STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING
TEACHING RESOURCES
THE CAMELOT PROJECT
The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester is an online database of Arthurian texts, images, bibliographies, basic information, and frequently asked questions about the Arthurian legends.
CHAUCER METAPAGE
The Chaucer MetaPage was initiated at the 33rd International Congress on Medieval Studies by a group of medievalists interested in promoting Chaucer studies on the World Wide Web. Its aims are to organize and provide navigation aides for Chaucer resources on the Web, to work toward enhancing and extending those resources, and to encourage Chaucer studies, including those undertaken via "distance learning," at all levels of education. It also includes a link to help beginners learn the basics of pronouncing and understanding Chaucer's Middle English. A few of the site links are as follows:
ALAN BARAGONA'S CHAUCER PAGE
Alan Baragona's Chaucer Page offers links with informative annotations. Links are listed in four sections: (a) Chaucer bibliographies, (b) general medieval bibliographies, (c) texts of The Canterbury Tales (searchable texts and sites to aid in understanding Chaucer's language), d) other sources related to Chaucer (additional Chaucer pages as well as related medieval sites), and (e) general bibliographies and humanities databases.
HARVARD CHAUCER PAGE (LARRY BENSON)
The Harvard Chaucer Page (Larry Benson) is most useful to the serious student who has focused on a particular topic or tale. The site is incredibly rich: Chaucer's language and life, background information on the types and occupations of the General Prologue, background information, and sources and analogues to The Canterbury Tales. An impressive feature is the site index, which links to hundreds of primary and secondary sources on, about, or relating to Chaucer and his times.
EDWIN DUNCAN'S CHAUCER PAGE
Edwin Duncan's Chaucer Page is especially useful to Chaucer beginners, providing a wide variety of links in conjunction with his Chaucer course. In addition to both Chaucer-specific and general research aids, the site links to many versions of Chaucer's work, several in modernized language or spelling. This site also links to other very accessible, helpful Web pages.
MICHAEL HANLEY'S CHAUCER PAGE
Michael Hanley's Chaucer Page is a collection of selected, useful links to such areas as Medieval Texts and Images, Chaucer and Middle English Literature, Bible Research, and information concerning the Catholic Church. This site is most notable for Hanley's original material, which is organized into four sub-pages: "Some Interesting and Essential Stuff," a very brief, useful 14th-century outline, a sizable bibliography of print sources, and an annotated bibliography, this last consisting of links to 17 detailed outlines that Hanley's graduate students did of various articles on Chaucer. Hanley's original material is a good starting place for students who need a little background or who are seeking direction for serious Chaucer study.
ANNIINA JOKINEN'S CHAUCER PAGE
Anniina Jokinen's Chaucer Page is a sub-area of her larger Luminarium Anthology of Middle English Literature, which covers several authors of the period. The Chaucer site has six sections, including one called "Chaucer in the Bookstore," which features descriptions of all types of Chaucer books, sometimes accompanied by reviews, linked directly to Amazon. "Essays and Articles on Chaucer" contains efficiently organized links to almost 100 essays, which vary considerably both in length and scholarly value. As Jokinen says in her introduction to this section, these essays are clearly provided to demonstrate "what others think about a given subject," rather than to offer the final word on any of them. The section usefully serves this stated purpose and is a good place to start. Jokinen also provides links to Chaucer's works and "Geoffrey Chaucer: Additional Sources," over 80 links to biographical information, additional essays, images, and much more. This site is especially useful to those beginning to narrow their focus of study.
JANE ZATTA'S CHAUCER PAGE
Jane Zatta's Chaucer Page provides a collection of Chaucer links to material both original and at other sites, organized under three categories: Context, Tales and Backgrounds, and Other Chaucer and Medieval Resources. Within the Context category, Zatta includes links to sites devoted to Chaucer's authors, both "classical" and near contemporary, whose works influenced his own: Boccaccio, Boethius, and Dante, to name a few. Commentaries on individual tales, visually enriched by illustrations from manuscripts, provide useful introductions to study of The Canterbury Tales."
DANIEL KLINE'S CHAUCER PEDAGOGY PAGE
The Chaucer Pedagogy Page provides online assistance for teachers and students of Chaucer and the Later Middle Ages, including a quick-start reference section, a Chaucer pedagogy site map, and online networking for Chaucer teachers and students.
DAVID WILSON-OKAMURA'S ANNOTATED GUIDE TO ONLINE RESOURCES
David Wilson-Okamura's Annotated Guide to Online Resources organizes over 100 links into thirteen clear categories with succinct annotations. Links are often directly to the most relevant page of a larger site, rendering this organization of links even more useful. Categories include background, bibliography, language, and images. This site page also features search capability to help users find specific sources on his pages. A good starting place for those who aren't quite sure what they are looking for.
NEW CHAUCER SOCIETY
The purpose of the New Chaucer Society is to provide a forum for teachers and scholars of Geoffrey Chaucer and his age. To advance such study, the Society organizes biennial international congresses of Chaucerians, publishes the annual Studies in the Age of Chaucer and a semiannual newsletter, and supports such important projects as the Annotated Chaucer Bibliography (an electronic version of which is available on-line). Participation in NCS congresses is restricted to active members of the Society.
THE CHAUCER REVIEW ONLINE INDEX
DUMBARTON OAKS RESEARCH LIBRARY AND COLLECTION
ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE DANTE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Electronic Bulletin of the Dante Society of America was founded in 1995 in the hope of offering, on the distant models of the Bulletino della Società Dantesca Italiana (1889-1921) and of the Giornale Dantesco (1893-1940), an opportunity for the publication of brief notes (1,500 words or fewer) concerning any and all matters relating to the study of Dante. Our desire is to encourage discussion and debate among Dante scholars by publishing new work that deserves a first airing. Since our electronic format allows the editorial board both to respond to and to publish submissions quickly, publication is possible more rapidly than in any forum devoted to Dante of which we know.
THE FRENCH OF ENGLAND
HILANDAR RESEARCH LIBRARY
The Hilandar Research Library, housed at Ohio State University, has the largest collection of medieval Slavic manuscripts on microform in the world.
INSTITUTE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES, LEEDS
The Institute for Medieval Studies at Leeds, renowned worldwide for the quality and range of its teaching and research, and for a unique combination of resources, is special as a place for study of the Middle Ages. With one of the largest research libraries in the United Kingdom, housing over 2.7 million books, a fine journal collection, and extensive holdings in all areas of medieval studies, with a rich and expanding store of manuscripts and rare books, the Institute is home to the International Medieval Congress, Europe's largest annual gathering of medievalists, and the International Medieval Bibliogrpahy, the world's leading interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages. The nearby archive of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society also has large medieval holdings.
The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB), established in 1967, is the leading interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages. It is produced by an editorial team at the University of Leeds and some 30 contributors word wide. It covers periodical literature and miscellany volumes published in Europe, North America, Australasia, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa. The printed IMB appears twice a year, covering most recent publications.
YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The Yorkshire Archaeological Society exists to promote the study of Yorkshire's historical past and is made up of a number of special interest groups, including Aerial Photography, Family History, Industrial History, Local History, Medieval, Prehistory, Roman Antiquities.
INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF MEDIEVAL ART (ICMA)
The International Center of Medieval Art is a world-wide organization dedicated to the study of medieval art and culture. The purposes for which the ICMA is formed are to promote and encourage the study, understanding, and appreciation of the visual arts of the Middle Ages produced in Europe, the Mediterranean region, and the Slavic world, during the period between ca. 300 and ca. 1500 C.E.; and to this end to sponsor and otherwise support study, teaching, conferences, exhibitions, displays, and publications devoted to medieval art and culture.
INTERNET MEDIEVAL SOURCEBOOK
The Internet Medieval Sourcebook makes available a wide range of medieval texts which address elite governmental, legal, religious, and economic concerns, as well as a large selection of texts on women's and gender history, Islamic and Byzantine history, Jewish history, and social history. It has been constructed from available public domain and copy-printed texts comprised of two parts: one, fairly short classroom-sized extracts, and the other, full documents or World Wide Web links to the full documents. The Sourcebook is specifically designed for teachers to use in teaching by pointing students to this Web site; by downloading the documents, and printing or xeroxing them for distribution in course packets or as class handouts; and by creating syllabi and course outlines at local Web sites with links to the documents here.
ITER
ITER ia a gateway to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that includes a massive, retrospective, on-line medieval and Renaissance bibliography covering all languages and disciplines (partnered with the Renaissance Society of America and the University of Toronto). Iter is a powerful research tool that allows users to do the following:Perform keyword and phrase searching and use Boolean, positional and relational operators; for selected records published since 1990, search by subject, using Library of Congress subject headings, Dewey Decimal Classification, and additional keywords; use hypertext links to perform subsequent searches from results pages; and limit searches by language, publication type, and publication date.
THE LABYRINTH: RESOURCES FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The Labyrinth, a disciplinary server for medieval studies, is an excellent resource that offers free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a World Wide Web server at Georgetown University. The Labyrinth's easy-to-use menus and links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images on other servers around the world. This project not only makes available an organizational structure for electronic resources in medieval studies but also serves as a model for similar, collaborative projects in other fields of study. The Labyrinth project is open-ended and is designed to grow and change with new developments in technology and in medieval studies.
MEDIEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA
The Medieval Academy of America, the first organization of medievalists in North America when it was founded in 1925, is the largest organization in the world devoted to medieval studies. Its goal is to support research, publication, and teaching in medieval art, archaeology, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social and economic institutions, and all other aspects of the Middle Ages. Any person interested in the Middle Ages is eligible for membership.
COMMITTEE ON CENTERS AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (CARA)
The Committee on Centers and Regional Associations was founded by the Medieval Academy in 1969 to serve as a forum for those who are concerned with teaching; with the administration of institutes, graduate centers, undergraduate programs and committees, and research libraries; and with the organization of regional and local groups of medievalists. CARA assists institutions and individual medievalists in meeting the challenges that face medieval studies in the classroom, the library, and other institutional settings locally and nationally. CARA sponsors an annual meeting each fall in support of its goals, offers tuition scholarships for students participating in summer Latin programs at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Toronto, and awards the Leyerle-CARA Prize for graduate students conducting dissertation research in Toronto collections. CARA also compiles and disseminates information about its constituent institutions as part of the CARA Data Project.
MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION OF THE MIDWEST (MAM)
The Medieval Association of the Midwest is an interdisciplinary association of medievalists in the Midwest founded to promote the study, criticism, research, and exhchange of ideas related to all aspects of the medieval period and to articulate the specific needs of medievalists in the Midwest. Membership benefits include Nuntia, a biannual newsletter; PMAM, an annual publications volume for scholarly articles and book reviews; an annual fall conference; and sections at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo and at the Midwest Modern Language Association.
MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION OF THE PACIFIC (MAP)
MEDIEVAL INSTITUTE (NOTRE DAME)
MEDIEVAL INSTITUTE (WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, KALAMAZOO)
The Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo was established in 1961 as a center for teaching and research in the history and culture of the Middle Ages. Its pioneering function then was to introduce the first Master of Arts in Medieval Studies offered at a state-supported university in the United States. Its Web site includes information about academic programs, research activities, and the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies.
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The International Congress on Medieval Studies, the largest, most comprehensive academic conference of its kind in the world, is an annual gathering of around 3,000 scholars interested in Medieval Studies. Hosted by Western Michigan University’s Medieval Institute and taking place on the WMU campus in Kalamazoo, it features over 600 sessions of papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, and performances. There are also some 90 business meetings and receptions sponsored by learned societies, associations, and institutions. The exhibits hall boasts nearly 70 exhibitors, including publishers, used book dealers, and purveyors of medieval sundries. The Congress lasts three and a half days, extending from Thursday morning until Sunday at noon.MEDIEVAL INSTITUTE PUBLICATIONS
Medieval Institute Publications (MIP), housed within the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, publishes three series of volumes—Studies in Medieval Culture (SMC), Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center, and Early Drama, Art, and Music (EDAM). It also publishes, co-publishes, and/or distributes non-series volumes and periodicals, including Studies in Iconography, Medieval Prosopography, The Yearbook of Langland Studies, the Old English Newsletter and Subsidia, and materials produced by the Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages (TEAMS).
NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of New Mexico directs a variety of medieval studies programs. It is dedicated to university and civic outreach, as well as to the enrichment of scholarship, teaching, and research in the civilizations of medieval Europe and its neighbors from 500-1500. Through undergraduate and graduate degree programs, special student opportunities, and advanced research activities, UNM's medieval studies programs are committed to furthering the transmission and preservation of a rich heritage from the Middle Ages. The Institute's special mission is to promote excellence in the secondary schools. To this end, it has developed an Outreach Program to Secondary Schools, which has been nationally and internationally recognized for its efforts to advance the study of the Middle Ages in secondary school curricula. Its programs operate under the philosophy that the study of medieval culture provides a powerful vantage point from which to evaluate our own and other cultures and to reflect on the complexity of human behavior and institutions.
ONLINE MEDIEVAL SOURCES BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Online Medieval Sources Bibliography, created by the Center for Medieval Studies at Fordham University, is an annotated bibliography of printed and online primary sources for the Middle Ages. This database provides a searchable bibliography of texts—from private letters, wills, and household accounts to literary works, philosophical treatises, chronicles, court proceedings, church records, and a host of other documents—that were written in the Middle Ages and are now available in printed or online editions and translations. The aim is to provide annotated entries that include information on the genre, contents, archival reference and original language of the text, as well as whether the publication includes a translation, introduction, appendices, glossary, and index. Where appropriate, the bibliography also includes hyperlinks to sources that are online.
THE ORB: ON-LINE REFERENCE BOOK FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES
TEAMS
TEAMS, the Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages, was originally founded as a committee of the Medieval Academy of America to develop new ways to support the teaching activities of its members. It was later re-organized as an independent nonprofit educational corporation whose mission continues to be the support of teaching in medieval studies at the undergraduate, secondary, and elementary school levels through the provision of resources and the sharing of techniques. Current programs include the publication of TEAMS Teaching Texts in cooperation with Medieval Institute Publications, the maintenance of an online library of Middle English texts, and the establishment of a committee for outreach to secondary schools. It sponsors several sessions of papers at the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CENTRE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The University of Toronto Centre for Medieval Studies was envisaged by its founders not just as an institutional umbrella for traditional departments but as a meeting point at which topics and issues touching several different disciplines would be explored and studied in depth. Medieval Studies in Toronto has an international reputation, resting on the wide-ranging interests of its faculty, the calibre and preparation of its graduates, and its excellent library facilities. The Centre coordinates a program combining the resources of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and of a wide variety of participating departments and programs in the University of Toronto.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CENTRE FOR RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION STUDIES
The University of Toronto Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies (CRRS) is a research and teaching centre with a library devoted to the study of the period from approximately 1350 to 1700. It features an online exhibit of CRRS rare books.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDIAEVAL STUDIES
The Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto is an institute for advanced studies in the intellectual and material cultures of the Middle Ages.
WORLD SHAKESPEARE BIBLIOGRAPHY ONLINE
The World Shakespeare Bibliography Online is a searchable electronic database consisting of the most comprehensive record of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide between 1962 and 2006. Containing over 110,000 annotated entries, this collected information is an essential tool for anyone engaged in research on Shakespeare or early modern England. In 2001, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) awarded the WSB Online the Besterman/McColvin medal for outstanding electronic reference work.
The ORB is an academic site, written and maintained by medieval scholars for the benefit of their fellow instructors and serious students. It includes an encyclopedia, a textbook library, a tool guide for medieval studies, resources for teaching, general interest topics, external links, e-texts, and a reference shelf.
The Medieval Insitute at the University of Notre Dame, founded in 1946, coordinates the teaching and researc of the largest contingent of medievalists of any North American University. Faculty and students explore together the cultures and experiences of the peoples of the Arab, Jewish, Latin, and Orthodox medieval worlds. The Institute sponsors lectures, conferences, and publications.
The Medieval Association of the Pacific is an organization of university faculty, students, and independent scholars from around the Pacific Rim, including North America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The Association was founded in 1966 and has a distinguished history of supporting interdisciplinary medieval studies through its annual conference and its journal Chronica.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL CONGRESS
The International Medieval Congress (IMC) is organized and administered by the Institute for Medieval Studies. Since its start in 1994, the conference has established itself as an annual event with an attendance of over 1,400 medievalists from all over the world. It is the largest conference of its kind in Europe.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL BIBLIOGRAPHY (IMB)
The French of England Web site facilitates access to material centering on the French documents of England: partial or complete translations of previously untranslated and unpublished work, and research not yet published. The site welcomes today's newer approaches in, for example, post-colonial and feminist studies, which seek to cross, re-align, or even erase disciplinary boundaries, and addresses scholars' questions about the ways in which "French" texts might be "English" and about the interrelations between insular French literature and that of the continent.
The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is an international center for scholarship, providing resources for study and publishing scholarly works in Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Garden and Landscape Studies. Begun as a private collection by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss in 1920, and given to Harvard University in 1940, the library and collections include art objects, artifacts, manuscripts, and rare books. The house and collections are currently undergoing renovations and are closed, but the garden remains open to the public.
The Chaucer Review Online Index provides an online index to the 798 articles published in The Chaucer Review during its thirty years and two online abstracts of those articles. The subject index is alphabetical, its scope explained fully in the online introduction; the abstracts are arranged alphabetically by author's last name and numbered sequentially. Head links allow one to jump to a letter of the alphabet (for the index) or to a range of some 40 items (for the abstracts). A search engine in promised.