Upcoming Events
Greetings to all interested in current events for the SMU Medieval Studies Program and the Dallas Medieval Consortium!
Here are some Spring 2007 lectures for of interest to medievalists and friends of the program. This site will be updated as details change.
February 8
Bridwell Library Medieval Studies Lecture. 5 p.m. in the Bridwell Library, Joyce Coleman, Bambas Professor of Medieval English Literature & Culture at the University of Oklahoma, will present ‘ Reading Through Medieval Eyes: What Manuscript Illustrations Tell Us about Public Reading in the Middle Ages.’
When we hear about people reading aloud to each other in the Middle Ages, we think of illiteracy and the scarcity of books. As a slideshow of manuscript illustrations will demonstrate, however, medieval artists associated reading aloud with learned traditions and royal patrons. The quest to see reading through medieval eyes will take us from the founding of the universities in the thirteenth century to the dynastic challenges of the Hundred Years' War, and beyond.
February 28
Gardener Honors Lecture. 5 p.m. in the Meadows Museum, William C. Jordan, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University, will present ‘Rituals of Departure for Crusades.’
William C Jordan is one of the leading medieval historians of our time. His books include Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership (1979); From Servitude to Freedom: Manumission in the Sénonais in the Thirteenth Century (1986); The French Monarchy and the Jews from Philip Augustus to the Last Capetians (1989); Women and Credit in Pre-Industrial and Developing Societies (1993, Japanese translation 2004); The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century (1996), the winner of the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy of America; Europe in the High Middle Ages (2001), a volume in the Penguin History of Europe; and most recently Unceasing Strife, Unending Fear: Jacques de Thérines and the Freedom of the Church in the Age of the Last Capetians (2005).
For those interested, this lecture will be followed on March 1 Th (11 a.m., McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall) by a discussion with Prof. Jordan, Prof. Robert Chazan (NYU), and Thomas Feeney (Notre Dame) on current interpretations of medieval crusades, followed by an informal luncheon in student center. Please let Bonnie Wheeler know if you would like to attend.
March 1
Nate and Ann Levine Endowed Lecture Series in Jewish Studies. 8 p.m. in 133 Fondren Science, Robert Chazan, Professor of Judaic Studies at New York University will present ‘Maintaining Jewish Identity in a Challenging Christian Environment: The Case of Medieval Europe.’
March 29
Bridwell Library Medieval Studies Lecture, co-sponsored by Dean of Graduate Studies. 5 p.m. in Bridwell Library, John O'Malley, Professor of Church History at Georgetown University, will present ‘Four Cultures of the West: A conversation about cultural paradigms.’
April 19
Department of Art History Lecture. 5:30 p.m. in the Meadows Museum Auditorium, Lawrence Nees, Professor of Art History at the University of Delaware, will present ‘The Career of Godescalc, Artist at the Court of Charlemagne.’
Charlemagne, from 768 king of the Franks and from AD 800 until his death in 814 also Emperor of the Romans, has often been called the “father of Europe,” and even more often been credited with sponsoring a great cultural and artistic movement, often misleadingly termed a Renaissance,” that had long-lasting impact. The earliest example of the cultural flowering for and around Charlemagne is a remarkable Gospels manuscript now in Paris, written for the king and queens between 781 and 783 by the "ultimate servant" named Godescalc. Godescalc's great work has been much studied, but Godescalc himself has received little attention. This lecture seeks to trace his career over a span of roughly twenty years, arguing that he was responsible for a number of other important works of art made for Charlemagne and influential members of the circle of advisers gathered around him.