The Mid-America Medieval Association (MAMA) & The Medieval Association of the Midwest (MAM) Joint Conference

"The Medieval Out of Time & Place"

20–21 September 2024

University of Missouri – Kansas City

Plenary: Dr. Elizabeth K. Hebbard, Peripheral Manuscripts Project

French & Italian, Indiana University – Bloomington

Here is a link to submit an abstract (200-words) for consideration fort the conference. Abstracts are due May 31, 2024.

Sample topics The Medieval Out of Time & Place

• medieval objects in new locales or contexts

• the reuse or recycling of the medieval in the modern age

• medieval saints celebrated in alternate geographies and temporalities

• medievalism as a framework for imagining the past

• the European past in the American/Midwestern present

• the Midwestern medieval, neo-gothic space and architecture

• monasticism in the Midwest

• medieval archives in the Midwest

• medieval objects in a digital world

• the digital medieval in the Midwest

• teaching the future, using the past

• the future for Medieval Studies in the Midwest

A limited number of bursaries are available for graduate student travel,

courtesy of CARA and The Medieval Academy of America

Members of MAMA hail largely from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa. With Kansas City as the geographical center of the membership base, it has become the group’s nexus and the host city for the annual convention, held at UMKC every other year. In alternate years, the annual meetings take place at one of the universities in the MAMA region. The host institution will also provide the MAMA President for that year.

The Conference, which now usually falls on a Saturday end-of-September/beginning-of-October, includes a plenary address by a nationally-known medievalist and a presentation of papers on any medieval topic. Of the 30+ papers typically presented, the Jim Falls Paper Prize is awarded to the best graduate student paper.

With an average attendance of 80-100 people, the conference includes papers from academics presenting their latest research, and encourages M.A. and Ph.D. students to deliver their research as well.

A list of past plenary speakers and programs may be found at the MAMA Conference Archive.