Medica's 2016 Schedule at Kalamazoo

International Congress on Medieval Studies, 12-15 May 2016
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Thursday, May 12
noon, Bernhard 211-- Medica Business Meeting
open to members and non-members

Friday, May 13
1:30 p.m., Schneider 1130
Session #243 Epidemic Diseases: Medieval Witnesses


Presider: William H. York, Portland State University

The Disappearing Leper and Clandestine Christ: Understanding a Theological Topos in Bonaventure’s Life of Saint Francis of Assisi

             Mark M. Lambert, University of Chicago

Diagnosis of Plague in Gui de Chauliac’s Chirurgia Magna

             Meagan S. Allen, Indiana University, Bloomington

Bone, Stone and Text: Jewish Responses to the Black Death

             Susan L. Einbinder, University of Connecticut

3:30 p.m., Schneider 1130
Session #297 Epidemic Diseases in the Middle Ages: 
Twenty-First Century Understandings

Presider: Monica H. Green, Arizona State University

Plague Diffusion within and out of Europe’s Uplands

             Ann G. Carmichael, Indiana University, Bloomington, Emerita

Is that Plague Image Really an Image of the Plague? Tackling the Digital Disconnect between Medieval Witnesses and Twenty-First Century Understandings of Epidemic Diseases in the Middle Ages

             Lori Jones, University of Ottawa

The Rise and Fall of a Historical Plague Focus: The Case of Ottoman Anatolia

             Nükhet Varlik, Rutgers University, Newark

5:15 p.m., Fetzer 1060 -- Medica Reception with cash bar

"Wake the Blog!" Looking forward in 2016 . . .

International Congress on Medieval Studies
12-15 May 2016
The society will sponsor two sessions focusing on epidemics in the Middle Ages at this year's Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo conference:

Epidemic Diseases: Medieval Witnesses


Presider: William H. York, Portland State University

The Disappearing Leper and Clandestine Christ: Understanding a Theological Topos in Bonaventure’s Life of Saint Francis of Assisi

Mark M. Lambert, University of Chicago

Diagnosis of Plague in Gui de Chauliac’s Chirurgia Magna

Meagan S. Allen, Indiana University, Bloomington

Bone, Stone and Text: Jewish Responses to the Black Death

Susan L. Einbinder, University of Connecticut

Epidemic Diseases in the Middle Ages: Twenty-First Century Understandings

Presider: Monica H. Green, Arizona State University

Plague Diffusion within and out of Europe’s Uplands

Ann G. Carmichael, Indiana University, Bloomington, Emerita

Is that Plague Image Really an Image of the Plague? Tackling the Digital Disconnect between Medieval Witnesses and Twenty-First Century Understandings of Epidemic Diseases in the Middle Ages

Lori Jones, University of Ottawa

The Rise and Fall of a Historical Plague Focus: The Case of Ottoman Anatolia

Nükhet Varlik, Rutgers University, Newark

New Roles
This year the mantle of Medica's presidency passes to William H. (Harry) York, Portland State University. Of course, most of you know Harry as he has admirably filled the position of Medica's vice president for many years. But for those who haven't met him as yet, Harry is an independent historian in Oregon and author of Health and Wellness in Antiquity through the Middle Ages (2012). His current research focuses on animal health and veterinary medicine in medieval and early modern Europe. Harry will officially assume the role of president at Medica's annual business meeting at Kalamazoo.

While I will be stepping down as president of Medica, to assist with the coming year's transition, I will be reversing roles with Harry and staying on as the interim vice president. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the constant support and friendship you have shown me over the years. It has been both a great privilege and a pleasure serving as the society's president. Thank you.

You can congratulate Harry on his new position at the reception Medica is hosting at this year's conference. It's also a great opportunity to relax and share your thoughts with others interested in medieval medicine, so please come and bring your friends.

One Final Note
Moving Medica's listserv is on the agenda for this year. Please bear with us as the logistics for the best method of maintaining communication with the society's members and friends are still being worked out. 

To ensure that our records are accurate and up-to-date, if you haven't done so already, please take a moment and send your name, affiliation, mailing address, and email address to me at lmkeyser@gmail.com. We don't want to lose you! And many thanks to all of you who have already been in touch.

Cheers,
Linda


Linda Migl Keyser, Ph.D.
President, Medica

Wake the Blog! Looking back at 2015 . . .

Medica's blog may have been resting, but its members have not!

2015 in Review:
As you'll recall, 2015 was a very good year for the society. In May at the Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Medica honored one our own, sponsoring three sessions and hosting a reception in recognition of the academic research and mentorship of Linda Ehrsam Voigts, Professor of English Emerita, University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Medica honoree Linda Ehrsam Voigts

Among Professor Voigts’s many contributions to the study of medicine are her extensive work with Latin and vernacular medical texts from late medieval England. In addition, research in medieval medicine is heavily indebted to her for the development, with Patricia Deery Kurtz, of a database of 10,000 texts and prologues searchable from the website of The National Library of Medicine, "Scientific and Medical Writings in Old and Middle English (eVK2),"and for the publication of an electronic version of Thorndike and Kibre, "Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin (eTK)."

The sessions:
Future Directions for Research in Medieval Medicine (A Roundtable)
Presider: M. Teresa Tavormina, Michigan State University

Panelists:

Medica Reception for Dr. Voigts

Luke Demaitre, School of Medicine, University of Virginia
Irma Taavitsainen, University of Helsinki

Alpo Honkapohja, University of Zurich

Monica H. Green, Arizona State University

Lea T. Olsan, University of Louisiana at Monroe

In Honor of Linda Ehrsam Voigts I:
Theory and Practice in Latin and Vernacular Medieval Medical Texts 

Presider: Patricia Deery Kurtz, Independent Scholar

What Hath eVK Wrought? Connecting the Vernacular to Latin, England to Europe
Monica H. Green, Arizona State University

“It be a solace to myne age”: Revisiting the Vernacular Versions of Bernard de Gordon’s Prognostic

Luke Demaitre, School of Medicine, University of Virginia

New Light on the Voigts-Sloane Group of Medical and Alchemical Manuscripts

Alpo Honkapohja, University of Zurich

In Honor of Linda Ehrsam Voigts II:
Theory and Practice in Latin and Vernacular Medieval Medical Texts
Presider: Jake Walsh Morrissey, Trent University

Learned Genres of Late Medieval Medical Writing: Commentaries and Their Afterlives

Irma Taavitsainen, University of Helsinki

The Gynecology of the Friars in Fifteenth-Century England

Peter Murray Jones, King’s College, Cambridge University

Equine Medicine in New York Public Library MS Spencer 9

Paul Acker, Saint Louis University

Many thanks to all the participants!