International Congress on Medieval Studies coming next month

Western Michigan University will stage its 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, the largest, most comprehensive academic conference of its kind in the world, Thursday through Sunday, May 10-13. Worldwide, the congress annually attracts some 3,000 medievalists--professional academics, students and enthusiasts interested in the Middle Ages.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the event, which began as a biennial gathering in 1962 and grew to become an annual event in 1970. Now named the International Congress on Medieval Studies, it is sponsored by WMU's Medieval Institute and held primarily in venues on the University's main campus in Kalamazoo.

 The Medieval Institute, also founded 50 years ago, ranks among the top 10 North American institutes, centers and programs that focus on medieval studies. Established for instruction and research in the history and culture of the Middle Ages, its pioneering function was to introduce the first Master of Arts in Medieval Studies offered at a state-supported university in the United States.

 A half century later, WMU remains one of the few public colleges and universities in the nation with an interdisciplinary graduate program in medieval studies, with the Medieval Institute having earned a global reputation for its academic programs, medieval congress, notable research activities and longstanding scholarly publications program.

Click here to read the full article from Western Michigan University

See also our videos from last year's Congress:

Kalamazoo, and Tolkien Too

Every year about 3,000 medievalists descend on Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI for the International Congress on Medieval Studies, but tucked into the over 600 sessions on every medieval topic imaginable, you can find 6 or 7 sessions on Tolkien, often referred to as “Tolkien at Kalamazoo.” You don’t have to be a medieval scholar to attend this conference, though I should say that it is meant to be a scholarly event — still, there’s lots of fun to be had, especially in the Friday night “Tolkien Unbound” entertainment, or the Saturday night dance, or in some of the gaming sessions, or dinner at Bilbo’s Restaurant.

Click here to read this article from The One Ring

Medieval Congress free to local residents registering now

Kalamazoo County residents and members of the Western Michigan University community may attend the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies for free if they register online or in person by the Wednesday, April 25, deadline for early registration.
WMU's congress is the world's largest annual gathering of people interested in the Middle Ages. This year's event will take place Thursday through Sunday, May 10-13, primarily at venues on the WMU campus in Kalamazoo. It is hosted by the University's Medieval Institute.

Organizers expect some 3,000 people to register for the 2012 congress, and those interested in attending for free are encouraged to register by the early registration deadline.

The event will include more than 550 sessions featuring the presentation of scholarly papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops and performances.

Click here to read this article from Western Michigan University

Scholars with swords: Medieval Congress continues at Western Michigan University

A sword on a string? Well, actually, it is a 14th century German method of combat training.

So goes a session at 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, which started Wednesday at Western Michigan University and will continue through Sunday.

More than 3,000 scholars of all things Medieval are in Kalamazoo for one of the largest conventions of it's kind in the world.

Click here to read this article from MLive.com

The Medievalverse at Kalamazoo

Our first two videos at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo...

Get Medieval -- Western Michigan University's International Congress on Medieval Studies begins Thursday

About 600 informational sessions on top­ics ranging from the medievalism of Harry Potter novels to homosexuality in the Middle Ages will be held this week at Western Michigan University.

Medieval literature, mu­sic and art are some of the topics that will be discussed at WMU’s 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, which will run from Thursday to Sunday.

Click here to read this article from the Kalamazoo Gazette

WMU to host medievalists from around the globe

Western Michigan University will stage its 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, the largest, most comprehensive academic conference of its kind in the world, Thursday through Sunday, May 12-15.

The congress annually attracts some 3,000 medievalists--professional academics, students and enthusiasts interested in the Middle Ages--from around the globe. It is sponsored by the Medieval Institute at WMU and held primarily in venues on the University's main campus in Kalamazoo.

Click here to read this article from Western Michigan University

Medieval congress free to local residents who register early

Kalamazoo County residents and members of the Western Michigan University community may attend the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies for free if they register online or in person by the Wednesday, April 27, deadline for early registration.

WMU's congress is the world's largest annual gathering of people interested in the Middle Ages. This year's event will take place Thursday through Sunday, May 12-15, primarily at venues on the WMU campus in Kalamazoo. It is hosted by the University's Medieval Institute.

Congress organizers expect some 3,000 people to register for the 2011 congress, and those interested in attending for free are encouraged to register by the early registration deadline.

Click here to read this article from WMU News

Click here to see our section on the International Congress on Medieval Studies

Lecture: The Job of a Philologist is Never Done: Translating and Editing Jónsbók, the Laws of Later Iceland

Western Michigan University's Dr. Jana Schulman will talk about her recently published bilingual edition of the Jónsbók, a late 13th-century legal text, Thursday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in Room 3025 of Brown Hall.

Schulman, WMU professor of English, will discuss "The Job of a Philologist is Never Done: Translating and Editing Jónsbók, the Laws of Later Iceland." The lecture is part of WMU's English Scholarly Speakers Series, and is open to the public free of charge.

Jónsbók's contents focus on land use, tenancy, personal rights, farming, maritime law, marriage and family law, and inheritance, in addition to poor and theft law. Schulman's is the first translation into English of any Jónsbók manuscript. It makes the text accessible to English-language readers, providing a more comprehensive history of medieval Icelandic law for scholars worldwide.

Click here to read this article from Western Michigan University

Schedule released for the 2011 International Congress on Medieval Studies

The Medieval Institute of Western Michigan University has released the schedule for the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, which takes place May 12-15, 2011. This year’s congress will feature 580 sessions covering a vast number of topics related to history, religion, literature and medievalism.

Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net

Click here to see our section on the International Congress of Medieval Studies

John van Engen wins Grundler Prize

Western Michigan University has awarded the prestigious Grundler Prize to a University of Notre Dame scholar for his book, Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life: The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages.

The prize was awarded at the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies May 15 to John van Engen, professor of history at Notre Dame. The Grundler Prize was established to honor the late Dr. Otto Grundler, former director of the WMU Medieval Institute, which sponsors the annual congress.

Published in 2008 by the University of Pennsylvania Press, van Engen's book is based on research about a noteworthy religious movement in the later Middle Ages--the Devotio Moderna, or Modern Devout. Beginning in the 1380s in market towns along the Ijssel River of the east-central Netherlands and in the county of Holland, they formed households organized as communes and forged lives centered on private devotion. They lived on city streets alongside their neighbors, managed properties and rents in common, and worked in the textile and book trades, all the while refusing to profess vows as members of any religious order or to acquire spouses and personal property as lay citizens.

"Drawing upon an unrivalled knowledge of writings by and about the Modern Devout, van Engen succeeds in giving context to the humanity, the urban and religious community, even the spiritual longings of this vanished experiment in communal living, set amid the rich complexity of Dutch urban life," stated the citation for van Engen's prize. "…the Devout were committed to the 'simplicities' of Christian conversion, communal living, education of the young, and propagation of holy texts. And it was in these things that the influence of the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life would extend to the lives of such disparate figures as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Ignatius Loyola, and John Calvin."

The book also has been awarded the 2009 John Gilmary Shea Prize of the American Catholic Historical Association and the 2009 Philip Schaff Prize of the American Society of Church History.

Source: Western Michigan University

Bloggers report on the International Congress on Medieval Studies

Several medieval bloggers have posted their own reports about the International Congress on Medieval Studies, which concluded on Sunday.  We have found several posts so far that talk about the sessions and other interesting things that occurred during the conference, which was held at Western Michigan University.

One of the big news for medieval bloggers was that the identity of the person behind Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog was revealed - here is the report on that event from In the Middle.

Speaking of In the Middle, they discuss several things about the congress, including the reception held to promote the journal postmedieval, which is co-edited by Eileen Joy.

Tom Elrod of Wordisms gives his reports about the congress: Day 1, Day 2 and Postscript - Day 2 includes the text of his own paper: Responding to Chaucer: The Place of Fortune in Robert Henryson's The Testament of Cresseid

Steven Muhlberger gives his readers some insights into the research he is doing about the Chronicle of the Good Duke, which is the subject of the paper he gave at the congress.

Heavenfield has reviewed Day 1 and Day 2 of the Congress so far.

Curt Emanuel (aka Medieval History Geek) posted updates for each day of the congress - here is post for the last day.

Timothy Heines gives his Kalamazoo Report on HeinesSite.

Heptarchy Herald offers his views on the congress here.

Finally, here is our own summary and thoughts about the congress. We are also posting reports on the individual papers given at the congress, which will be listed here. This section will be updated for the next couple of weeks with new papers.

If you know of other posts about the International Congress on Medieval Studies, please email us at medievalists.net@gmail.com so we can add it to this list.

Medieval Congress a month away

The 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, the largest academic gathering of medievalists in the world, will be starting one month from today. The congress will be taking place at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from May 13th to 16th and is expected to draw over 3000 people.

The event will include 605 sessions featuring the presentation of scholarly papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, and artistic performances. In addition, the exhibits hall will be filled with more than 70 publishers, used-book dealers and other vendors. There also will be some 90 business meetings and receptions sponsored by learned societies, associations and institutions.

The 605 sessions is down slightly from last year's congress, which had 612 sessions. Elizabeth Teviotdale, Assistant Director of the Congress, told Medievalists.net "The number of Congress sessions has hovered somewhere above 600 for the past seven years, with the numbers not always rising, and we consider that to be the upper limit for both intellectual and practical reasons. Most important, with as many as 600 sessions, the schedule necessarily includes a great number of unfortunate clashes of two or more sessions on related topics being scheduled at the same time.

"Another factor, especially as more and more participants request the use of classroom AV technology, is that the Congress takes place during WMU's first summer term, which means that the number of useful classroom spaces at our disposal varies from year to year, depending upon the summer class schedule. In the end, we hope to mount the best Congress we can each year, one that offers more than enough without taxing our facilities to the breaking point."

In a press release, Western Michigan University announced that local residents may attend the Congress for free if they register by Wednesday, April 28.

County residents and WMU community members may register online or in person at the Miller Auditorium ticket office at no charge. Those without Internet access may register by mail or fax for a nominal handling fee.

Anyone not taking advantage of the free online and in-person registration options may register after April 28, but they will be assessed a $50 late fee.

Click here to go to Congress website

Click here to go to Medievalists.net special section on the Congress

Source: Western Michigan University