The Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship (SMFS) is an academic organization which "promotes the study of the

Patristic Age Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, and the Early Modern era from the perspective of

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

, and

feminist studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppressi ...

". 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 Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and femin ...

driven scholarship, at the largest international

medieval studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books ...

conferences, International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo and Leeds IMC. In 2007, the Society had over 1000 members from around the world.

History

1985 Medieval Feminist Newsletter

The origins of SMFS lay in the ''Medieval Feminist Newsletter'', begun in 1985 by the organization's founders, Elizabeth Robertson, E. Jane Burns, and Roberta (Bonnie) Krueger, who were later joined by Thelma Fenster who organised the "Commentary Column", and assisted by Colleen Anderson who typed the first newsletters. The founders met at the airport after the 1985 International Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo, Michigan, where "few sessions had considered women and none had been feminist". Robertson remembers that: The Newsletter was the "first publication to consider the relationship between feminism and medieval studies". The Newsletter was illustrated with the image of a dragon chasing the Virgin Mary as she read a Book of Hours, which was drawn by Megan Brill to avoid copyright infringements.

1992 Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship

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. Jacqueline Murray was the first president.

Medieval Feminist Forum

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

Connections with other scholarly societies

The organization is affiliated with the MLA and the AHA 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 Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

, the

International Medieval Congress The International Medieval Congress (IMC) is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, the study of the European Middle Ages (c. 300–1500). It is organised and administered by the Institute for Me ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

's annual meeting, and the Australia & New Zealand Association for Medieval & Early Modern Studies. The scholarly organisations and projects Feminist Art History Project and the Society for the Study of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages were founded following SMFS Kalamazoo meetings.

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 at

, where members were encouraged to contribute their time and expertise to adding and editing articles in their fields. SMFS members contribute to the maintenance of the Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index, which is hosted by the University of Iowa. SMFS is affiliated with the UK-based and regularly sponsors sessions at the GMS annual conference.

Notable SMFS Members

More about notable SMFS Members: *

Geraldine Heng Geraldine Heng is Mildred Hajek Vacek and John Roman Vacek Chair in English and Comparative Literature (formerly Perceval Professor) at the University of Texas at Austin, where, as of November 2022, she was also affiliated with Middle Eastern stud ...

* Jacqueline Murray *

Jennifer Summit Jennifer Summit (born 1965) is an American scholar of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature and was a professor of English at Stanford University, where she was Chair of the English Department between 2008 and 2011. In 2013, Summit became De ...

References

External links

''Medieval Feminist Forum''
{{authority control Historical societies of the United States Women's studies