Dear Cecilia,
this is a BIG question! The answers one would give would almost certainly
reflect the subject interest of the respondent, and I think you should --
after mentioning the diversity of 'the middle ages' and 'medieval history',
both in your audience's U.S. viewpoint as well as in that of other countries
-- state this in your talk.
This may be exceedingly dull and boring, but you might want to pick up a
copy of an early issue of a bibliographical journal like *International
Medieval Bibliography* and *Medioevo Latino*, and compare: a) main subject
headings used over the years; and b) how the proportions of the entries for
the headings may have changed over the years.
More interesting food for thought may come from examining the Illinois
Medieval Association Conference Announcement posted to the list shortly
after your query, by Anne Clark Bartlett. If this could be compared, say, to
the programme of a 1930s meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, the
differences would be VERY obvious. (For example, I didn't see much mention
in the IMA announcement of the *F* word: feudalism. Feudalists may disagree,
and say that their research should indeed be up there on your list -- if so,
I invite them to tell you why!)
Best wishes,
George Ferzoco
-----Original Message-----
I have been asked to do a short talk for an undergraduate audience on
the
state of the field -- defined here as "medieval history" but which in
this
day in age can of course be defined as "medievial cultural
history" including art, religion, literature, etc. And this got me to
ask myself what are the, say, five or six overriding issues that have
been
governing the field in the last few years. What are the areas in which
there has been the most innovative research and thinking of late, and
what
are the "big issues" that scholars are setting trying to work out now.
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