News

Earlier this month at Saint Louis University's annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, several AARHMS members participated in a new type of conference-within-a-conference which focused on what the Symposium is venturing to call "Special Topics." These conferences aimed to provide the focused discussion and intimate conversation of smaller seminars or conferences, while still providing all of the grand amenities of a larger scholarly gathering.

Among the Symposium's wise selection of sessions, AARHMS' panels and presentations were among the best attended, and were all hosted in the luxurious and stately Pere Marquette Gallery. The AARHMS members who participated were widely congratulated for the conference, and collectively acclaimed the conference a resounding success.

The AARHMS conference, which discussed the Kingdom of Castile during the reign of Alfonso VIII (r. 1158-1214), was an unqualified success. Participants included Janna Bianchini, Miriam Shadis, José Cerda, Martín Alvira, Sam Conedera, Jim Todesca, Damian Smith, Linda Jones, Tom Burman and Miguel Gómez. The papers are being collected into a volume which is planned for appearance next year. 

Not only was the conference the first of its kind hosted at the Saint Louis University Symposium, but it was also the first commemorative conference to celebrate the 800th anniversary of King Alfonso and his Queen Leonor Plantagenet.

AARHMS members interested in hosting another such conference- on any topic within the organization's purview- at SLU's Symposium should email the Symposium directly (smrs@slu.edu) or can inquire internally with either AARHMS' Conference Organizer, Jim Todesca, or its Webmaster, Kyle Lincoln. 

From the Medieval Academy of America:

The friends and family of Olivia Remie Constable invite you to join them in establishing the Olivia Remie Constable Award for junior, adjunct and unaffiliated scholars, to be presented annually in her memory.

 

Remie was the director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame and a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America who died in April 2014 in the prime of her life and distinguished career. A scholar and teacher specializing in the fields of interactions between medieval Christians, Muslims and Jews; the Mediterranean world; economic and social history; the history of medieval cities and urban life; and medieval Spain, Remie held a prominent place in Medieval Studies. 

 

Remie was a consummate scholar who was aware that gaps in funding exist for emerging scholars. The Constable Award, which will be administered by the Medieval Academy of America, will be awarded annually to an emerging junior faculty member, adjunct or unaffiliated scholar (broadly understood: post-doctoral, pre-tenure) for research and travel. The award is meant to reflect the high standards of Remie's scholarship as well as her broader interdisciplinary interests in Medieval Studies (as exemplified by her teaching, her leadership, and her service to the discipline). Remie's family agree that this award will be an appropriate and effective way to honor her memory.

 

The Olivia Remie Constable Award will be granted on the basis of the quality of applicants' proposed projects and estimations of the ways in which an award will facilitate their research. The Award may be used to fund travel to archives or scholarly conferences; for acquiring copies of documents; to pay for images, equipment, hardware, software, or digital access; and/or to purchase library privileges if necessary.  Preference will go to scholars and teachers who have limited or no institutional support. The Medieval Academy will establish a committee to adjudicate the Constable Award, of which at least one member will be a junior scholar not on a tenure track.

 

A special donation site has been set up here: 

http://www.medievalacademy.org/donations/fund.asp?id=10951

 

Donations may also be sent by check to:

 

The Olivia Remie Constable Fund

Medieval Academy of America

17 Dunster St., Suite 202

Cambridge, Massachusetts

02138

 

With your help, the Olivia Remie Constable Award will soon be permanently endowed. We look forward to announcing the first Awardee at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy at the University of Notre Dame next March.

It is with the greatest sadness that AARHMS notes the passing of Olivia Remie Constable on 16 April 2014, in South Bend, Indiana.  Remie was Professor of History and Director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame.  As AARHMS members are well aware, she was a key figure in making the Arabic-speaking Mediterranean central to medieval studies.  She was a warm-hearted supporter of younger scholars in our field and a treasured colleague to many of us.  Funeral arrangements are private; a public memorial service is being planned, and we will post details when they are available.

www.archaeology.org/news/1679-zaballa-zornoztegi-salvatierra-iruna-de-oca-medieval

Congratulations to William D. Phillips, Jr. on the publication of Slavery in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013)