The Society for the Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages is requesting submission for three sessions at Kalamazoo, in May 2018.

Please contact Dr. James Matenaer ( jmatenaer@franciscan.edu ) to submit proposals and abstracts, by September 15.

 

The Psalms. The SSBMA has traditionally sponsored a session dedicated to discussing the interpretation of a particular book, or books, of the Bible. This session invites papers on current research being done on the interpretation and uses of the Psalms in medieval Europe. The Book of the Psalms was integral to the Christian devotion of medieval Europe as witnessed by its liturgical function in the saying of the divine office and its popularity among scripture commentators at medieval universities. This session is of interest to at least one member of the society, who has already communicated his interest in presenting his research as part of the session.

 

Illuminating Jesus (A Roundtable). The SSBMA would like to sponsor a roundtable discussion on the theme of "Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages." Jesus is a central, influential figure in the medieval period who is of intellectual, interdisciplinary interest to many medievalists. The critical impact of recent books by Mary Dzon and Sarah McNamer demonstrates this. Several of our members are doing new work on the reception history of Jesus in the Middle Ages, including our intended presider, Jane Beal, who is editing a volume for Brill on this subject, and one of our planned presenters, Sara Andyshak, who is completing a dissertation on illuminations of Jesus in the French/Spanish Bible moraliseé tradition. This session will provide networking and discussion opportunities for SSBMA members as well as other scholars interested in this theme. It also will serve as a bridge into a conference being planned by Steven Partridge on the "life of Christ" at the University of British Columbia for 2019.

 

Presentations of the Bible in the Middle Ages. With this session the SSBMA hopes to stimulate thought and discussion on the various guises in which the text of the Bible was communicated in the Middle Ages. From early medieval pandects to multivolume Bibles, both in Latin and the vernacular, and even to the imagery that has sometimes been referred to as “the people’s Bible,” biblical prose and poetry permeated the culture of Western Europe in the Middle Ages in a myriad of different forms and countless vehicles. This session is of interest to a number of our members, one of whom has already communicated his desire to present on the topic.

 

 

Frans van Liere

fvliere@calvin.edu