Subtheme:
Medieval Studies and Refuge/A Refuge for Medieval Studies

The Sewanee Medieval Colloquium is in many ways a refuge for medievalists. It offers us a temporary home for deep thought about the topics that made so many of choose the Middle Ages as our topic of study and a time for discussions with like-minded people over informal coffee break or formal panels. This refuge is needed more than ever. Academics in general—and medievalists in particular—have faced increasing challenges in recent years. One of these challenges is that with financial cuts being made to the humanities, medieval studies often take the brunt in the form of lost tenure lines, graduate programs, and grants among other challenges. Another pressure is the general and growing anti-academic trend in current popular US society and the often mis-guided efforts of administrators to focus on what the public perceives as more “practical” or “job training” types of programs. This sub-panel invites submissions that address either of these problems. How can we find a refuge for medieval studies in our universities, colleges, and departments? Conversely, how can our rich, interdisciplinary understandings of the Middle Ages give us an intellectual refuge from the societal trends? Or, perhaps, how can we use our fields to offer both respite and tools of resistance for our colleagues and students? Submissions are not restricted to these questions, however, and creativity is both welcomed and encouraged.