ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Middle Ages was a period that comprised a significant number of material, economic, and intellectual networks of exchange across cultures. The shift in academic conversations towards the Global Middle Ages is gathering momentum in response to assumptions and biases that have long misinformed critical inquiries into the history and culture of the Middle Ages. This podcast aims to build upon the efforts of scholars committed to rectifying our understanding of the Middle Ages by offering a platform for medievalists to discuss their research and learnings about the multicultural reality of the Middle Ages extending well beyond the study of Western Europe.
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This podcast series seeks to spotlight ongoing conversations and generate new and exciting avenues of inquiry related to the Middle Ages as a fascinating and diverse historical period. It invites thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. Through this podcast series, we wish to forge and strengthen connections between experts and the wider public. It is urgent that we use our expertise in the space of the classroom and other public-facing platforms to produce counter-narratives that rectify misappropriations of medieval material, such as those perpetrated by white supremacists.
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We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines for single podcast episodes on creative, thoughtful, and culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages that can engage fellow medievalists and the wider public.
Calls for episode proposals circulate in October/November — see one of our past CFPs here.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The Multicultural Middle Ages was initially started by Jonathan, Reed, and Logan as an initiative of the Medieval Academy of America's Graduate Student Committee. The current MAA GSC member helping out with the podcast is our very own Will Beattie!
Will Beattie is a Ph.D. candidate with the University of Notre Dame's Medieval Institute. Will's main interest lies in the function of eschatological literature during the medieval period, particularly in Anglo-Saxon England. He approaches this study from a sociopolitical perspective, investigating the ways in which contemporary events like the Scandinavian invasions of the 8th to 11th centuries influenced the use of religious language. He is also interested in the relationship between soul and body in Anglo-Saxon literature.
Jonathan F. Correa Reyes is a professor at Clemson University. He completed his Ph.D. with the Department of Comparative Literature at The Pennsylvania State University and served as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow of the Ford Foundation (2020-2023). His dissertation focused on Middle English romances and ultimately contributes to ongoing efforts to excavate a pre-modern critical race theory. Beyond his work in Middle English literature, Jonathan also researches literary productions in Old English, Spanish and Arabic (mainly from the Iberian Peninsula), and Old Norse/Icelandic.
Reed O'Mara is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate and Mellon Foundation Fellow in the joint art history program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She focuses on the arts of medieval Germany, and her primary research interests lie in Jewish illuminated manuscripts and Gothic architectural sculpture. Reed's dissertation considers the complex histories of Hebrew and Yiddish in late medieval Europe through an examination of text and image relationships in Jewish illuminated manuscripts and Christian prints from Ashkenaz and Italy, ca. 1200-1500.
Logan Quigley received his Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Notre Dame in 2022. His research reflects on the spaces and places that make us us, with a particular focus on late medieval pilgrims’ innovative ways of representing and manipulating their temporal and spatial experience.