Moving the North Atlantic Beyond IONA (Seminar)

Harbour Centre 1520

Organizers:
Mary Rambaran-Olm (Independent Scholar)
Nahir Otaño-Gracia (Beloit College)
Valerie M. Wilhite (Independent Scholar)

Medievalists of Colour sponsors this seminar. When we think of the medieval North Atlantic, we tend to think within Anglo- or Euro-centric parameters, much to the detriment of our understanding of the entire region, its history and development. So much is lost in our discussions of the medieval past by excluding regions within or beyond the north. This session explores medieval subjects that expand our understanding of the early medieval North Atlantic. Discussions may include medieval Iberia, Africa, and as far north as the Canadian archipelagos to the far reaches of the Canary Islands. This session will challenge our understanding of the medieval North Atlantic and encourage thinking beyond the norm.

Day 1

Jonas Wellendorf (University of California-Berkeley), “The Stranger King in the Land of Whites”

Dorothy Kim (Brandeis University), “A Tale of Two Miracles of the Virgin: England and Ethiopia”

Carla Thomas (Florida Atlantic University), “The Influence of the Global Chaucers Project: Multilingual Translation, Early English Literature, and the College Classroom”

Presider: Mary Rambaran-Olm

Day 2

Shamma Boyarin (University of Victoria), “Everything is Porous: Exploring Berachia HaNakdan and Adelard of Bath's Material Connections”

Nicole Lopez-Jantzen (CUNY - Borough of Manhattan Community College), “The view from beyond IONA: Connections between the British Isles and Lombard Italy”

Alice Toso (University of York), “Foodways along the Atlantic coast: an isotopic study of Islamic and Christian diet in Medieval Portugal (8th-15th centuries)”

Presider: Nahir Otaño-Gracia

Day 3

Chihiro Tsukamoto (Yale University), “How White was Heimdallr?”

Erin McGuire (University of Victoria), “Beyond Indiana Jones: Fighting Nazis and Teaching Medieval Archaeology”

Nahir Otaño-Gracia, “Translation as Manipulation: The case of Old Norse-Icelandic translations to English”

Presider: Valerie M. Wilhite