Thursday, March 20
Friday, March 21
Saturday, March 22
fully online
The Open Access Medieval Studies (OAMS) conference, hosted by Medievalists for Palestine, aims to facilitate the critical and explicit intersection of Palestinian liberation and medieval studies. In doing this, the conference also seeks to intervene in the ways in which professional organizations like the MAA shape the field of medieval studies through their own institutional interests. Inspired, in part, by People’s University for Palestine coalitions, the OAMS conference aims to “open” the terrain of critical discourse in medieval studies to include an explicit discussion on Palestine. In addition to this goal, the OAMS conference also seeks to explore other avenues for making medieval studies more widely accessible, at a time when many academic conferences are removing accessible options introduced early in the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the first OAMS virtual conference will be organized around the theme of “liberation.”
IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT PALESTINIANS. Suggested channels:
The Refaat Alareer Camp - by The Sameer Project
The Gaza Team (a Scottish woman is international point-person, but team on the ground is Palestinian)
Support for Mahmoud Khalil
PROGRAM
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
**Links to sessions will be send to all registered attendees.**
Thursday, March 20
12:00–1:00pm EDT
Welcome and Reflection on Palestine Organizing around Academia
As part of the opening event, the student-led organization "Occupation Free Notre Dame" will speak on their experiences fighting for Palestinian liberation in a university context, and we'll also have comments from "MLA for Justice in Palestine," about their efforts.
1:15–2:15pm EDT
Panel: Methodology
Moderator: Julie Orlemanski
M. L., "Digital Liberation - Reconstructing Destroyed Medieval Palestinian Heritage through AI and Virtual Archives"
A. W. Strouse, "The Gentrified City of God: Liberatory Medievalism, Revolutionary and Counter-Revolutionary"
Cecilia Palombo, "The trade in Palestinian artifacts from the early Islamic period: Two case-studies about the liberation of historical narratives from the dispersal of material culture"
Simon Doubleday, "On Non-Intervention"
2:30–3:30pm EDT
Workshop: Ethically Navigating Academia for Early-Career Scholars
Lili Hsu, Nahir I. Otaño Gracia, Nicole Lopez-Jantzen, Carla Thomas
Friday, March 21
12:00–1:00pm EDT
Panel: Looking at the Past
Moderator: Nahir I. Otaño Gracia
Adam Miyashiro, "Palestine, Chivalry, and the Gender Politics of Zionism"
Aseel Najib, "Conquest and Resource Extraction in Early Islamic Legal Thought"
Danielle, Allor, "Dendrochronology and control of history in Palestine and medieval universal histories"
1:15–2:15pm EDT
Panel: Race & Gender
Moderator: Molly A. Martin
Jamie Keener, "Contextual Trifles: Gender, Race, and the Non/human in the Fairy Episodes of De Nugis Curialium"
Lili Hsu, "Liberatory Desire: Revolutionary Solidarity in Shelley Parker-Chan's Radiant Emperor Duology"
Nahir I. Otaño Gracia, "Chivalric Whiteness in the Arthurian Imagination"
Robert Clines, "Ariosto’s Women Don’t Need Saving: Liberating Angelica from Orlando Furioso"
2:30–3:30pm EDT
Workshop: Organizing Our Colleagues for BDS
Hosted by Boyda Johnstone and Sofya Aptekar
Saturday, March 22
12:00–1:00pm EDT
Poetry Hour
Hosted by Nahir I. Otaño Gracia and Jonathan Hsy
1:15–2:15pm EDT
Panel: Critical Approaches
Moderator: Catherine Introcaso
"On Being a 'Bad' Medievalist"
Emily Gerace, "What the Gaza Solidarity Encampments Taught Me About Scholarship"
Nicole Lopez-Jantzen, "A Global Middle Ages Includes Gaza"
Jamie Paris, "Theorizing Indigenous Solidarities in Premodern Studies"
2:30–3:30pm EDT
Reading Group Co-Sponsored by Workshops4 Gaza: Medievalists for Palestine Read Orisanmi Burton’s Tip of the Spear
Join Medievalists for Palestine for a reading group on Orisanmi Burton’s Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt (UC Press, 2023). This group will discuss Burton’s approach to the archives and think critically about the ethical obligations of medieval and historical research practices, as well as how counterinsurgent strategies of the state are replicated in academia — including but not limited to medieval studies.
Workshops4Gaza asks for a donation to The Sameer Project's North Gaza campaign
Buy Burton's book from W4G's shop
3:45–4:00pm EDT
Closing Remarks
Friday, March 28
2:00-3:00pm EDT
2025 Conference Debrief
Join us for a debrief one week following the conference, during which we will discuss the conference, reflect on what we learned, and propose next steps. All attendees, presenters, and organizers are welcome to join.
The Zoom link for this debrief is in the same schedule document circulated to registrants.