Monday, May 24, 2010

An Open Letter to the Medieval Academy of America

by J J Cohen

[Please go here for background and extensive discussion. If you would like to sign this letter, simply leave your full name and institutional affiliation, if any, in the comments section. If you are a member of the Medieval Academy, you may wish to indicate that fact along with your signature; you need not belong to the MAA in order to sign. A copy of and link to the open letter will be sent to the officers of the MAA in the hopes that its message will be considered as deliberations proceed about the April 2011 annual meeting.]


We the undersigned condemn the immigration bill signed into law by Arizona governor Jan Brewer as racist and inhumane. We urge its immediate repeal. To demonstrate our support to those in Arizona whom the law targets, we request that the Medieval Academy of America seriously consider not holding its planned annual meeting of April 2011 in the state if the law remains in place, even if this means canceling the meeting and incurring a financial loss. We further urge that a theme on "Immigration and Tolerance" be added to the meeting's program no matter where it is held in order to place these recent events in a longer historical perspective.

171 comments:

Jeffrey Cohen said...

Jeffrey J. Cohen
Professor of English
Director, GW Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute
George Washington University
Washington DC
MAA member

York CMS Postmedieval Reading Group said...

Michael Pryke
MA Student
University of York
York
ENGLAND.

Karl Steel said...

Karl Steel
Assistant Professor
English Department
Brooklyn College, CUNY
New York City
MAA Member

Mike Ryan said...

Michael A. Ryan
Assistant Professor of History
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN

Jemren said...

Simon Gruening
student assistant
Karl-Jaspers-Center for Advanced Transcultural Studies
University of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
Germany

jennifernbrown said...

Jennifer N. Brown
Asst. Prof. of English
Marymount Manhattan College
New York, NY
MAA member

Kristi J. Castleberry said...

Kristi J. Castleberry
PhD Candidate in English
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY

Anonymous said...

Travis E. Neel
First Year Ph D
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Bruce L. Venarde
Professor of History and Classics
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh PA
MAA member

Myra Seaman said...

Myra Seaman
Associate Professor
Department of English
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Carin Ruff
Visiting Fellow
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
Toronto, ON
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Holly Dugan
Assistant Professor of English
George Washington University
Washington DCC
MAA Member

Marty said...

Martin B. Shichtman
Professor of English
Director, Jewish Studies
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, Michigan

Anonymous said...

Julie A Hofmann
Associate Professor of History
Chair, History Department
Shenandoah University
Winchester, VA

MAA member

Eileen Joy said...

Eileen A. Joy
Assoc. Professor of English
Co-Editor, "postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies"
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, Illinois

Anonymous said...

Derrick Pitard
Assoc. Prof, Dept. of English
Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock, PA 16057
MAA member

Sam said...

Samantha Lee Gonzalez
Former Instructor of an ethnic studies course in
Seattle, WA
MA Student
University of York, UK

Unknown said...

Elizabeth Schirmer
Associate Professor of English
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Kathleen E. Kennedy
Asst. Professor of English
Pennsylvania State University- Brandywine
Media, PA 19063
USA

Unknown said...

Erica Leigh Carson
MA Student
George Washington University
Washington DC

Mary Ramsey said...

Mary K. Ramsey
Assistant Professor of English
Southeastern Louisiana University
Hammond, LA
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Will Stockton
Assistant Professor of English
Clemson University
Clemson, SC

Anonymous said...

Mark Sundaram
Affiliate Professor
Classics and English
Thorneloe/Laurentian University
Sudbury ON Canada

Virginia Blanton said...

Virginia Blanton
Department of English
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Kansas City, MO 64110

MAA member

Ben said...

Ben C. Tilghman
Dept. of Manuscripts and Rare Books
The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, MD
MAA Member

Tom Elrod said...

Thomas B. Elrod
Ph.D. Candidate in English and Teaching Fellow
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

ken tompkins said...

Kenneth D. Tompkins
Emeritus Professor of Literature
Richard Stockton College of NJ
Pomona, NJ 08240

Ang said...

Angela Davis
MA Student
Goddard College
Plainfield, VT

Anonymous said...

Tessa Kostelc
PhD Student
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Anonymous said...

Wendy Matlock
Assistant Professor of English
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Jennifer Borland
Asst. Professor of Art History
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK
MAA member

meg said...

Meg Worley
Assistant Professor of English
Pomona College
Claremont, California
MAA member

Hannah Kilpatrick said...

Hannah Kilpatrick
Graduate student (masters) in Mediaeval Studies and English Literature
University of Ottawa
Ottawa (Canada) and Adelaide (Australia)

Mo said...

Mo Pareles
PhD student
English Department
New York University
New York, NY
MAP member

Anonymous said...

Cynthia Turner Camp
Assistant Professor of English
University of Georgia
Athens, GA
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Valerie M. Wilhite
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Spanish & Portuguese
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

dan remein said...

Daniel C. Remein
Ph.D. Student in English
New York University

Anonymous said...

Elly Truitt
Assistant Professor of History
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA

MAA member

dtkline said...

Daniel T. Kline
Professor of English
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska

Maggie Fritz-Morkin said...

Maggie Fritz-Morkin
Ph.D. Candidate
Romance Languages and Literatures
University of Chicago

Rick Godden said...

Richard H. Godden
Postdoctoral Lecturer
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO 63139

Anonymous said...

George Edmondson
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Jule Nowoitnick
Ph.D. candidate
Karl-Jaspers-Center for Advanced Transcultural Studies
University of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
Germany

Anonymous said...

Samantha LoSapio
Executive Assistant, Learning Times
MA Student
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Brooklyn, NY

Adrienne said...

Adrienne J. Odasso
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of English and Related Literature
University of York
York, United Kingdom

Claire said...

Claire Barbetti
Postdoctoral Lecturer
English Department
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA

Anonymous said...

Jeremy Withers
Visiting Assistant Professor
Medaille College
Buffalo, NY
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Norman D. Hinton
Emeritus Professor
University of Illinois
87 Country Place
Springfield, IL 62703

Unknown said...

Christopher Pugh
PhD Student
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Andrea Lankin
Ph.D. Candidate in English
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

Anonymous said...

Richard Hancuff
Adjunct English Instructor
Misericordia University
Dallas, PA

Anonymous said...

Noah Guynn
Associate Profesor of French
Director, Humanities Program
University of California Davis
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Patricia Clare Ingham
Associate Professor of English
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of English
Medieval Studies Institute
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana

MAA member

Anonymous said...

Katherine L. French
Professor of History
SUNY-New Paltz

Renée said...

Renée R. Trilling
Associate Professor of English
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Sarah Celentano Parker
PhD Student
Dept. of Art & Art History
The University of Texas at Austin
MAA Member
MAA Graduate Student Committee member

Masha said...

Masha Raskolnikov
Associate Professor,
Department of English,
Interim Director,
Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
MAA member

zbigley said...

Michael Bigley
PhD student in English
University of California, Berkley
Berkeley, CA
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Marcus Hensel
PhD Candidate in English
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR
MAA Member

Suzanne Akbari said...

Suzanne Conklin Akbari
Professor, English and Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MAA member

Unknown said...

Thomas Sizgorich
Assistant Professor
Late Ancient and Early Islamic History
Department of History
200 Murray Krieger Hall
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697

Ms. Grinberg said...

Ana Grinberg
PhD Candidate
Department of Literature
University of California, San Diego
MAA Member

BLB said...

Brantley L. Bryant
Assistant Professor of English
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

MAA Member

Tom Prendergast said...

Thomas A. Prendergast
Associate Professor of English
Chair, Comparative Literature
College of Wooster
Wooster, OH 44691
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Holly R. Silvers
Ph.D. Candidate
History of Medieval Art
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
MAA member

ASM said...

Asa Simon Mittman
Assistant Professor
Department of Art and Art History
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0820
MAA Member/MAP Member

jenboyle said...

Jen Boyle
Asst Prof of English
Coastal Carolina University
SC http://jenboyle.squarespace.com/

Aaron Hostetter said...

Aaron Hostetter
PhD candidate
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
MAA member

Karen Bruce said...

Karen Bruce
English, Ph.D Candidate
The Ohio State University
(Future) MAA Member*

* As in, I mailed off my application when I got home from Kalamazoo but don't know if they've received it or processed it yet.

Anonymous said...

Lisa Hayes, B.A., M.S.
current M.A. student
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

Kelly said...

Kelly Haigh
PhD student
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
MAA member

Paul Hyams said...

Paul R, Hyams
Professor of History
Director of Medieval Studies, 2001-7
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853

Emeritus Fellow, Pembroke College, Oxford.

MAA Council, 2007-9

anna klosowska said...

Anna Klosowska
Associate Professor of French
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
MAA member

Maureen C. Miller said...

Maureen C. Miller
Professor of History
University of California
Berkeley, CA
MAA member

Unknown said...

Roy M. Liuzza
Professor of English
Editor, _Old English Newsletter_
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN

Caren said...

Caren M. Calamita
M.Ed Candidate
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Anonymous said...

Jeff Massey
Associate Professor
The Royal English Department
Molloy College
Rockville Centre, NY

Unknown said...

James D'Emilio
Associate Professor of Humanities
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL
(currently residing in Flagstaff, AZ)
cancelling will have more of an impact than thematic sessions which will have absolutely no public resonance beyond the Medieval Academy

Heather Bamford said...

Heather Bamford
Doctoral Candidate,
Hispanic Languages and Literatures
UC Berkeley

Anonymous said...

Geoffrey Koziol
Professor
Department of History
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720

Anonymous said...

Raúl Ariza-Barile
Doctoral student
The University of Texas at Austin

Anonymous said...

Susanne Hohler
PhD. Candidat
Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe"
University of Heidelberg
Karl Jaspers Centre for Advanced Transcultural Studies
Germany

Dr. Phil said...

Phillip A. Bernhardt-House
recent Visiting Professor of History, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, Columbia College Marysville/Everett Campus
MAA Member

Jonathan Hsy said...

Jonathan Hsy
Assistant Professor of English
George Washington University
Washington, DC
MAA Member

This old world is a new world said...

Stephanie Trigg, FAHA,
Professor of English,
School of Culture and Communication,
The University of Melbourne,
Victoria, 3010,
Australia.
MAA member

Sabina Trigueros - Translation said...

Sabina Trigueros
PhD Student
Queen Mary College, University of London
London, UK

Anonymous said...

Jonathan Jarrett
Research Assistant, Fitzwilliam Museum,
and College Research Associate, Clare College,
Cambridge,
United Kingdom

Jeffrey Cohen said...

(posted with permission on behalf of David Wallace)

David Wallace, University of Pennsylvania
Life Member, Medieval Academy of America

Joyce Lionarons said...

Joyce T. Lionarons
Professor of English
Ursinus College
Collegeville, PA
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Maggie M. Williams
Assistant Professor of Art History
Art Department
William Paterson University
Wayne, NJ

Alex Mueller said...

Alex Mueller
Assistant Professor
English Department
University of Massachusetts Boston
Boston, MA
MAA member

Laurie Finke said...

Laurie A. Finke
Professor of Women's and Gender Studies
Kenyon College
Gambier OH 43022

Paul J. Patterson said...

Paul J. Patterson
Assistant Professor of English
Saint Joseph's University
Philadelphia, PA
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Nancy Bradley Warren
Professor of English
Courtesy Professor of Religion
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

MAA Member

Laura Saetveit Miles said...

Laura Saetveit Miles
PhD Candidate
English Department
Yale University
MAA Member

Eileen Joy said...

By permission of Dawn Walts:

Dawn Walts
Assistant Professor
Lewis University

Anonymous said...

Mercedes Vaquero
Professor
Hispanic Studies and Medieval Studies
Brown University
Providence, RI

Unknown said...

Holly A. Crocker
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Department of English
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
MAA member

Karl Steel said...

From here

Ruth Nisse
Associate Professor of English and Medieval Studies
Wesleyan University

I couldn't agree with this petition more, plus I think my family's internal passports from 1930s Europe have expired.

Unknown said...

Nedda Mehdizadeh
Ph.D. Candidate
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Rebecca Davis said...

Rebecca Davis
Assistant Professor of English
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA

Jackie said...

Jacqueline E. Jung
Asst. Professor, History of Art
Yale University
New Haven, CT
MAA member

Lollardfish said...

David M. Perry
Assistant Professor of History
Dominican University
River Forest, IL 60130
MAA member

Julie Orlemanski said...

Julie Orlemanski
Postdoctoral Fellow
Humanities Center at Harvard
MAA member

Kathleen Brennan said...

Kathleen Brennan
Ph.D. student, Department of History
CUNY Graduate Center
New York, NY

Anonymous said...

Emily Leverett
Assistant Professor of English
Methodist University
Fayetteville, NC

Anonymous said...

Danielle Magnusson
Ph.D. Student in English
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

Liza Blake said...

Liza Blake
PhD Candidate
Department of English and American Literature
New York University
New York, NY

Rob Barrett said...

Robert W. Barrett, Jr.
Associate Professor of English, Medieval Studies, and Theatre
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL
MAA Member

Mike Smith said...

Mike Smith
PhD Student in English
George Washington University

Croman said...

Christopher Roman
Associate Professor of English
Kent State University at Tuscarawas
New Philadelphia, OH
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Karrie Fuller
PhD Student
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, IN

Matt said...

Matthew Salomon
Alum, Department of Literature
American University
Washington, DC
US

Anonymous said...

Katherine Terrell
Assistant Professor of English
Hamilton College
Clinton NY

Natalie Grinnell said...

Natalie Grinnell
Associate Professor of English
Wofford College
Spartanburg, SC

Jen Gonyer said...

Jen Gonyer-Donohue
Department of English, Undergraduate Programs
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

MAA-Graduate Student Committee co-chair, 2005-07

Unknown said...

Nickolas Haydock
Professor of English
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
Mayagüez, PR 00681

Maya Soifer Irish said...

Maya Soifer Irish
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow
Introduction to the Humanities
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
(Incoming Assistant Professor
History Department, Rice
University, Houston, TX)

Unknown said...

Carol Witt
4th Year Undergraduate Student
Mediaeval Studies Specialist, Celtic Studies Major
University of St. Michael's College
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MAA Member

Unknown said...

Sarah Novacich
PhD candidate
English Dept.
Yale University

Chris said...

Chris Piuma
PhD Student
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
MAA member.

Anonymous said...

Anne Clark Bartlett
Chair and Professor of English
DePaul University
Chicago, IL 60614
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Stephen Higa
Ph.D. Candidate
History Department
Brown University
Providence, RI

Dana Oswald said...

Dana M. Oswald
Assistant Professor of English
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Kenosha, WI

Anonymous said...

Lowell Duckert
PhD Candidate
English Department
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Anonymous said...

Jessica Rosenfeld
Assistant Professor
English Department
Washington University
St. Louis, MO

MAA member

Christina M. Fitzgerald said...

Christina M. Fitzgerald
Associate Professor
Department of English
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Emma Berat
Ph.D candidate in English Literature
Columbia University, NY

Anonymous said...

Adrienne Williams Boyarin
Assistant Professor of English
University of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
MAA member

Jen said...

Jennifer Little
PhD student
City University of New York
Graduate Center
New York, NY

grendel54 said...

Jeffrey Gross
Ph.D., 1991
Medieval Studies Committee
Harvard University

Unknown said...

Renee Ward
Assistant Professor, LTA
Medieval Studies and English
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ON, Canada
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey Fisher
Visiting Ass't Prof of Religion and Philosophy
Carroll University
Waukesha, WI
MAA member

Lara Farina said...

Lara Farina
Associate Professor of English
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506

Unknown said...

Susan Valentine
PhD Candidate
Dept of History
New York University

LanglandinSydney said...

Lawrence Warner
Senior Lecturer of English
University of Sydney
Australia
MAA Member

Jeffrey Cohen said...

signed at the request and on behalf of

Robert Stein
Professor of Literature, Purchase College SUNY
Life Member, MAA

Amy Burge said...

Amy Burge
PhD Student
Centre for Women's Studies
University of York
York
UK

Anonymous said...

James Knabe
PhD Student
Department of English
Yale University
New Haven, CT

Anonymous said...

Kathryn Malczyk
Ph.D. Student in German
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
MAA member

Neil S. said...

Neil Simpkins
Agnes Scott College Writing Center Coordinator
Agnes Scott College
Decatur, GA

Paul said...

Paul Masters
MA Student
Tufts University
Medford, MA

Anonymous said...

Kellie Robertson
Director, Medieval Studies Program
Associate Professor of English
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
MAA member

Beth said...

Beth Fischer
MA Student
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Nancy McLoughlin
Assistant Professor
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Scala
Associate Professor
Department of English
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712

Anonymous said...

I would like you all to know that enough Councilors of the Medieval Academy of America have indicated that we will not attend a meeting in Arizona to have called a virtual meeting of the Academy which will, I hope, take place within the next two weeks. One of the arguments being used to have the meeting continue in AZ is that there are 120 abstracts. While I'm morally opposed to having a meeting in Tempe, I'm trying to use the more easily made "practical" argument, that if we hold a meeting, no one will come. So, if you have submitted an abstract, but will not attend if it's still in AZ, then it would be good if you so indicate to medieval academy officers and council -- whose names have recently been sent out on the MAA list-serv

It'll make it easier for those who oppose it from inside the Council without having your abstract used against us. Thanks and hang in there,

Connie Berman, Prof. of History, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52245 -- and my email is
constance-berman@uiowa.edu

Anonymous said...

Constance Berman
Professor of History
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52245

MAA councilor

Marie O. said...

Kristina M. Olson
Assistant Professor of Italian
Department of Modern and Classical Languages
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

Anonymous said...

Temitope Charlton
PhD Candidate in History of Science
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Unknown said...

Christopher Leydon
Doctoral Candidate, Comp. Lit.
The Graduate Center (CUNY)
New York, NY
MAA Member

Anonymous said...

Sherri Franks Johnson
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
University of California, Riverside

Diane Wolfthal said...

Diane Wolfthal
David and Caroline Minter Chair in the Humanities
Professor of Art History
Rice University
Houston, TX

Anonymous said...

Catherine M. Mooney
Assoc. Prof. of Church History
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA

Anonymous said...

Margaret Cotter-Lynch
Associate Professor of English
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Durant, OK
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Marie A. Kelleher
Associate Professor of History
California State University, Long Beach
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Katherine E. Meyers
Ph.D. Candidate in History
University of New Mexico
MAA Member

Unknown said...

Justine Firnhaber-Baker
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
All Souls College
Oxford
UK

Anonymous said...

Michael Evans
Mid Michigan Community College (in a personal capacity)

Anonymous said...

Shami Ghosh
Postdoctoral fellow
School of Historical Studies
University of Leicester (UK)

Viator said...

Benjamin D. Utter
Doctoral Student, Dept. of English
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
MAA Member

Michelle Armstrong-Partida said...

Michelle Armstrong-Partida, PhD
University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of History
UCLA
6265 Bunche Hall
Box 951473
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1473

Anonymous said...

Kathleen Coyne Kelly
Professor of English
Northeastern University
Boston MA

Anonymous said...

Peter John Hartman
Ph.D. Candidate
Toronto

Anonymous said...

Lezlie Knox
Associate Professor of History
Marquette University
Milwaukee WI
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Anna Wilson
PhD Student
CMS, University of Toronto
Canada

Unknown said...

Lilvia Soto, Ph.D.
Poet and Independent Scholar
Citizen of Mexico and the United States
Resident of Arizona

C. Margery Kempe said...

Kathryn Laity
Associate Professor of English
Director, Women's and Gender Studies
College of Saint Rose
Albany NY

David A. Salomon said...

David A. Salomon
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of English and Modern Languages
The Sage Colleges
Troy, NY
MAA member

Anonymous said...

Michel Aaij
Auburn Montgomery, Alabama

Anonymous said...

Meghan Holmes Worth
PhD candidate
Department of History
University of Tennessee, Knoxville