MEDMED-L

A new listserv is available now for anyone interested in medieval medical
history: MEDMED-L. Although this has been created primarily with the
interests of scholars working on Europe and the Mediterranean world in mind,
if people working in other areas of the world but in similar timeframes
would like to participate, they are most certainly welcome as are all
working in traditions that draw on humoral theory, etc.



At the bottom of this message is a link to a webpage where you can go to
request to be enrolled in MEDMED-L. Under "Options," click on the "Join or
Leave MEDMED-L" link. That will take you to a page where you can fill in
your name and email address. I recommend you leave all the other settings
in their default positions, except for "Acknowledgements". There, I
recommend you choose "Receive copy of own postings" so you'll have
confirmation that any messages you send have in fact gotten through to the
list. Click on "Join MEDMED-L". Once you send that request, it comes to me
and I approve it. You'll then receive a confirmation notice in your email
account acknowledging that you've been added to the list; this is an
automated, computer-generated message. You will also receive a "Welcome"
message with basic info on managing your subscription. You should keep both
messages in your "listserv folder" in your email account, in case you need
to refer to them later. You should also add MEDMED-L@asu.edu to your "safe
senders" list in your e-mail address book to make sure that incoming
messages don't end up in the junk mail pile.



And that's it! From then on, you can "post" to the list any time you want
by simply sending an e-mail to MEDMED-L@asu.edu. The one hard and fast
restriction of this system is that you MUST post from the e-mail account you
used when you subscribed. Thus, if you subscribed from your university
e-mail account but then try to post from your gmail (Google mail) account,
your message will be rejected. (The simple way around this is to subscribe
from both addresses you use; you will then be able to post from either one.
You will, however, get two copies of all postings.)



I am setting up MEDMED-L as an "unmoderated" listserv. That means that I,
as listserv manager, do not exercise any editorial functions in screening
messages. Once you post a message, it goes out immediately to all
subscribers with no filtering. (Which means, of course, that you should
double-check before you hit the "SEND" button!) Subscribers are on their
honor to keep messages civil and "on topic" in relation to the theme of the
list. I would like to see subscribers post in whatever language they feel
most comfortable, with people who reply doing the same. I would very much
like to see this serve as a forum in which the whole international scholarly
community feels welcome.



The one special request I would make of all subscribers: when you enroll,
please send a short bio to the list introducing yourself, giving some
information on your training in the field (novices are welcome), and
providing a brief summary of your research interests. When you do this,
please head your message "Bio: [your name]". That way, people can quickly
look up all the bios in our archives whenever they want to know who has
expertise in a certain field.



Please let me know if you have any questions. If you enroll and decide the
list is not for you, you simply go to the same webpage where you initially
enrolled and ask for your name to be removed from the list of subscribers.
(You can also set your mail on "hold" if you know you'll be away for a while
and don't want messages piling up in your inbox.)



I envision this listserv functioning as a forum to announce conferences, new
publications, etc., but also as a casual forum where we can ask research
questions of each other. Medieval medical history is a thriving field, but
still in a relatively adolescent stage of development. We all have a
tremendous amount to gain from sharing--as we have always done in a field
defined (in my opinion) by its generosity as much as by its excellence.