IMC 2025: Sessions

Intersectional approaches are no longer rarities in Medieval Studies. There is a steadily growing enthusiasm for studies on gender, race, dis/ability, and social positioning in medieval stratified societies. Even the human-centred perspective on the so-called Middle Ages has recently shifted in favour of the inclusion of animal and non-human actors. Medievalists have learned from these approaches that a supposedly neutral stance on race, class, gender, age, and ability reproduces inequalities and presents a very narrow perspective on the Middle Ages and the way we research and teach this period. For white European medievalists, however, it is still a choice whether or not to 'do' intersectionality.

This round table discussion consists of six medievalists coming from different academic and pedagogical backgrounds. As Medieval Studies is still a white-dominated discipline and in view of recent methodological-theoretical and political-social developments, the speakers will build on last year's fruitful discussions and continue to argue that we need to reflect more critically on precisely this circumstance and rethink the way we do research and teaching. In addressing the concerns of critical whiteness, this round table discussion insists that the call to 'Do the Work!' is necessary. The round table discussion continues to address the following questions: How can intersectionality be more than a choice of topic or a critical lens through which white European medievalists can view past societies? How can they contribute to discussing intersectional concerns without simply appropriating them as scholarly resources and without simply transferring them to premodern contexts? How can we frame and organise communication that allows for equal representation and participation in academia? Therefore, the round table discussion provides an opportunity to share thoughts on how we can sustainably change the way we talk, write, discuss, and practice intersectionality - even if it is not as comfortable as we would like it to be.

Participants include Larisa Ficulle Santini (Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien), Blair Apgar (Department of History & Geography, Elon University, North Carolina)