MEDIEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA

Founded in 1925, the Medieval Academy of America was the first organization in the United States dedicated to medieval studies. Centered in Cambridge,

Massachusetts, it is a constituent member of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Medieval Academy is the "largest organization in the world devoted to medieval studies," attracting scholars from all over the world; in 2000 it had 4,160 members. The academy is more than a group of medieval historians, since it fosters teaching and research in "medieval art, archaeology, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social and economic institutions, and all other aspects of the Middle Ages." It is open to anyone with an interest in the Middle Ages, which it defines as a period stretching from a.d. 500 to 1500. Although it concentrates on western Europe, the academy's interests also include Arabic, Byzantine, Hebrew, and Slavic studies

The academy publishes Speculum—A Journal of Medieval Studies, which has the widest circulation of any journal in the field. Published four times a year, it includes annually over 1,000 pages of articles, book reviews, and short notices on newly published books. Three times a year, the Medieval Academy News appears, containing information on events, fellowships, prizes, and other opportunities for medievalists. Since 1928 the academy has been publishing books and monographs, having over 100 titles in print. To facilitate its book production, it has concluded a contract with the University of Toronto Press to co-publish Medieval Academy books. Together with the University of Toronto, it also reprints books that are useful for teaching but that are out of print and no longer generally available to the public. The book subvention program helps subsidize first books by academy members at other non-profit scholarly presses.

In the spring, the academy holds an annual meeting at various sites in the United States and Canada, where scholarly papers are read and a business meeting is conducted. It also conducts sessions at the annual medieval conferences in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Leeds (United Kingdom) as well as at the yearly meeting of the American Historical Society. In 2001 the academy began to sponsor an annual lecture at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds.

The academy has also established a Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA) that "serves as a forum for teachers, administrators, and organizers of centers, institutes, programs, and regional and other organizations devoted to medieval studies." Each summer it provides scholarships for four students to study Latin at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Toronto. CARA also offers a prize for dissertation research, as well as awards for excellence in teaching and outstanding service, which is defined as providing "leadership in developing, organizing promoting, and sponsoring medieval studies through the extensive administrative work that is so crucial to the health of medieval studies but that often goes unrecognized by the profession at large."

Each year the academy awards the Haskins medal "for a distinguished book in the field of medieval studies." It is named after Charles Homer Haskins, an outstanding medievalist and one of the founders of the academy. It also offers the John Nicholas Brown Prize. Named after another founder, it is given to a resident of North America who has written a "first book or monograph on a medieval subject judged by the selection committee to be of outstanding quality." Van Courtlandt Elliott, the executive secretary of the academy and editor of Speculum from 1965 to 1970, has given his name to a prize that is awarded annually for a first article in medieval studies that is judged to be outstanding. Travel grants and dissertation grants are also awarded.

[t. e. carson]