Forum and Medieval Studies History

1971 Medieval Studies Council formed. First presentation is on Medieval Law vs. Modern Law.
1979 Drs. Mary Taylor, Herb Otto, Richard Chisholm, and Manuel Marquez-Sterling concieve of the idea of the Medieval Forum while attending the International Medieval Conference at Kalamazoo, Michigan in May, recognizing the need for a smaller forum more easily accessible to medievalists in New England. This same year, the Medieval Studies minor is approved, and included in Plymouth State's 1979-1980 course catalog. Medieval Studies remains a minor today.
1980 The first Medieval Forum, chaired by Dr. Richard Chisholm. Dr. Manuel Marquez-Sterling was chair of the Medieval Studies Council at the time.
1982 The Medieval Studies major is approved, and included in Plymouth State's 1982-1983 course catalog. For various reasons, this Medieval Studies major was discontinued after the 2003-2004 catalog; a new option is being considered, and an Interdiscipliary Studies and a Humanities majors are available.
1983 Dr. Richard Chisolm was on sabbatical during the spring semester, and the Dr Manuel Marquez Sterling assumed the duties of Forum director. After the 1983 forum, Dr. Marquez-Sterling headed the Medieval Studies Council and the Forum until his retirement in 1999.
1998-1999 Dr. Eleanor Cogdon is appointed chair of the Medieval Studies Council, and becomes the director of the Medieval Forum. Ms. Marsi Wisniewski becomes associate director of the Forum.
2000-2001 Dr. Andrew Smyth joins the Medieval Studies Council.
2002-2003 Forum 24: Dr. Andrew Smyth becomes director of the Medieval Forum, setting in motion the growth of the forum into a Medieval and Renaissance Forum. Mr. Matt Rolph is appointed associate director of the Forum. Mr. Rolph remains in place as associate director today. Dr. Todd Treverrow, then Director of Library at Plymouth State, welcomed participants to the opening ceremonies. [We were saddened by our colleague's passing in 2004. A student Medieval Society award was named in his honor, and first awarded at Forum 26.]
2003-2004 Forum 25: Dr. Naomi Kline becomes director of the forum, now a Medieval and Renaissance Forum and celebrating its 25th anniversary. Dr. Brian Levy of the University of Hull, England is keynote speaker, giving an address on "Humor in the Bayeaux Tapestry." [We were saddened to learn of Dr. Levy's death in Sep. 2004. A student Medieval Society (MedSoc) award is named in his honor, and first awarded at Forum 26.] Dr. Manuel Marquez-Sterling recieves the inaugural Knight of the Forum award, with award statuette designed by artist and Professor of Art, Emeritus Robert Morton, for his innumerable contributions and invaluable service.
2005 Forum 26: Dr. Malcolm Jones of the University of Sheffield, England is the keynote speaker, giving an address entitled "Bridging the Great Divide - the Continuity of Secular Imagery from the late Medieval to Early Modern Era." Also in 2005, the Medieval Studies Council meets for a last time and votes to merge with the Humanities Council. Discussions regarding a Humanities: Medieval Studies option continue today. Prof. R. Dean Ware of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Emeritus, receives the Knight of the Forum award for his contributions to the forum. Many regular forum contributors are students of Prof. Ware's; all who know him have been inspired by his work and dedication.
2006 Forum 27: Our 27th annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum will convene this April on the theme of "Friends, Foes, and Lovers" with Dr. Debra Higgs Strickland of University of Glasgow, Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies as keynote speaker. Students and scholars from across the United States and Canada and around the world come to Plymouth State for the small, congenial academic forum, one of the longest running of its kind, and related events, friendly campus, Main Street New England setting, and New Hampshire's great outdoors. Join us! More .

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This page is maintained by Matt Rolph, Associate Director of the Medieval Forum