How might the study of multiculturalism in the Middle Ages differ across historical period and academic specialization? In this episode, Fordham University master’s students Kristian Powell and Sean Maldonado discuss their experiences studying the early medieval period. They reflect on conversations from their coursework, the importance of professorial/institutional support, and what excites them most about the diversity of the early medieval period.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

How do pandemics happen? In this episode, historians of medieval medicine Monica H. Green, Winston Black, and Lucy Barnhouse talk with Will Beattie about the genesis of a new open-access teaching module on the Black Death. Our understanding of the late medieval pandemic has been transformed not only because of advances in the biological sciences, but also because historians have recently discovered—or newly interpreted—written records from the 13th and 14th centuries. For the first time, the Islamicate world’s experience is centered in the narrative, allowing entirely new perspectives on the Afro-Eurasian pandemic to be revealed.

Access the History of the 21st Century module here!

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.

In this episode we sit down with the five editors of Speculations, the centennial issue of Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. Comprised of 60 short essays that speculate about the possible futures of medieval studies, this issue represents an attempt to disrupt disciplinarity by foregrounding perspectives, methodologies, and geographies from a variety of fields from medieval studies. Born from the understanding that the future of medieval studies depends on imagination and experimentation, this issue is a collaborative attempt to mark the passing of time and open the field to a broader appeal. The short essays in this issue are an invitation to think together and reinvigorate conversations about our discipline. Join us as we reflect on the past and present of medieval studies, and as we speculate about the possible futures for our field.

For more information, visit www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.