Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship

The Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship (SMFS) is an academic organization which "promotes the study of the Patristic Age, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern era from the perspective of gender studies, women's studies, and feminist studies".[1] Its development followed the rise of the study of medieval women in the 1970s and 1980s, and sought to increase the number of and sponsor papers about medieval women, and feminist theory driven scholarship, at the largest international medieval studies conferences, International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo and Leeds IMC.[2][3]

History

The origins of SMFS lay in the Medieval Feminist Newsletter, begun in 1986 by the organization's founders, E. Jane Burns, Roberta (Bonnie) Krueger, Elizabeth Robertson, and Thelma Fenster.

The group became SMFS in 1992, driven by a desire to establish more formal networks for communication, funding, and with a view to producing publications.[4]

Since 1999, SFMS has produced Medieval Feminist Forum, a peer-reviewed journal which became an online-only journal in 2009.

The organization is affiliated with the MLA and the AHA [5] and has sponsored sessions at annual meetings of these societies. SMFS has also sponsored sessions at other major international conferences, including the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, the Medieval Academy of America's annual meeting, and the Australia & New Zealand Association for Medieval & Early Modern Studies.

Services and prizes

SMFS provides a Mentoring Exchange at most major conferences where it has a presence. It also awards several annual prizes, including one for the Best Graduate Essay, Best First Article of Feminist Scholarship on the Middle Ages, and Best First Book of Feminist Scholarship on the Middle Ages. It also manages a Listserv, MEDFEM-L.

In 2014, SMFS hosted a Wikipedia Write-In at the 49th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies[6] at Kalamazoo, where members were encouraged to contribute their time and expertise to adding and editing articles in their fields.[7]

References
  1. "Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship Webpage". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  2. Bennett, Judith, and Ruth Mazo Karras, eds. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe. Oxford: OUP. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780199582174.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. Watt, Diane, ed. (1997). Medieval Women in their Communities. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 1. ISBN 0802042899.
  4. "Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship 'History'".
  5. "American Historical Association: affiliated societies". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  6. "International Congress on Medieval Studies Program". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. "In the Middle, "Medieval Feminist Wikipedia Write-In #medievalwiki #Kzoo2014: Why Individual Medievalists Should Think About Encyclopedic Data"". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
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