The Multicultural Middle Ages

Apr 25 2024 22

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast artwork

The Multicultural Middle Ages is a podcast where medievalists from all professional and disciplinary tracks can come together to think and talk about the too-oft-unsung diversity of the Middle Ages. We offer public-facing, open access content directed at experts and non-experts alike to present updated, accurate, and culturally responsible accounts of the plurality of the medieval period.Series producers: Will Beattie, Jonathan Correa Reyes, Reed O'Mara, and Logan Quigley.Our podcast is made possible by our partnership with the Graduate Student Committee of the Medieval Academy of America. Our Speculum Spotlight series is produced in partnership with Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, and we are especially grateful for the support of Speculum’s Editor, Katherine L. Jansen.For more information about The Multicultural Middle Ages, visit our website:https://www.multiculturalmiddleages.comFor more information about the Medieval Academy of America and the work being done by its Graduate Student Committee, visit: https://www.medievalacademy.org/page/Graduate_Students.

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Multilingualism in Post-Conquest Britain

Apr 25 2024 62 mins

In the centuries after the Norman Conquest, as many as eight languages were spoken in the British Isles: English, Anglo-Norman, Latin, Norse, Welsh, Cornish, Irish, and Hebrew. Who spoke these languages, and how did they interact and influence each other? In this episode, Austin Benson discusses the linguistic and literary landscape of multilingual Britain, interviewing Dr. Sara Po

Speculum Spotlight: Race, Race-Thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages

Mar 31 2024 61 mins

What goes into editing a special issue of a journal? How does the framework of race and race-thinking inform medieval studies today? What is the role of objectivity in the study of the Middle Ages? Join us for this conversation with the editors of the special issue Race, Race-Thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages, published by Speculum (99.2) in April 2024.This episode i

Built and Natural Environments in Medieval Contexts

Mar 24 2024 61 mins

What is the relationship between so-called built and natural environments as they are represented in medieval literature, and what is the value of thinking about this relationship?Amy Juarez, Chelsea Keane, and Rebecca Davis discuss the nuanced connections between medieval literary representations of “built” and “natural” environments. Their wide-ranging discussion covers t

Reflections on The Multicultural Middle Ages

Mar 14 2024 31 mins

The producers of The Multicultural Middle Ages podcast sit down to talk about where we've been, what it's been like, and what's to come.www.multiculturalmiddleages.com

Speculum Spotlight: The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context

Dec 31 2023 48 mins

Scholars Thomas Morcom and Helen Gittos reflect on their experiences with researching and writing their article, "The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context," which appears in Speculum 99:1.The Cerne Abbas giant is a well-known figure cut into the chalk of a hillside in Dorset. Recent archaeological investigation has concluded that it had been cut in the early middle ages. Morco

Speculum Spotlight: Jewelry and People in the Byzantine Cemetery of Parapotamos, Epiros

Oct 01 2023 41 mins

Scholar Georgios Makris reflects on his experiences with researching and writing his article, “Jewelry and People in the Byzantine Cemetery of Parapotamos, Epiros,” which appears in Speculum 98:4.Jewelry reflecting the tastes, needs, and practices of past users across all social strata constitutes one of the most representative portable arts in the Middle Ages. Jewelry’s typi

Medieval Japanese Buddhisms

Sep 24 2023 62 mins

What does it mean to experience a sacred text? How did Buddhism make its way from south Asia to the Japanese archipelago? How did the adoption of Buddhism impact the Japanese Middle Ages? Join Jon Correa Reyes and Reed O'Mara for a conversation with Charlotte Eubanks, where they discuss some of the many ways in which Buddhist beliefs and practices shaped medieval Japanese history,

Racialized Medievalisms & Rings of Power: The Rise of the 'Diverse' Fantasy Prequel

Aug 25 2023 68 mins

Join your episode co-hosts Kersti Francis (BU) and Misho Ishikawa (NYU) for a lively conversation with Chris Chism (UCLA) about prequels that attempt to "diversify" preexisting fantasy IP. Together Kersti, Misho, and Chris discuss the racial politics of The Lord of the Rings and the new Rings of Power series based on Tolkien's Silmarillion. Throughout the conversation, they deconst

Experiencing Medieval Music

Jul 25 2023 58 mins

What did medieval music sound like? How can we read and perform the musical notation from medieval manuscripts? What does singing and playing music written before 1500 actually feel like? How did the early music tradition carry forward into the seventeenth century? In this episode, Reed O'Mara interviews musicologists Elena Mullins Bailey and Allison Monroe from the musical ensembl

Speculum Spotlight: Trans Climates of the European Middle Ages, 500-1300

Jun 30 2023 33 mins

Scholar François•e Charmaille reflects on their experiences with researching and writing their article, “Trans Climates of the European Middle Ages, 500 to 1300,” which appears in Speculum 98:3.This article gathers evidence of a distinct strand of writing in Western Europe from the sixth century onwards, which concerns itself with the relation between the seasons and sexual