MAM: The Medieval Association of the Midwest

III.      Report of the Associate Executive Secretary – Ms. Bixby shared the financial statement for May 1, 2004, to April 30, 2005.  MAM boasts a total balance of $29,428.72, including $9,612.86 in operating revenue and $19,815.86 in invested funds.  In October, she consolidated the Bank of America and Merchant’s Bank CDs into one Bank of America CD for nine months at 1.75%.  In addition to dues receipts, the operating revenue of $5,466.14 for the year included an additional $667.44 from the 2004 MAM conference in Marquette.  Expenditures included a $1,000 memorial to the Medieval Academy of America for Robert Kindrick, $887.10 in travel expenses for the Associate Executive Secretary to attend the fall annual meeting in Marquette, $74.43 prepayment for the 2005 MAM Council Meeting lunch at Kalamazoo, $168.49 prepayment for the 2005 MAM Business Meeting Reception at Kalamazoo, $25 for Medieval Academy dues for 2005 and $25 for 2004 past dues, $3,564.75 payment to Chester Press for PMAM 10, $250 for Nuntia expenses, and $350 to the Convener of Conferences for travel expenses.  There were no additional administrative expenses.  Ms. Bixby shared information on previous years’ membership totals, which thus far for 2005 is slightly lower than in previous years.  However, she noted that the 2005 membership solicitation was sent only a few weeks ago, and dues payments are continually being received; therefore, the number of members and the operating budget revenue will show a steady increase in the coming months.  Based on a recent communication that she received from a student presenter who apparently had not been informed of the obligation to join MAM and pay dues, she also emphasized the importance of communicating to MAM presenters the requirement for them to be current members of MAM in order to participate in MAM sessions.  A motion was made and seconded (Kleinhenz/ Hollahan) to accept this report.  Approved unanimously.

 

IV.      Report of the Editor of Nuntia – Mr. Goodrich reported that the Spring 2005 issue of Nuntia was sent electronically and in paper format.  He urged members to update their email addresses, as he has encountered difficulties with returned mail as well as spam filters.  He also announced that the MAM website has been refreshed.

 

  V.      Report of the Convener of Conferences – Ms. Valk reported that MAM has nine sessions this year at Kalamazoo—two in honor of Bob Kindrick.  She reported that MAM has renewed its presence at M/MLA and will have four sessions at the fall meeting, which is scheduled for November 10–13 at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.  She urged MAM to make this a permanent venue.  She reminded M/MLA presenters that they must be members of that organization as well as MAM.  She also recommended that MAM have a presence at as many conferences as possible, which would provide an excellent opportunity for membership recruitment and PMAM papers.  She also reminded Council members that the deadline for MAM proposals (which should include the topic and a one- or two-line description) for next year’s Kalamazoo Congress is May 15, 2005.  Her new email address is http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/~pgoodric/valac@sbcglobal.net.

 

VI.      Report on the Publications – Ms. Figg reported that Volume 10 was distributed in December.  She mentioned that Mr. Storm is working on Volume 11 and urged MAM members to encourage their friends, graduate students, and colleagues to submit essays.  Submissions are needed for this issue and the next.  PMAM will now be indexed by Iter in exchange for providing free copies for the University of Toronto library. 

 

VII.          Report of the Membership Committee – Mr. Kleinhenz reported that the Membership Committee and Council previously decided to continue the special offer of PMAM to new individuals and libraries, whereby joining MAM for three years (worth $75) would include all nine back-issue volumes for a special price of $100 plus $10 postage and handling.  It was also suggested that all future MAM solicitations include mention of this special offer.  In response to an inquiry about Paul Szarmach’s previous suggestion for a MAM graduate student committee, similar to the Medieval Academy’s Vagantes, Mr. Risden said that this issue is on hold for the time being but will be discussed at the fall meeting. Other suggestions were offered to encourage student membership:  waiving the membership fee or registration fee for student members, a writing contest for graduate students, and an outstanding graduate student paper award.  Mr. Storm mentioned that the MAMA organization, which was started years ago by Jim Falls, has a graduate student contest with an endowed $100 award.   This contest, also started by Jim Falls, began with him simply asking for contributions; as a result, each year, one person each from Emporia, the University of Kansas, and University of Missouri, Kansas City, serve as judges.  MAM could do something similar and perhaps call it the Robert Kindrick Prize; contributions could be solicited through Nuntia, with the winning paper guaranteed publication in PMAM.  It was suggested to offer this for the fall meeting; however, following some discussion, it decided to discuss this further at the fall meeting before implementation. Mr. Szarmach also suggested that this idea be tied in with Kalamazoo, whereby the student’s registration could be waived by the Institute.

 

VIII.    Report on the 2004 Conference – Mr. Goodrich was pleased to report on the fall conference, September 24–25, 2004, which had about 45 people in attendance.  The conference was a hybrid arrangement of several keynote addresses on the first day and several simultaneous sessions on the second day.  Alan Gaylord, Professor Emeritus of Anglo-Saxon and English Language and Literature at Dartmouth College, delivered a superb plenary address on Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, which he has offered for PMAM publication together (possibly) with a companion CD recording with the Chaucer Studio.  The conference included nine other paper sessions, a decadently catered reception, a MAM Council meeting, beautiful weather, and a boat tour of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Mr. Goodrich was able to return $667.44 to the MAM treasury.

 

IX.      Report on the 2005 Conference at University of Illinois–Springfield (Moranski) – Although not in attendance, Ms. Moranski made available the Call for Papers for the 2005 conference, which will be hosted by the University of Illinois at Springfield, September 23 and 24, 2005.  Keynote speakers include Dr. Joseph Wittig, Professor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and Dr. Norman Hinton, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Springfield.

 

  X.      Discussion of Invitations for the 2006 Conference – In response to Mr. Hodapp’s suggestion at last year’s meeting of having the MAM conference at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Nick Haydock said the airfare may be prohibitive to members, but he is willing to discuss the prospect further.  However, following a show of hands, several individuals indicated their willingness to afford this trip.  Mr. Heinzelman reported that there is general interest in hosting the 2006 meeting at the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, but his biggest concern is with accommodations, although the more immediate problem is that HMML has merged with other departments and is currently going through restructuring.  Ms. Hudson said she would inquire about Indiana State University (about an hour from Indianapolis) hosting the MAM conference for either 2006 or 2007, since there is a well-endowed speaker series through the English Department that could be used to secure the plenary speaker.  Mr. Storm also offered to hold MAM again at Emporia.

 

XI.      Election of New Officers – The following slate of Council members for 2005-06 was presented/discussed at the business meeting:

 

            President                                       -     Toni Morris

                                                                        (traditionally previous Vice President)

            Past President                               -     Ed Risden

            Vice President                               -     Peter Goodrich

                                                                        (traditionally organizer of previous MAM conference)

            Executive Secretary                      -     vacant (see discussion below)                        

            Assoc Executive Secretary           -     Kristie Bixby 

            Councillors (term ending 2008)    -     replacements for Kristen Figg, Toni Morris, and Mary Olson, whose terms end in 2005; possible replacement for Norm Hinton (term, ending 2006) due to his current inability to attend meetings because of his wife’s illness

 

Those councillors whose terms will continue include the following:  Margaret Hostetler, Harriet Hudson, Nickolas Haydock, Matthew Heintzelman, and Patricia Hollahan.  Mr. Risden invited discussion about electing officers and thinking about these positions in a different way in order to promote continuity.  Several suggestions ensued:

 

·         Rethink Executive Council job descriptions to include more duties.

·      Appoint officers for a longer period of time in order to provide continuity.

·      Elect a secretary who could be a guiding force/fail-safe mechanism for the

                           organization, similar to what  Dr. Kindrick provided in the past.

·      Elect a treasurer.

·      Remember that transporting large volumes of PMAM often would be costly and not

               wise; therefore, finding a repository for a long period would be ideal.

·      Since the current system has worked well in the past, consider not changing the way

               things are done, knowing that consistency of management is important.

·      Have Ms. Bixby provide a description of her secretarial duties for future reference.

·      Have the President appoint the secretary.

 

Mr. Haydock made a motion nominating Peter Goodrich to take the secretary position for a period of time; however, following discussion, he withdrew that motion.  Ms. Morris mentioned that Ms. Bixby is willing to continue for a period of time, as her dean has agreed to fund postage and printing for the coming year, as well as her travel to Kalamazoo for SMART purposes (at which time she would still be able to the minutes for MAM).  The only problem would be someone to take minutes at the fall meeting; however, an individual could be appointed to assume this responsibility in the fall.  Mr. Goodrich suggested electing Ms. Bixby as Executive Secretary, and then have her confer with the President, Vice-President, and Past President over the summer to develop a long-term proposal for the fall conference.

 

Following additional discussion about a solution, and since the Constitution requires that the replacement for Mr. Kindrick’s position be filled immediately from Executive Council members, Ms. Bixby suggested that the Council elect her for the typical three-year term.  She would confer with the other officers over the summer and help develop a proposal for discussion at the fall meeting.  Should an individual for the position be found in the interim three-year period, she would be amenable to the Council reconsidering her term of office.  A motion was made and seconded (Hodapp/Haydock) to appoint Ms. Bixby for a tentative three-year term.  Approved  unanimously.  A motion was also made (Goodrich/Godsall-Myers) for the officers to meet and develop and long-term proposal for re-configuring the Executive Council.  Approved unanimously.

 

Ms. Bixby also mentioned that it would be important to name a co-signer on the MAM financial accounts, since she is now the only individual who has this authority.  Ms. Hudson suggested that the summer conference give some consideration to the finances and fold financial considerations into the Executive Council proposal.

 

The following nominations were received for Councillor positions:  Leslie Cavell, Carlos Hawley, William Hodapp, and Mickey Sweeney. Mr. Risden proposed that the officers be installed by acclamation.  Approved unanimously.  Ms. Sweeney volunteered to replace Norm Hinton; her term will end in 2006.  Other councillors’ terms will end in 2008.

 

XII.     New Business – Diane Mockridge solicited presenters for next year’s TEAMS sessions:

(1)   Research in the Middle Ages–Collaborative  Work with Undergraduates, (2) Service Learning and Medieval Studies, (3) Teaching Teams Texts, and (4) Teaching Medieval Subjects in the K-12 Curriculum.

 

Ms. Valk brought up the issue of memorial fund contributions for Otto Gründler.  Ms. Risden suggested soliciting contributions through the newsletter.

 

Ms. Godsall-Myers suggested that an umlaut be added to Otto’s plaque in the Otto Grotto.

 

Ms. Valk asked if MAM would like her to pursue other venues.  Mr. Hawley suggested a

conference in Canada.  Other suggestions can be forwarded to her at her new email address: valac@sbcglobal.net.

 

A motion was made and seconded (Hollahan/Wethington) to adjourn the meeting.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.  Adjourned by acclamation.  Respectfuly Submitted, Kristie Bixby, Wichita State University.

 

Calls for Papers

 

Organizers of Sponsored and Special Sessions for the 41^st International Congress on Medieval Studies have until October 1, 2005, to submit final session schedules to Cynthia Valk.  The Congress has made filling out forms for sessions much easier.  All forms are available as interactive PDF files at www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/41cfp/forms.html.  You can just fill them out and forward them to Cynthia (email is best).  Alternatively, her fax number in Saginaw is 989-964-2796.  When you fax, be sure to include a cover sheet so the secretary knows the fax is for her.  It is the responsibility of the organizer to fill out the forms.  For more information, contact Cynthia at (734) 671-0111, http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/~pgoodric/valac@sbcglobal.net.

 

***

Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Mid-America Medieval Association.  The Mid-America Medieval Association will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary at the annual meeting on Saturday, 25 February 2006, at Emporia State University. Norris J. Lacy, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at Pennsylvania State University, will be the plenary speaker.  Please submit abstracts of papers on any medieval topic to Mel Storm, Department of English,

Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 66801 (telephone 620-341-5563), no later than 16 December 2005.  Abstracts can also be faxed to 620-341-5547 or e-mailed to http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/~pgoodric/stormmel@emporia.edu.  Papers should be no longer than twenty minutes.

 

***

PMAM (Publications of the Medieval Association of the Midwest) is currently requesting submissions from the members of the Medieval Association of the Midwest for Volume Twelve.  PMAM is a refereed annual journal using MLA documentation styles and dedicated to well-researched scholarship on the Middle Ages.

 

Articles may (but do not have to) be based on conference papers given in MAM-sponsored conference sessions, and should be 3,000-10,000 words.  Book reviews are also welcome.  For further information and to make submissions (in three copies) for Volume 12, you are invited to contact Dr. Kristen Figg, Department of English, Kent State University-Salem, 2491 SR 45 South, Salem, OH 44460; telephone 317-788-3241/3455; fax: 317-332-9256; email: figg@salem.kent.edu.  For Volume 11, contact Dr. Melvin Storm, Jr., Department of English, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 66801; telephone: 620-341-5563; fax: 620-341-5547; email: http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/~pgoodric/stormmel@emporia.edu.

 

Back issues are available for $10.00 each.  Volume Eleven will appear this fall with articles on history, language, and literature and including an essay by Alan Gaylord, "Chaucer's Tragic Romance: Imagining Voices in Troilus and Criseyde,” based on his plenary address at the annual meeting of MAM last September at Northern Michigan University.

 

If requesting airmail or large quantities, the Executive Secretary should be contacted to discuss postage fees.  Orders must be pre-paid with check or money order payable to the Medieval Association of the Midwest.  (Libraries need this illustrious journal!)  For more information and to order, contact Kristie A. Bixby, Executive Secretary, MAM, Academic Affairs & Research, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS 67260, (316) 978-3735, fax (316) 978-3739, http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/~pgoodric/kristie.bixby@wichita.edu.

 

***

The Medieval Association of the Midwest 21st Annual Conference takes place Friday and Saturday, September 23-24, at the Public Affairs Center on the campus of the University of Illinois-Springfield.  A report will follow in the next issue.

 

MAM Professional News

 

Have you recently finished a dissertation, book, or other major project?  Are you looking for contributors or help on a project?  To announce your latest publications and projects in Nuntia, please supply the following information:

 

·                  Member name, Institution

·                  Title of publication OR focus of project

·                  Short summary or description (optional)

 

by e-mail to figg@salem.kent.edu, or in hard copy to Prof. Kristin Figg, Department of English, Kent State University – Salem Campus, 2491 SR 45 South Salem, OH 44460.  This issue’s news:

 

Laura F. Hodges, an independent scholar, has published Chaucer and Clothing: Clerical and Academic Costume in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer Studies 34 (D.S. Brewer, 2005). This is her second book about the General Prologue pilgrims' costumes, and it presents the first sustained analysis of the characterizing dress worn by Chaucer's pilgrims who are in holy orders and/or affiliated with universities, with attention to the significance of fabrics, dyes, accessories, garments, and assembled costumes.

 

Thomas Dale has been promoted to full professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He has also been awarded a Vilas Associate Award to support his completion of a book on the Body in Romanesque art over the next two years.  With John Mitchell's assistance, he edited and introduced a volume of essays:  Shaping Sacred Space and Institutional Identity in Romanesque Mural Painting: Essays in Honour of Otto Demus (The Pindar Press, 2004).  His essay on the "Monstrous" will appear later this year in Romanesque and Gothic, ed. Conrad Rudolph, in The Companion to Art, published by Blackwell.

Cynthia Z. Valk, Convener of Conferences for the Medieval Association of the Midwest, has taken a teaching position at Saginaw Valley State University. 

 

Norris J. Lacy, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at Penn State University, has edited three Arthurian volumes that are being published nearly simultaneously by Boydell & Brewer. A Companion to Chrétien de Troyes, co-edited with Joan Tasker Grimbert, was published in late July; The Fortunes of King Arthur will appear in October; and A History of Arthurian Scholarship will be published in December or January.  During the past year, Lacy was honored by the government of France, being promoted from the rank of Chevalier (Knight) to that of Officier in the Order of Academic Palms.

 

Christopher Kleinhenz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, received the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2004 and was presented with the Leonard Covello Educator of the Year Award in New York City in 2005.  Among recent publications are a monograph on Movement and Meaning in the “Divine Comedy”: Toward an Understanding of Dante’s Processional Poetics (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton, 2005), and the two-volume Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia (Routledge, 2004), for which he served as general editor.

 

William R. Levin has received the 2004 Southeastern College Art Conference Award for Excellence in Scholarly Research and Publication for his book The Allegory of Mercy at the Misericordia in Florence: Historiography, Context, Iconography, and the Documentation of Confraternal Charity in the Trecento (University Press of America, 2004).

 

Edward S. Louis (otherwise known as our own Edward Risden) has published two novels: Odysseus on the Rhine (Thorndike, 2005) and Sir Severus le Brewse (Silver Lake, 2005), both to positive reviews.

 

Tom Shippey, Saint Louis University, has published "The Merov(ich)ingian Again: Damnatio Memoriae and the Usus Scholarum," in Latin Learning and English Lore: Essays in Honor of Michael Lapidge, ed. Andy Orchard (U of Toronto P, 2005), 389-406.

Alex L. Kaufman, Ph.D. Candidate at Purdue University, has recently published "The Hermit and the Outlaw," in Medieval Outlaws: Twelve Tales in Modern English Translation, Revised and Expanded Edition. Ed. Thomas H. Ohlgren (Parlor Press, 2005), 338-55.

 

In December Anne Winston-Allen, Southern Illinois University, published Convent Chronicles: Women Writing About Women and Reform in the Late Middle Ages (Penn State UP, 2004).

 

Daniel P. Nastali, an independent scholar in Kansas City, MO, has co-authored with Phillip C. Boardman of the University of Nevada, Reno, The Arthurian Annals: The Tradition in English from 1250 to 2000 (Oxford University Press, 2004). This chronologically arranged bibliography includes descriptions of the Arthurian contents of over 11,000 works, from medieval chronicles and romances to modern novels and extra-literary material.

 

Toni Morris, University of Indianapolis, was promoted to full professor.  She has recently presented two papers, one at the College English Association in Indianapolis on recent film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and one at Kalamazoo on "Living the Good (Contemplative) Life" for the Mysticism group.

 

Martin Warren, University of St. Thomas, has an interactive website called "The Virtual Medieval Church and Its Writings" (htttp://courseweb.stthomas.edu/medieval).  He has also published an article, "Is God in Charge? Mary Doria Russell's 'The Sparrow,' Deconstruction, and Theodicy," in The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture" Vol. IX, Spring 2005. It can be found at: http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art9-sparrow.html.

 

John Block Friedman, Visiting Professor at Kent State University-Salem, has recently published “Monsters at the Earth's Imagined Corners: Wonders and Discovery in the Late Middle Ages” in Leif Sondergaard et al. eds., Monsters, Marvels  and Miracles: Imaginary Journeys and Landscapes in the Middle Ages  (Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2005), pp. 41-64; and, with Kathrin Giogoli, “Robinet Testard: Court Illuminator, His Manuscripts and His Debt to the Graphic Arts” in The Journal of the Early Book Society 8 (2005): 152-96.  He was also named an Associate of the Board of Directors of the International Center of Medieval Art.

 

Leslie A. Sconduto, Associate Professor of French at Bradley University, has published a book-length translation entitled Guillaume de Palerne: An English Translation of the 12th Century French Verse Romance (McFarland, 2004).

 

Francis X. Gumerlock (Saint Louis University) has a chapter entitled "The Olivet Discourse in Ancient and Medieval Christianity" in The Early Church and the End of the World, Gary DeMar and Francis X. Gumerlock (Powder Springs, GA:  American Vision, 2005).  It includes translations of several medieval Latin commentaries on Matthew 24 which interpreted the signs of the end as having occurred in the first century Roman-Judaean war.

 

Photo Quiz

 

Last issue’s photograph of Julian of Norwich’s cell adjoining Norwich Cathedral wasn’t identified by anyone.  Let’s hope you’ll have better fortune with this one (there’s even a clue!):

 

 

THE MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION OF THE MIDWEST is an interdisciplinary association of medievalists in the Midwest founded to promote the study, criticism, research, and exchange of ideas related to all aspects of the medieval period and to articulate the specific needs of medievalists in the Midwest.  Membership benefits include a biannual newsletter, a Conference in the fall and sections at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo and at the Midwest Modern Language Association and an annual Publications volume.  Its website is <http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/English/pgoodric/mamindex.html>.  Membership is open to anyone with an interest in medieval studies.  Dues for the calendar year are $25 (and just $10 for graduate students and emeriti).  To join the Association, please complete the form below and mail it with dues payment to Kristie Bixby, Academic Affairs and Research, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS 67260-0013.

 

Name                          ____________________________________

Department                ____________________________________

Address                      ____________________________________

                                    ____________________________________

Phone/Fax                 ____________________________________

Email                           ____________________________________

 

Enclosed are my calendar year 2005 dues (check one):      ___  regular

                                                                                                ___  graduate student/emeritus

 

 

 

 

 

NUNTIA: The Newsletter of the Medieval Association of the Midwest

Department of English

Northern Michigan University

Marquette, MI 49855-5310

 

Published biannually in spring and fall

Volume XXIX Number 2

Fall 2005