Dear Colleagues, Affiliates, and Friends:
First, I want to extend a very warm welcome to the newest member of the Humanities Institute team. Cody Childs is our new events coordinator and a fine job he is doing so far. Please stop by Hagerty 452 to say ‘hi’ if you get a chance.
Earlier this semester, CMRS co-sponsored with the Libraries a talk by English Ph.D. student Jessica Crabtree entitled ‘An 8th-Century Manuscript in Ohio: Examining the Daniel Fragment of the Luxeuil Prophets.’ The fragment in question was loaned to the university by collector Stuart Rose for use in our Fall 2024 class on "Medieval Manuscript Studies.” Stuart had travelled to Columbus to witness the scholarly fruits of his generosity which Jess’s presentation amply demonstrated. In fact, Stuart was so impressed by the detailed story Jess was able to weave about this single leaf (the earliest surviving textual witnesses to the Book of Daniel in Latin) that he announced his intention to donate it to the library. This is the latest and most extraordinary act of kindness that Stuart has shown to our community. On several occasions, he has opened his house (and library) to CMRS classes to examine first-hand his wide-ranging collections. It’s also worth noting that Stuart and his wife Mimi are generous benefactors of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. to which our own Center has close links. When the Folger reopened recently after prolonged remodeling, items from Stuart’s collection took center stage in the newly established Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book Room and Exhibition Hall. We extend our immense gratitude to the Roses and look forward to future visits.
You may remember that before COVID, CMRS had taken some modest steps out into the wider community to show our friends and neighbors what we were up to in the world of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. For example, Sarah-Grace Heller and I both gave talks at the Westminster-Thurber Senior Living community just west of campus. These were well attended and enthusiastically received. We are now looking to renew this initiative by reaching out to other organizations, clubs, and businesses in the Columbus region whose members might enjoy a lively image-driven talk from one of our faculty affiliates or graduate students. After all, who doesn’t want to hear about witches, penguins, cheese-making, or the world of Shakespeare, to name but a few of the topics our faculty are teaching about and researching? The new Clintonville Books on High Street have already shown interest in hosting our speakers. Please let me know if you can think of other potential venues. At a time when the Humanities often gets bad press, it’s important that we share our work with the wider public.
The CMRS team has decided to bring forward the date of our next Popular Culture and the Deep Past (PCDP) event. Instead of February 2026, it will be held now in November 2025 (November 8th precise). We hope that moving from a winter to a fall event will bring out a larger crowd and make possible more outdoor activities (last February, a small group of us stood shivering at a falconry event near the Oval; although we got to see the birds, it was sadly too cold for them to fly). Having focused on “Sports and Pastimes” at the last PCDP, the 2025 iteration will be devoted to the concept and genre of “Romantacy”! This theme has surged in popularity, dominating everything from TikTok trends to bookstore shelves. The resurgence of fantasy literature is both timely and significant, reflecting how popular culture continues to draw inspiration from medieval and Renaissance ideas of courts, castles, marriages, quests, and other fantastical elements. As we dive into planning, we’d love to hear from you! What Romantasy books have you adored? Which authors are you following? What tropes do you want more (or less) of? Let us know—after all, what’s a great quest without a bit of crowd-sourced magic?
I hope you will be able to join us for our end of year party and Awards Ceremony scheduled for April 22nd.
