Below you will find the (almost) complete schedule for the George Washington University Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute (GW MEMSI). All events are free and welcome all who would like to attend.

FALL SEMESTER 2009

1. September 17, 3-5 PM: Seminar on Messianic Time and the Untimely. Registration has closed, but please participate in the e-discussion here.
2. October 23, 11:30-1 PM: Gina Bloom, lunch seminar: “ ‘What’s Trumps?’: Onstage Gaming and the Epistemology of Male Friendship.” Paper will be circulated one week in advance. English Department seminar room.
3. November 13: Seminar on Cary Howie’s book Claustrophilia. Preliminary details here.
4. December 10: book launch celebration for Leah Chang, Into Print: The Production of Female Authorship in Early Modern France. English Department seminar room, 2 PM.

SPRING SEMESTER 2010

Gateway Lecture series
These public lectures introduce a critical field or subdiscipline within medieval and early modern studies. They provide an opportunity for both beginning students and advanced researchers to learn about emerging research topics and methodologies and to have a conversation about their impact. (Times and places to be announced)

• January 29: Alf Siewers (Bucknell University), “Ecocriticism”
• February 12: Michelle Warren (Dartmouth), “The Postcolonial Past”
• March 25: Marissa Greenberg (University of New Mexico) “”Writing About Space”

1. January 29: lunch seminar with Alf Siewers, author of Strange Beauty: Ecocritical Approaches to Early Medieval Landscape
2. February 12: one day symposium on “Early Transnational Europe”
3. March 26: Lunch seminar with Marissa Greenberg (University of New Mexico)
4. April 17: “New Worlds” graduate student conference at University of Maryland College Park

Please join us on Thursday September 17 at 4PM for our inaugural event of the 2009-10 year, a seminar entitled

Three papers will be pre-circulated by email on September 1, and should be read in advance by all who plan to attend. On September 17, we will have short presentations followed by open discussion. The presenters are:

1. Kathleen Biddick, “Dead Neighbor Archives and Messianic Time”
2. Julia Lupton, “Paul Shakespeare: Exegetical Exercises”
3. Jonathan Gil Harris, “”The Untimely Mammet of Verona“

The event is free and welcomes all who would like to attend, but space is limited and preregistration is required. To reserve a space and receive the papers in advance, email Lowell Duckert as soon as possible: lduckert@gwu.edu

The seminar will be held in the conference room of the English Department of the George Washington University (Room 771, 801 22nd Street NW Washington DC 20052).

From the latest By George!

New GW Institute Brings Together Scholars in Medieval, Early Modern Studies

Jeffrey J. Cohen, chair of GW’s English Department, leads the University’s Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute.

By Julia Parmley

Faculty across departments in GW’s
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences have been individually engaged in medieval and early modern
scholarship for years. But now their expertise has a home in GW’s newly created Medieval and Early Modern
Studies Institute (MEMSI).

The first major humanities initiative funded under the University’s Research Enhancement Fund, MEMSI brings
together faculty and students in history, English, French and Italian to foster new research, exchange ideas and strengthen partnerships between GW and other scholarly organizations. MEMSI scholars are engaged in myriad topics of study spanning the sixth to 18th centuries, including community formation, violence and cultural differentiation, consumption and trade, and the interactions among Christians, Jews and Muslims.

The institute is also supported by faculty and scholars from American University,
Georgetown University, George Mason University, the Folger Shakespeare Library,
the Shakespeare Theatre and the University of Maryland.

“We wanted to create a structure in which everyone, from advanced scholars to
undergraduates, could form a community and create cutting-edge scholarship that
will change the way we think about the past,” says Jeffrey J. Cohen, chair of GW’s
English Department and MEMSI director.

In fall 2007, Dr. Cohen says he and other interested faculty members organized
seminars around medieval and early modern studies that garnered a “fantastic”
response and made clear the need for an institute housed at GW. Last November, more than 60 scholars from GW and major universities nationwide attended MEMSI’s first event, a symposium titled“Touching the Past.” In January, MEMSI received its official charter and has been hosting seminars, lectures and events ever since, including supporting the Shakespeare Association of America’s annual conference in April. “The energy that has come out of the seminar has kept going,” says Dr. Cohen.

“By its nature, scholarly research and work in medieval and early modern studies is
interdisciplinary,” says Associate Professor of History Marcia Norton, who joined
MEMSI at its inception. “The institute also allows local scholars to come together
around common interests.”

MEMSI’s 10 core faculty members meet twice a semester for discussion and planning and often invite each other to give talks to classes and groups. Recent publications from participating faculty members include Dr. Cohen’s book about England’s
multiethnic past titled Cultural Diversity in the British Middle Ages: Archipelago, Island, England; Dr. Norton’s book on tobacco and chocolate in the early modern Spanish Atlantic world titled Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures; and Professor of English
Jonathan Gil Harris’s Untimely Matter in the Time of Shakespeare, which explores material objects and their meaning in Renaissance drama.

Dr. Cohen says there has been significant undergraduate participation in the seminars
and lectures and says MEMSI is an especially helpful model for graduate students of how to conduct scholarship. “Too often, scholars practice as isolated individuals and are needlessly competitive,” says Dr. Cohen. “It can be eye-opening for graduate students to see that there can be a community of experts who collaborate like this.”

MEMSI’s goals include fostering partnerships with local institutions, presentations of undergraduate research and raising the University’s research profile in the field. “We have a world-class faculty here at GW in medieval and early modern studies,” says Dr.
Cohen. “With MEMSI, we now hope to form a community that advances their research
and adds to GW’s prestige.”

Dr. Cohen also stresses that the issues of the medieval and early modern era remain relevant to today’s world. “In many ways we are still haunted by events that occurred during the time period,” he says. “For example, we are still dealing with issues of race, community formation and cultural competition. When we study the past attentively, we look at our own times differently.”

Readers of this blog have known about GW MEMSI for quite some time, but the university just issued the official press release:

NEW GW INSTITUTE FOR MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES TO EXPLORE HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND THEATRE THROUGH NEW RESEARCH AND IDEA EXCHANGE

Multi-Disciplinary Institute Focuses on Early Europe’s Global Context

WASHINGTON – The George Washington University’s newly created Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies brings together scholars and students in history, English, French, and Italian to foster new research and exchange ideas. The institute solidifies a rapidly building scholarly community and strengthens existing partnerships between GW and other organizations, such as the Folger Shakespeare Library, where GW students have access to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare materials and other rare works for study and research.

Inspired by the University’s surroundings of Washington, D.C, the institute focuses on early Europe within an intercultural, transnational context. Its programs will prepare both undergraduates and graduates for advanced degrees through significant research projects and will illustrate the important role humanities research has in the world.

“Medieval and early modern Europe was influenced by a multitude of languages and cultures. Cities such as London were cosmopolitan, but they also were culturally complex places animated by international phenomena like war, commerce, religion, immigration, and colonization,” said Jeffrey J. Cohen, professor and chair of GW’s Department of English and director of the institute. “Cities, such as Washington, D.C., still struggle with these issues today. Having the institute in the center of the nation’s capital, spurs us to think about the past in the context of our historical moment.”

Gail Paster, director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, said, “GW’s new Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies is cause for celebration. This period in European cultural history was formative of our own moment. We at the Folger Shakespeare Library look forward with great excitement to future collaborations with GW’s faculty and students. The period’s rich history, literature, and theatre continue to hold great interest for thoughtful Americans.”

GW’s Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies is the first major humanities initiative funded under the University’s Research Enhancement Fund. Faculty members hope to host a major colloquium, regular research meetings, and an international conference, as well as publish publications. Topics of study include the slave trade and the circum-Atlantic; violence and cultural differentiation; consumption and trade; and the interactions among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The institute also is supported by faculty and scholars from American University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Shakespeare Theatre, and the University of Maryland.

Beth Lattin, a GW senior and double major in English and math, said, “Learning about Shakespeare and medieval and early modern Europe can be daunting, but these programs give students a great hands-on approach, rather than just simply studying texts. Students who are interested in continuing their studies will find that the projects and exposure helps prepare them for future degrees and careers.”

Good news!

President Steven Knapp has written to inform us that the GW Medieval and Early Modern Institute has been chartered from December 2008 to December 2012, contingent upon continued adequate funding.

Thank you, everyone, for your support … and we look forward to the years ahead with you.

All of our events are free and welcome anyone who would like to attend. If you live anywhere near the DC area, check out our blog, with its exciting traveler on an elephant mascot. A calendar is maintained on the side: you’ll see that next up is David Wallace. Details to follow.