Serving Medieval Studies in the Delaware Valley since 1983

Author: Adam Miyashiro

Online Latin

In the summer of 2016 William Turpin (Swarthmore College), Jen Faulkner (East Longmeadow High School) and Larry Swain (Bemidji State University) will offer another free online Medieval Latin translation course, using the Zoom video conferencing program.  This summer we will read the “Life of Patrick” by Muirchú, and Patrick’s “Confession,” which are written in relatively straightforward, intuitive Latin.  User-friendly editions (with a lot of vocabulary help) are or will be posted (see below).
 
The course is aimed above all at those who have completed a year or so of classical Latin at the college level, or the equivalent in high school. It should also be suitable for those whose Latin may be a little rusty, or for more accomplished Latinists with an interest in medieval Latin. The intention is to replicate the experience of a student in (say) a college Latin class at the early intermediate level, minus the quizzes, tests, and continuing assessment; there is no mechanism for awarding credit or certificates of attendance. The most immediate model, in fact, may be an informal reading group: the basic premise is that a small community of interested participants can both encourage and enhance what is essentially a private encounter with a text. 
 
Zoom will allow eight active participants (i.e. people who may wish come online to translate a particular section of text) and an unlimited number of auditors, who will be able to submit questions and comments using the messaging function. The sessions will also be archived on YouTube. We will provide a webpage for interested participants to sign up for particular sections of the text; such participants will then be invited to translate and to raise questions or comment as seems appropriate. The instructors and other active participants will offer assistance and comments as necessary, just as in an ordinary class with participants sitting around a table. 
 
Sessions will begin on Sunday, June 5, at 2PM Eastern time.  General information about the course and subsequent online “discussions”  can be accessed by joining the Google Plus “Community” entitled “Medieval Latin (Summer 2016): St. Patrick: Muirchu, Vita S. Patricii and Patrick’s “Confessio.”  (https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106839324668039713380).   The Google Plus page has a link to a webpage for the course, where you can find the texts and sign-up sheet for joining one of the weekly sessions as active participant (or go straight to https://sites.google.com/a/swarthmore.edu?tab=m3)
 
Active participants will need a webcam and to install Zoom (which is free and easy to install); observers will find the link posted on the Google Plus page shortly before the session begins.  
 
Questions may be addressed directly to wturpin1@swarthmore.edu.

Videos

DVMA Fall Meeting, University of Pennsylvania, Fall 2015

Tekla Bude, Newnham College, Cambridge University: “Teaching Math in the Middle Ages”

 

Isabella Reinhardt, University of Pennsylvania: “Michael Zopello’s Litterarum simulationis liber (UPenn LJS 225): Confronting a Renaissance Code”

 

Jeffrey Witt, Loyola University Maryland: “Placing Medieval Texts within a Critical Corpus: A Case Study on UPenn MS Codex 686”

Revised Constitution

 REVISION:  Approved April 23, 2022

DELAWARE VALLEY MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

1983; re-issued 1993; revised 2015; amended 2021, 2022

 

Article I.          NAME

            This organization shall be called the Delaware Valley Medieval Association.

Article II.        PURPOSE

The Association shall promote all aspects of medieval studies and provide the opportunity for frequent scholarly communication among medievalists, particularly those from the Delaware Valley region.

 

Article III.       MEMBERSHIP

 

Membership shall be open, upon payment of annual dues, to all those who support the purposes of the organization.  Membership dues shall be set by the Executive Council and shall be payable at the beginning of the academic year.

 

Article IV.       ORGANIZATION

 

A.   Officers 

1.     President.  The President represents the Association in its external affairs, chairs all business meetings of the Association, coordinates the activities of the Association, appoints the Nominations Committee from among the members of the Executive Council, appoints any ad hoc committees necessary to the functioning of the organization, and appoints replacements for any officer or member of the Executive Council who is unable to complete his or her term of office.  The President handles the Association’s official correspondence. The president’s term is two years and is non-renewable.

2    Vice President.  The Vice President serves a two-year term and succeeds to the office of President the following year.  The Vice President assists the President as needed and chairs the Planning Committee and Communications Committee. The Vice President  assists the president in maintaining electronic systems, communicating with members and conveying vital documents and information. Other members may be appointed to perform communication duties. 

3.   Secretary.  The Secretary serves a three-year term The Secretary oversees  the organization’s media platforms (website, social media, etc.), updates membership lists, and keeps minutes at all Executive Council business meetings.  The Secretary also prepares an annual report concerning the organization’s membership, serves on the Executive Council and takes part in the planning processes of DVMA.  

4.   Treasurer. The Treasurer serves a three-year term.  The Treasurer collects and disburses money received by the Association, maintains its bank accounts and reports regularly to both the Executive Council and the membership about the state of DVMA’s finances.  The Treasurer serves on the Executive Council and takes part in the planning processes of DVMA.

 

B.   Executive Council 

The Association shall be governed by an elected Executive Council consisting of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and six members-at-large serving staggered, three-year terms.  In addition to these ten Executive membership roles, the Executive Council will include at least one doctoral student who manages graduate student outreach and participation in DVMA events and programming for a two-year term. The Executive Council shall meet at least twice a year, in the Fall and in the Spring.  Actions of the officers and committees of the Association shall be subject to the review of the Executive Council. Terms for Officers may be extended for one year in extenuating circumstances. [Amended by EC Spring 21, pending approval by the membership]

 

Article V.        PROCEDURES

 

A.   Elections 

In the Spring of each year, a Nominations Committee is formed including outgoing members of the Executive Council.  The Committee solicits and proposes nominations for Officers and Executive Council.  The slate of candidates is presented at the final meeting of the year, where members approve the candidates by acclamation or a majority vote. In the event that an elected member of the Executive Council or an Officer cannot serve out the term for which he or she was elected, the President shall appoint a replacement.  

B.    Meetings 

The Association shall meet for scholarly interchange as often as practicable, usually four times per academic year.  At least one of those meetings – usually the last meeting in the Spring – shall include a business meeting, announced to the membership in advance. These meetings shall be called by the President or by a majority of the Executive Council, and shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order where they do not contradict this Constitution and set of By-Laws.   

C.    Amendments 

The Constitution and By-Laws of the Delaware Valley Medieval Association may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at a business meeting of the Association.  Amendments may be proposed by majority vote of the Executive Council or by ten voting members of the Association.  They shall be circulated by the Secretary to the membership at least one month prior to the business meeting at which they shall be considered.  When press of circumstances requires it, three-fourths of the Executive Council may amend the Constitution and By-Laws subject to approval by the membership at the next business meeting.

 

 

 

2014-2015

DVMA Meetings 2014-2015

 

Area Events

 Free Online Latin Course for Summer 2016

Free Online Latin Course for Summer 2016

In the summer of 2016 William Turpin (Swarthmore College), Jen Faulkner (East Longmeadow High School) and Larry Swain (Bemidji State University) will offer another free online Medieval Latin translation course, using the Zoom video conferencing program.  This summer we will read the “Life of Patrick” by Muirchú, and Patrick’s “Confession,” which are written in relatively straightforward, intuitive Latin.  User-friendly editions (with a lot of vocabulary help) are or will be posted (see below).
 
The course is aimed above all at those who have completed a year or so of classical Latin at the college level, or the equivalent in high school. It should also be suitable for those whose Latin may be a little rusty, or for more accomplished Latinists with an interest in medieval Latin. The intention is to replicate the experience of a student in (say) a college Latin class at the early intermediate level, minus the quizzes, tests, and continuing assessment; there is no mechanism for awarding credit or certificates of attendance. The most immediate model, in fact, may be an informal reading group: the basic premise is that a small community of interested participants can both encourage and enhance what is essentially a private encounter with a text. 
 
Zoom will allow eight active participants (i.e. people who may wish come online to translate a particular section of text) and an unlimited number of auditors, who will be able to submit questions and comments using the messaging function. The sessions will also be archived on YouTube. We will provide a webpage for interested participants to sign up for particular sections of the text; such participants will then be invited to translate and to raise questions or comment as seems appropriate. The instructors and other active participants will offer assistance and comments as necessary, just as in an ordinary class with participants sitting around a table. 
 
Sessions will begin on Sunday, June 5, at 2PM Eastern time.  General information about the course and subsequent online “discussions”  can be accessed by joining the Google Plus “Community” entitled “Medieval Latin (Summer 2016): St. Patrick: Muirchu, Vita S. Patricii and Patrick’s “Confessio.”  (https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106839324668039713380).   The Google Plus page has a link to a webpage for the course, where you can find the texts and sign-up sheet for joining one of the weekly sessions as active participant (or go straight to https://sites.google.com/a/swarthmore.edu?tab=m3)
 
Active participants will need a webcam and to install Zoom (which is free and easy to install); observers will find the link posted on the Google Plus page shortly before the session begins.  
 
Questions may be addressed directly to wturpin1@swarthmore.edu.

 

Call for Papers: Rowan University’s Second Annual Symposium on Medieval and Early Modern Studies

I am pleased to announce Rowan University’s Second Annual Symposium on Medieval and Early Modern Studies.  Last year’s inaugural symposium was a great success, bringing in scholars from multiple states and from as far afield as England, Australia, and the Ukraine, and a collection of selected essays presented at the conference is currently under negotiation with Ashgate.

This year’s symposium is entitled ‘Representation and Reality in the Medieval Church’, and we are welcoming interdisciplinary papers from professional scholars and postgraduate researchers alike.  This will be a two-day symposium, from 31 July – 1 August 2015, on the main campus of Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ; this year, the event is being co-sponsored by both Rowan and the University of Kent.  There will be multiple sessions and plenary presentations by Dr. Barbara Bombi and Dr. Sarah James, both of the University of Kent.  In addition, last year’s undergraduate panel was so well received that we will be continuing that tradition with four undergraduate students presenting 15-minute papers.   We would especially like to encourage submissions from undergraduates outside of Rowan, as well, as this is an excellent chance for students to receive conference experience in a constructive, non-threatening environment.

I have attached the call for papers; as stated, submissions should be emailed to rowanmedievalsymposium@gmail.comby 1 May 2015.  Any questions can be directed to myself, Jon-Mark Grussenmeyer (jg482@kent.ac.uk), and further information can be found on our website: http://rumedievalsymposium.wix.com/medieval-symposium.

Lastly, please do pass this email on to any relevant contacts that you might have.  Thank you in advance for your help and support.

Respectfully yours,

Jon-Mark Grussenmeyer
University of Kent


 

Jill and John Avery Lecture Series in the History of Art

T. J. Clark, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
“Joachim’s Dream, or What Can Art History Say About Giotto?”

Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 5:00 pm (reception to follow).
College Hall 200, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Please circulate this invitation and the attached flyers widely.
Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Jill and John Avery Fund in the Department of the History of
Art, University of Pennsylvania.

Please contact Andre Dombrowski, adom@sas.upenn.edu, or David Young Kim,
davik@sas.upenn.edu, for further information.

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/arthistory/

Please note:

On Monday, October 13 at 6:30 pm, T. J. Clark will also speak at the
Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104:
“Test the West.” Kaja Silverman in conversation with T. J. Clark about art and
capitalism after the fall of the Berlin Wall

https://slought.org/resources/test_the_west

 


 

7th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
November 6-8, 2014
Collecting Histories

In partnership with the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age. This year’s symposium highlights the work of the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts by bringing together scholars and digital humanists whose work concerns the study of provenance and the history of collecting pre-modern manuscripts. The life of a manuscript book only just begins when the scribe lays down his pen. What happens from that moment to the present day can reveal a wealth of information about readership and reception across time, about the values of societies, institutions, and individuals who create, conserve, and disperse manuscript collections for a variety of reasons, and about the changing role of manuscripts across time, from simple vehicles of textual transmission to revered objects of collectors’ desires.  The study of provenance is the study of the histories of the book.
For more information and to register online, go to http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/lectures/ljs_symposium7.html


 

Medieval Studies Lecture Series at the University of Pennsylvania (Kislak Center, 6th Floor of Van Pelt Library)

ALL DVMA Members welcome to attend!

Welcome Back Reception; Panel on “Why the Middle Ages Matter” (speakers tba)
September 16th, 5-7 PM
(cosponsored by the Library, Medieval Studies, and the Center for Ancient Studies)

Professor Alastair Minnis (Yale, English), October 23rd, 5-7 PM
http://english.yale.edu/faculty-staff/alastair-minnis

Professor Adam Kosto (Columbia, History), January 29th, 5-7 PM
http://history.columbia.edu/faculty/Kosto.html

Professor Marina Rustow (Johns Hopkins, History), April 2nd, 5-7 PM
http://history.jhu.edu/directory/marina-rustow/


A Message from John Black (Moravian College) about the Moravian College Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies (December 6, 2014)

http://www.moravian.edu/medieval/

We’re writing to remind you that the ninth Moravian College Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies will be held on Saturday December 6, 2014 on Moravian’s campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. We’d be delighted if – as you are finishing final plans for fall courses and beginning your classes – you’d bring the conference to the attention of your students and colleagues and consider bringing students to deliver and enjoy presentations and performances at the conference. Medievalists and Early Modernists are typically interdisciplinary, so we sincerely welcome contributions from all departments. Proposals on all relevant topics are welcome, as long as there is some connection to the period between approx. 500 C.E. and 1800 C.E. Last year’s conference was attended by over 200 people and featured presentations and performances by approx. 100 students from 30 schools.

Both registration and the submission of proposals will open October 1 and will be handled via the conference website. The deadline for the submission of proposals is November 7. Registration will again be free for both presenters and attendees. For a brief preview of this year’s conference and for a look at past conferences, please visit our website at: http://www.moravian.edu/medieval/  Highlights of this year’s conference will be a plenary presentation by Dr. Kostis Kourelis (Dept. of Art and Art History, Franklin and Marshall College); a performance of early music ensemble by Sonnambula (http://www.sonnambula.org/), a New York City-based viol consort; and demonstrations and exhibits by artisans. We’ll be updating the website in the fall with additional details for this year’s conference.

Bethlehem, in eastern Pennsylvania, is easily accessible from the Philadelphia area (about an hour and a half’s drive), the New York City area (about two hours’ drive), and other locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the conference. Please feel free to email questions or requests for a cfp/flyer to jrblack@moravian.edu or sandybardsley@moravian.edu .

All the best for the start of the new semester!

Sincerely,
John Black, English Department
Sandy Bardsley, History Department
Moravian College
1200 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018


 

 

2015-2016

 

Bryn Mawr College, 9 April 2016

 

Temple University, 20 February 2016.

 

Princeton,  Institute for Advanced Study, 5 December 2015.

 

1)      University of Pennsylvania,  12 September 2015.  The video of the program can be seen here.

 

3)      Bryn Mawr, 9 April 2016

 

Upcoming Meetings (2)

Please join us in 2016-17 for another exciting series of programs!

Save the dates:

September 24, 2016

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

 

[Winter meeting date TBD]

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

 

February 25, 2017

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

 

April 22, 2017

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Upcoming Meetings

 

 

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