IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 1135: The Theory and Politics of Medieval Studies, II: Activism

Wednesday 5 July 2017, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:	Leeds Studies in English
Organiser:	Han Nijdam, Fryske Akademy, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
Moderator/Chair:	Victoria Cooper, School of English, University of Leeds
Paper 1135-a	Kısmet Press: A Case Study in Open Access Publishing (Language: English) Tim Barnwell, Kısmet Press, Leeds / School of History, University of Leeds Index terms: Computing in Medieval Studies, Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Printing History
Paper 1135-b	The Politics of the Medieval University / The University and Medieval Politics (Language: English) Catherine E. Karkov, School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies, University of Leeds Index terms: Education, Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Medievalism and Antiquarianism, Teaching the Middle Ages
Paper 1135-c	Publishing as Activism: Punctum Books, Aaron Swartz, and the Medieval Sudan (Language: English) Vincent van Gerven Oei, punctum books, Tirana
Abstract	Neoliberalism and the rise of 'post-truth politics' across the West, along with forces like environmental change, are pressing medievalists to question postmodern theoretical paradigms and to grapple anew with objective, material realities only partly accessible through human experience. This session explores how professional-level medieval research might also have an activist dimension, by exploring: the epistemology, politics, and usefuless of Wikipedia editing; the challenges and possibilities posed by open access and new print technolgies for book publishing in medieval studies; and the role of the medieval past, and medievalists in the present, in rethinking the future of the university.