambaran-Olm for her recent actions to draw attention to the continuing problems within the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists and in the field of medieval studies as a whole. This is not simply a fight over a name, but an effort to unravel decades of systematic exclusion within the […]
Ten Proposals for a More Ethical Art History: an undergraduate perspective
Higher education institutions seem to spend a lot of time talking about students, talking to students, asking things of students, but not necessarily talking with or listening to students.