ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Middle Ages comprises a significant number of material, economic, and intellectual networks of exchange across cultures. The shift in academic conversations towards the Global Middle Ages responds to assumptions and biases that have long misinformed critical inquiries into the history and culture of the Middle Ages. This podcast builds upon the efforts of scholars working to rectify and broaden 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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The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast spotlights ongoing conversations and avenues of inquiry related to this fascinating and diverse historical period. It invites thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages, forging and strengthening connections between experts and the wider public and producing counter-narratives that address misappropriations of medieval material, such as those perpetrated by white supremacists.
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The podcast invites proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines for single 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 an example here.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Loren Lee is a PhD candidate in the Department of French at the University of Virginia and serves as a member of the Medieval Academy of America's Graduate Student Committee. Her dissertation focuses on medieval manuscript and translation studies, digital humanities, and hagiography. Loren has received fellowships including the Chateaubriand Fellowship and the UVA–ENS Exchange Fellowship.
Will Beattie is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He holds a PhD in Medieval Studies from the Medieval Institute of the University of Notre Dame. 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 PhD 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 fifth-year PhD 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 completed his PhD in medieval literature with 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 experiences of space and time.