Modern Uses of the 'Medieval': A Conversation with The Medievalist Toolkit (Bertrand, Grissom, Reich, & Correa Reyes)
- mmapodcast1
- May 25, 2025
- 2 min read
In this episode, Jon speaks with Robin Reich, Alice Grissom, and Benjamin Bertrand to discuss the work of The Medievalist Toolkit, medievalisms, some of the many ways in which the "medieval" seeps into contemporary political and public discourse, and the importance of outreach.
Benjamin Bertrand is a PhD candidate at Fordham University working with Dr. Scott G. Bruce. His research focuses on twelfth-century bishops, considering how they navigated the relationship between their secular power and religious authority. His dissertation studies this topic through an in-depth analysis of the career of Henry of Blois (d. 1171), the bishop of Winchester.
Alice Grissom is a PhD student in the English Department at Rutgers University New Brunswick. Their research centers on the role of the inscribed body in social identity formation in the material texts of the multilingual medieval North Atlantic, particularly through pre-modern critical race studies, and the dynamics of embodiment, death, and temporality in mystical writing. In other work, Alice engages questions of materiality through manuscript students and is committed to the digital and public humanities as a tool for democratizing access to the Middle Ages.
Robin Reich is an Assistant Professor of History at Seattle University. Dr. Reich uses methods of material culture to explore the exchange of scientific knowledge across language, religion, space, and time in the medieval Mediterranean. Her expertise lies in the transmission of medicinal substances through texts, objects, and practice in southern Italy, Sicily, and North Africa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Dr. Reich's work also focuses on medievalism, or the imagination of the Middle Ages in later periods. She is the co-founder and Managing Director of the Medievalist Toolkit.
Jonathan F. Correa Reyes is an Assistant Professor of English at Clemson University. He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from The Pennsylvania State University. His research explores formulations of identity in medieval romances. His research has been supported by the Ford Foundation. He has publications out or forthcoming in Speculum, Arthuriana, Postmedieval, and Viator. Jonathan is also a co-founder and co-producer of The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast.
Further Resources:
Mission . The Medievalist Toolkit is a public history project that aims to de-politicise uses of the medieval past and its legacy by providing public-oriented tools that encourage evidence-based discourse. |
Comments