Three scholars from around the globe are coming to UVM to speak on medieval Europe!
This year a group of professors from the Departments of History, Religion, English, and Romance Languages, with the support of Dean William Falls and of Bailey-Howe Special Collections, inaugurated the “College of Arts and Sciences Medieval Studies Lecture Series.” The 2016-2017 series got off to a great start with a lecture from our own Professor Emeritus Al Andrea in November, and now it continues with three high-profile lectures by world-famous medievalists coming to UVM from three continents. For anyone interested in medieval history and culture—and particularly in medieval manuscripts–January and February will be extraordinarily rich at UVM!
First, on Thursday, January 19, at 5:00 PM in 338 Waterman Building, Memorial Lounge, we kick off the winter semester with Dr. Tracy Adams, who is coming all the way from the University of Auckland in New Zealand to give a public lecture on “The French Royal Mistress and the Politics of Representation”. This promises to be really interesting!
Then, on Wednesday, February 8, at 6:00 pm in Special Collections, Bailey/Howe Library, Dr. Ray Clemens, Curator of Early Books & Manuscripts at Yale University will speak on “The World’s Most Mysterious Manuscript.” The title of his talk refers to the Voynich manuscript, an early 15th-century codex now at Yale, written in an unknown language that no one has yet been able to decipher. Colorful illustrations of unidentifiable plants, zodiac signs, astronomical and cosmological diagrams, and naked women in bathing pools add to the mystery. Check out the manuscript online and then come to hear the talk!
Finally, on Monday, February 13, at 5:00 PM in 338 Waterman Building, Memorial Lounge Dr. Jacques Dalarun, member of the Institut de France, will give a public lecture on “The ‘Rediscovered Francis of Assisi’ in the Rediscovered Life by Thomas of Celano.” This is one of the biggest stories in medieval studies from the last few years—the startling discovery of a “new” life of St. Francis in a beat up thirteenth-century manuscript that surfaced in the hands of a dealer in Chicago. Dr. Dalarun will fly in from Paris to talk about his electrifying discovery and what it means for our knowledge about Francis, one of the medieval world’s iconic figures!
Often guest speakers tend to come to Burlington in the early fall and late spring. . . medievalist are made of sterner stuff! January and February will be lit up with these three presentations by world-famous scholars in the second half of our 2016-2017 College of Arts and Sciences Medieval Studies Lecture series!
Have questions? Contact Professor Sean Field sean.field@uvm.edu
