CFP: Medica and SSDMA at Leeds 2012

Medica and SSDMA (Society for the Study of Disability in the Middle Ages) are co-sponsoring the following strand of sessions at the 2012 International Medieval Congress in Leeds (UK), 9-12 July.

The theme of the 2012 conference is "Rules to Follow (or Not)" and our sessions are:

• Medicine and Rules: Children and Childbirth
• Medicine and Rules: Law and Institutions
• Medicine and Rules: Social Fabrication of Ability and Disability
• Medicine and Rules: Theory and Practice

If you are interested in giving a paper or chairing any of these sessions, please contact Wendy Turner wturner@aug.edu as soon as possible, preferably by the end of August 2011.

Or if you know of anyone who might be in presenting of chairing a session, please forward this call to them.

Wendy J. Turner, PhD

Professor, History
History, Anthropology, and Philosophy Department
Augusta State University
2500 Walton Way
Augusta, GA 30904-2200
706-667-4563
wturner@aug.edu

CFPs: Medica at Kalamazoo 2012

Call for Papers: 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan, 10-13 May 2012

1) Noble Suffering: Representations of the Experience of Pain

Sponsor: Medica: The Society for the Study of Healing in the Middle Ages

This session will examine the redemptive potential for pain and suffering as evidenced in the material and literary culture of medieval Europe. We invite proposals that investigate portrayals of both emotional and physical suffering in religious and secular art and literature. Speakers are encouraged to explore representations of redemptive pain as expressed in images, objects, and texts from a broad range of perspectives, from saint to sinner, romantic hero to base criminal.

Possible topics include:

• Images of pain in religious art and texts, such as renditions of scripture, the lives of the saints, etc.
• Representations of pain in literature, such as romance, drama, fabliaux, etc.
• Images and treatment of pain in medical texts
• Associations of pain and suffering with specific diseases, such as leprosy
• Pain and suffering in secular punishment

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words and a completed Participant Information Form (PIF) by e-mail to Linda Migl Keyser (keyserl@georgetown.edu) by 15 September 2011.

Additional information for applicants and the PIF are available at http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html.

2) Health and Healing in Early Medieval Medicine: Influences, Theory and Practices

Co-sponsors: Medica: the Society for the Study of Healing in the Middle Ages and The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe

This interdisciplinary session will explore all aspects of the health and healing in Europe and the Mediterranean world from approximately 400 to 1100 AD. We are open to all ways of measuring health and welfare from archaeology to psychology and literature. Diseases, concepts of healing, and the responses of early medieval populations to disease are of special interest.

We are seeking papers on any of the following topics:

• - All aspects of early medieval health including (mal)nutrition, child mortality, aging, health beliefs, and health practices.
• - All aspects of the Plague of Justinian and other infectious diseases
• - Bioarchaeology of early medieval populations.
• - All aspects of early medieval medical practice in art, literature, history, and archaeology.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words and the Participant Information Form should be sent to Michelle Ziegler at ZieglerM@slu.edu by September 15.

The Participant Information Form and additional information be found at http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html.

Medica at Leeds 11-14 July, 2011

For those of you attending the International Medieval Congress at Leeds this July, be sure to check out the sessions Medica is co-sponsoring with the Wellcome Trust this year:

The Rich Man's Feast and the Poor Man's Fare: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Food and Nutritional Health in the Middle Ages

Date: Tuesday, 12 July

Sponsor: Wellcome Trust / Medica: Society for the Study of Healing in the Middle Ages

Organizer: Iona McCleery, University of Leeds

I. Regimen for Rich and Poor (9:00-10:30 a.m.)

Moderator: Alex Bamji, University of Leeds

• Rich and Poor at the Hospital's Table: The Case of Nossa Senhora do Popolo, 1518-1580; Lisbeth de Oliveira Rodrigues, Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Universidade do Minho
• Medieval Dietetic Instructions Found in the Cairo Genizah in Prescriptions from the Mediterranean Area; Efraim Lev, University of Haifa
• Applying Cultural Methods in Research of Medical History: Medieval Arab Medicine as a Case Study; Uri Mayer-Chissick, University of Haifa

II. Cooking Food for the Modern Public (11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.)

Moderator: Vicky Shearman, Clarke Hall Educational Museum, Wakefield

• Medieval Food"and Cookery from the Practical Standpoint of "Living History Displays" and "Real Meals for Real People"; Jenny Rogers, Independent Scholar, Perthshire and Julia Waugh, Independent Scholar, Spalding
• Engaging the Public in Healthy Eating through Bioarchaeology; Jo Buckberry, University of Bradford
• Experiments, Education, and Entertainment: The Opportunities and Problems with Historical Cookery Demonstrations at Historic Sites; Richard Fitch, Tudor Kitchen, Hampton Court Palace
• Was Medieval Food Healthy?: An Interdisciplinary Approach; Iona McCleery, University of Leeds

III. Feasting and Fasting (2:15-3:45 p.m.)

Moderator: Christopher Woolgar, Hartley Library/ Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture, University of Southampton

• Eating Like a King, a Saint, or a Horse: Food and Status in Anglo-Saxon England; Debby Banham, University of Cambridge
• Food for the Body, Sustenance for the Soul: A Stable Isotope Investigation of Diet at the Early Medieval Monastery at Tarbat, Scotland; Shirley Ann Curtis, University of Liverpool
• From Simnel to Horsebread: The Regulation of Bread for the Rich and Poor in Late Medieval England; Sarah Peters Kernan, Ohio State University

IV. Early Medieval Recipes: Theory and Practice (4:30-6:00 p.m.)

Moderator: Alaric Hall, University of Leeds

• Apicius: Aspects of the Incorporation of a Cookery Book in the Early Middle Ages, 8th and 9th Centuries; Wanessa Asfora, Centro Universitario Senac, Sao Paulo
• Rich Pickings from a Seeming Poverty of Evidence: Cuisine in the Eastern Empire; Timothy Dawson, Armley Mills, Leeds Museums & Galleries, Leeds City Council
• Feasting at Tintagel in the Late Saxon Period; Melanie Ezra-Logue, Independent Scholar, Truro and Daniel Ezra-Logue, Independent Scholar, Truro

Notes From the President

Hot and dry . . .

. . . then chilly and wet.

That was Kalamazoo mid-May. But no matter the weather, this year's Medieval Congress was bustling with interesting sessions and lively conversations.

Medica and AVISTA: the Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Technology, Science and Art in the Middle Ages were exceptionally busy at Kalamazoo this year. Thursday, May 12th, the two societies co-sponsored four excellent and very well attended sessions on The Sacred and the Secular in Medieval Healing. The series of sessions began with a moving memorial to Geoff Egan by his colleague from the British Museum Michael Lewis. Through his work with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Geoff was researching pilgrim badges whose designs make reference to the curing or alleviation of illness and was to have presented his findings in session I: Images and Objects. His passing at the end of 2010 deprives us all of a valued scholar and good friend; his absence from our sessions was acutely felt.

The speakers of The Sacred and the Secular in Medieval Healing then commenced delving deeply into an investigation of the objects, images, sites, and texts of medieval medicine (see the posting for Monday, January 11, 2011 for the final list of papers and speakers in this series). I'm happy to report that Barbara Bowers of AVISTA and myself, in concert with Ashgate Publishing, have begun the process of developing a volume to publish the proceedings from this special series of sessions. I'll keep you apprised of developments.

Thursday, May 12th also marked Medica's annual business meeting. The highlights of that meeting follow:

Announcements and Updates:

• W. Harry York (Portland State University) was formally named Medica's Vice President. Congratulations and thanks,Harry.
• Two sessions were proposed for submission to the 2012 Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo: 1) Noble Suffering: Representations of the Experience of Pain will focus on soliciting papers that investigate the redemptive aspects of both emotional and physical suffering as evidenced in medieval art and literature, and 2) Health and Healing in Early Medieval Medicine: Influences, Theory, and Practice, co-sponsored with The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, will examine all aspects of health and healing in Europe and the Mediterranean world from approximately 400 to 1100 AD.
• A tentative session on Law and Medicine in the Middle Ages was broached for the 2012 Leeds Medieval Congress. The congress's theme, "Rules to Follow (or Not)," will be held 9-12 July, 2012. Anyone interested in organizing this session should contact me (keyserl@georgetown.edu).
• And speaking of the Medieval Congress at Leeds, Iona McCleery filled us in on the papers being presented in the four sessions that make up The Rich Man's Feast and the Poor Man's Fare: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Food and Nutritional Health in the Middle Ages at this year's conference (11-14 July). Co-sponsored by the Wellcome Trust and Medica, this series of sessions will examine diet and nutrition in the MiddleAges from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives. All four sessions will be held on Tuesday, 12 July: I) Regimen for Rich and Poor, II) Cooking Food for the Modern Public, III) Feasting and Fasting, and IV) Early Medieval Recipes: Theory and Practice. Thank you for all your hard work in organizing these sessions, Iona! (see the posting on Leeds 2011 for more details on speakers and papers)
• Membership dues was collected; Medica's membership runs from Kalamazoo conference to conference (i.e. May to May). Members who were unable to attend this year's conference can pay their dues directly to Medica's Treasurer, Gerard NeCastro. Please contact Gerard for details (necastro@umaine.edu).
• Addendum: Following the conference, Medica was offered the opportunity to co-sponsor two sessions in honor of our own John M. Riddle at the 2012 Kalamazoo Medieval Congress. The sessions have been proposed by the Institute for Medieval Studies at University of New Mexico and will also be co-sponsored by the Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions.

All in all, this year's Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo was very exciting and successful for Medica. Many thanks to all those colleagues whose hard work made that possible. And many thanks to Medica's members and friends for your continuing support.

Cheers and have a restful and fun summer,

Linda

Linda Migl Keyser, Ph.D.

President, Medica

Women and Medicine at the Folger

For those of you who will be in the Washington, D.C. area in the next few months, be sure to stop by and visit the Folger Shakepeare Library's current exhibit, Beyond Home Remedy: Women, Medicine, and Science.

Running until May 14, 2011, the exhibit explores early modern women's medical work by "drawing on manuscript recipe books and printed medical treatises owned and written by women of all classes, as well as natural history specimens from the Smithsonian Institution, . . . and relates it to the published works of the major male scientists of the day."

Of special interest to Medica members, among the books featured in the Library' gift shop display for the exhibition is our own Louise Bishop's Word, Stones, & Herbs: The Healing Word in Medieval and Early Modern England (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 2007). Way to go, Louise!

For more information on the exhibit, go to http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=3699.

The Sacred and the Secular at Kalamazoo 2011 - Final Listing

Dear Friends and Members,

At this year's International Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University (May 12-15, Kalamazoo, Michigan), Medica joins forces with AVISTA: The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Medieval Technology, Science, and Art to present the following 4 sessions devoted to examining The Sacred and the Secular in Medieval Healing (SSMH):

Thursday 10 a.m. - Bernhard Brown & Gold Room
(Session 47) SSMH I: Images and Objects
Organizers: Barbara S. Bowers (Ohio State Univ.) and Linda Migl Keyser (Univ. of Maryland)
Presider: Carol Neuman de Vegvar (Ohio Wesleyan Univ.)

Cure for the Common Common: Images and Objects Used by the Lower Classes for Healing, Protecting and Worship
Sarah Blick (Kenyon College)
Loadstones are a Girl's Best Friend: Lapidary Cures, Midwives, and Manuals of Popular Healing in Medieval and Early Modern England
Nichola E. Harris (SUNY-Ulster)
Early Medieval Crystal Amulets: Secular Instruments of Protection and Healing
Genervra Kornbluth (Kornbluth Photography)

Thursday 1:30 p.m. - Bernhard Brown & Gold Room
(Session 93) SSMH II: Sites
Organizers: Barbara S. Bowers (Ohio State Univ.) and Linda Migl Keyser (Univ. of Maryland)
Presider: Iona McCleery (Univ. of Leeds)

The Hospital Chapel at Tonnerre: Altars, Liturgy, and Relics
Lynn T. Courtenay (Univ. of Wisconsin - Whitewater and Madison)
Performative Thaumaturgy: The State of Research on Curative and Spiritual Interaction at Medieval Pilgrimage Shrines
Jim Bugslag (Univ. of Manitoba)
Life Insurance in the Medieval Period: Insights Offered by the Distribution of Pilgrims' Badges Recently Found in England

Michael Lewis (British Museum)

Thursday 3:30 p.m. - Bernhard Brown & Gold Room
(Session 140) SSMH III: Vernacular Texts
Organizers: Linda Migl Keyser (Univ. of Maryland) and Barbara S. Bowers (Ohio State Univ.)
Presider: Linda Migl Keyser (Univ. of Maryland)

Speaking Physic in Late Medieval England
Julie Orlemanski (Humanities Center, Harvard Univ.)
Middle Dutch Women's Secrets in a Courtly Context
Orlanda S.H. Lie (Univ. Utrecht)
Humans, Animals, and Veterinary Medicine in the Middle Ages
William H. York (Portland State University)

Thursday 7:30 p.m. - Bernhard Brown & Gold Room
(Session 170) SSMH IV: Texts, Plagues, and Religious Healing
Organizers: Linda Migl Keyser (Univ. of Maryland) and Barbara S. Bowers (Ohio State Univ.)
Presider: William H. York (Portland State University)

Plague in Bede's Prose Life of Cuthbert
Michelle Ziegler (St. Louis Univ.)
Religious and Medical Interpretations of Pestilence in the Late Middle Ages
Otto Gecser (Eotvos Lorand Univ./Central European Univ.)

Hope and Heat: Secular Medicine and Human Faith in Two Late Medieval Resurrection Miracles
Leigh Ann Craig (Virigina Commonwealth Univ.)

Also note that Medica's annual Business Meeting will convene on Thursday at 12:00 noon in the Bernhard Brown & Gold Room. We'll be discussing plans for future Medica sessions at Kalamazoo and Leeds, as well as plans for growing the society. All are welcome; bring a lunch and a friend. This is an open meeting for members and anyone interested in researching illness and healing in the Middle Ages.

The full program for the conference can be accessed at www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/index.html.

Come join the fun. See you in May,

Linda Migl Keyser
Medica, President