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 […]
Activism
The Urgent Case for Teaching Yemeni Art History
Never had I suspected that my first year of teaching as an adjunct professor of art history would become a campaign of the heart to raise students’ awareness of the art and archaeology of Yemen.
Open Letter to the Met RE: Admissions Policy
Dear Dr. Weiss, We are writing to you, a fellow medievalist, on behalf of several Medieval Studies and Art History organizations concerned about the change in admissions charges at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met has been, for many of us, a guiding institution, a temple, and a home away from home. Many of […]
Teaching Medieval Art History in a Time of White Supremacy
I find Washington’s armchair to be a fitting example for thinking about how to weaponize the medieval art history syllabus in 2017.
“Celtic” Crosses and White Supremacism
I want to clarify the difference between an Irish cross and a “Celtic” cross, and I want to propose that we approach visual symbols with a special kind of caution.