Tired of the endless onslaught of addictive short form content on your social media feeds? Join us this month as we rediscover the simple power of our senses through the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux with Dr. Macie Sweet, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Loyola University New Orleans. Dr. Sweet provides insight into the exciting transitions of a scholar early in their career, shares about her writing process, and reminisces about her first foray into the exciting world of medieval mysticism.Contact information for Dr. Sweet:[email protected]://www.bl.uk/collection/digitised-manuscripts-archives

This month, Dr. Anne Elise Crafton returns to the podcast to update us on their first year as the Professor of Early Literature and Linguistics at Mississippi University for Women. We discuss how medieval studies changes based on context, the joys and woes of a new professor's first year teaching, and how Mississippians handle the finer points of Old English poetry translation.https://www.annecrafton.com/home

This month, we chat with Dr. Mekhola Gomes, Assistant Professor of History and Asian Languages and Civilizations at Amherst College, about copper plate land grants, kinship, and what it means to study the Middle Ages outside of Europe. Dr. Gomes discusses her book project on how kinship and property shaped early medieval India between the third and eighth centuries, and reflects on how medieval studies is expanding its horizons. We also talk about the joys of slowly, painstakingly reading ancient inscriptions, teaching the Ramayana to undergraduates, and why understanding the past on its own terms still matters.Reach out to Dr. Gomes via BlueSky: [email protected]@oldthingsarefun.bsky.social

What happens to an ancient priesthood when the balance of power changes? This month, we’re joined by Dr. Kayla Dang, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Saint Louis University, to uncover the dramatic transformation of the Zoroastrian priesthood. We learn who Zoroaster was, and we dive into the world of the 9th and 10th centuries to understand how a vast administrative bureaucracy reinvented itself — navigating life alongside Christians and Jews — to keep a faith alive under Islamic rule. From the linguistic puzzles of medieval sources to the “invisible” presence of Muslims in the Zoroastrian texts, we explore how this community navigated a shifting religious and political landscape.https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/theological-studies/faculty/kayla-dang.phphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfh6zMpE5Wk&[email protected]

This month, we speak with Dr. Manolis Ulbricht, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Ulbricht has been tracing the transmission of Greek translations of the Qur'an and their use in Byzantine anti-Islamic polemic. We discuss his unexpected career turn from a Volkswagen internship in China to medieval history, his experience studying Arabic in Syria, and how several medieval anti-Islamic stereotypes persist to this day.To reach out to Dr. Ulbricht: [email protected]

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Linda G. Jones of Pompeu Fabra University about Muslim women as preachers and religious authorities in the medieval Islamic world. Drawing on biographical dictionaries and hagiographic sources, she explains how informal homiletic traditions, especially within Sufism, created space for female leadership beyond official religious institutions. We also discuss working with Arabic manuscripts, the challenges of archival research, teaching medieval history in Spain and the U.S., and why the humanities still matter.https://www.upf.edu/web/ecerm/linda-gale-joneshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrARUBVDN_E

If you've ever written a letter, you probably weren't thinking about who might be reading it hundreds of years in the future. You definitely weren't thinking about its historical accuracy. But in his latest book, Rewriting the First Crusade: Epistolary Culture in the Middle Ages (Boydell Press, 2024), Dr. Thomas Smith explains how medieval letters have become incredible historical sources. They crossed languages and cultures, built communities, and often blurred lines between fact and fiction. Our conversation also dives into university versus UK public school teaching, breaking down myths surrounding the medieval church, and why you really need to watch the extended cut of Kingdom of Heaven.To find out more about Dr. Smith:https://thomaswsmith.co.uk/To find Dr. Smith's recent book:https://boydellandbrewer.com/book/rewriting-the-first-crusade-9781837651757/To follow Dr. Smith on instagram:@medieval_tom

Teresa of Avila was a mystic, philosopher, poet, reformer, and more. How does a translator bridge a 500 year gap to bring her poetry to life in the 21st century? How do educators foster "hunger for something meaningful" that new students bring to the classroom? We speak with Dana Delibovi to understand the importance of passion for one's work, the spirit of reincarnation in translation, and her path from advertising to translating powerful medieval poetry.Find Dana's book here:https://sweethunter.org/https://www.monkfishpublishing.com/product/sweet-hunter/Learn more about Dana here:https://danadelibovi.wordpress.com/

We think of monks as living peaceful lives, separated from the chaos of daily life, but throughout modern Turkey stand the remains of medieval fortress monasteries, used as both houses of worship and refuge in time of war. This month, we sit down with Dr. Tyler Wolford, 2024-2025 Postdoctoral Byzantine Fellow at the Medieval Institute, to learn about his work on these spiritual strongholds. We talk about the value of global archaeology, analysis of medieval settlement patterns, the definition of "Byzantine," and how digging in Ohio led him to excavations in Turkey's Maeander Valley.Click here to see Dr. Wolford's Byzantine Workshop:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1iHRsyv0AClick here to read Dr. Wolford's recent contribution to the Medieval Studies Research Blog:https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/2025/05/07/why-fortify-a-short-introduction-to-four-byzantine-fortifications-in-the-maeander-valley/

Everything is bigger in Texas, even the universities. But what is it like teaching medieval intellectual history at one of the largest public research institutions in the US? This week, we speak with Dr. Cary Nederman, Professor of Political Science at the Bush School of Texas A&M University. A scholar of medieval and early modern intellectual history, Dr. Nederman shares how he became a political theorist of the Middle Ages more or less by accident and how the study of ideas, especially those of William of Ockham, can shape civic life today. We talk about collaboration in academia, from undergraduates to full professors, how COVID-19 reshaped his teaching, and why modern social media might have more in common with medieval friendship networks than you'd expect.Feel free to email Dr. Nederman any questions at:[email protected] enjoy Dr. Nederman's lecture at the Medieval Institute here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StWlXZZG0CMRead more about the history of ideas here:https://www.jhiblog.org/