Lecture Announcement: Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado, “Why Can’t Mary Sin?”
Monday, August 24, 12:00-2:00pm
Ryan Randle awarded the 2025-2026 Deanne Gebell Gitner '66 and Family Annual Prize for Teaching Assistants
The Deanne Gebell Gitner '66 and Family Annual Prize for Teaching Assistants is named for Deanne Gebell Gitner, a 1966 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences and a dedicated Cornell volunteer.
Faculty excellence in teaching and advising honored with 2026 awards
Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences honors the winners of its 2026 teaching and advising awards. Faculty members Nicole Giannella, Karola Mészáros and Landon Schnabel stand out this year, earning major awards for excellence; many instructors and teaching assistants received recognition, as well.
Jordan Chauncy wins Tom Hill Prize
Jordan Chuancy, a PhD candidate in Medieval Studies, has been awarded the 2026 Tom Hill Prize for "Reason and the Egg: A Trans Feminine Roman de Silence." Jordan's essay offers a new approach to the thirteenth-century French romance Le Roman de Silence, (re)reading the complex gender play of the titular Silence -- who is born…
Esther Grace Brenner wins Carol Kaske Prize
Esther Grace Brenner, a senior Classics major with Art History and Fine Arts minors, has been awarded the 2026 Carol Kaske Prize for "Juridical Authority and Visual Exegesis in the Rossano Gospels: Anatomizing Folio 16." Esther's essay, which focuses on a miniature depicting the judgement of Pontius Pilate, reveals how early Christian art incorporated the…
Admitted Class of 2030 seeks real-world impact
Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries. At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.
Your March 2026 reads
This month’s featured titles by A&S alumni and faculty include an evolutionary look at dating, a Christian work on inner peace and a queer love story.
MSSC 2026: Mirror Worlds
We hope that you can join us for the 36th annual Medieval Studies Student Colloquium: Mirror Worlds on Saturday, February 21, 2026. It will be held all day in the A.D. White House.
Spring 2026 Medieval Studies Graduate Student Roundtable
The Roundtable, organized by the Medieval Studies Graduate Association (MSGA), is a place for graduate students to workshop their projects and a community space where everyone's voice and presence are valued whether or not they have expertise on the topic being presented. It is both a space for graduate students to receive feedback on their…
New digital collections preserve, examine Cornell history
Newly published digital collections at Cornell University Library explore areas of Cornell history. Freely accessible online, the three new collections were digitized from materials held in Cornell University Library’s Rare and Manuscript Collections.
Alice Wolff, PhD '25, publishes article in Weed Technology
Alice Wolff (Ph.D. 2025, Cornell Medieval Studies) and Antonio DiTommaso (Professor, Cornell University) published their article, "To know diverse manner of weeds: the development of weed identification manuals in early modern England and their influence on North American guides" in Weed Technology, 2025
Zachary Thomas publishes translated edition in the Brepols Library of Christian Sources series
Thomas' translated edition of Radulph of Rivo's 'On the Observance of Canons' (with his collaborator Gerhard Eger) has been published by Brepols as part of their Library of Christian Sources series.
CfP: 2026 Cornell Medieval Studies Student Colloquium: Mirror Worlds
The Cornell Medieval Studies Program is pleased to announce the 36th annual Medieval Student Colloquium (MSSC) in person at Cornell University's A.D. White House on Saturday, February 21, 2026.
Zachary Thomas publishes translated edition in the Os Justi Studies in Liturgical History and Reform series
Thomas' translated edition of Jean-Baptiste le Brun des Marette's 'Liturgical Travels Through France' (with his collaborator Gerhard Eger) has been published by Os Justi Press as part of their series in Liturgical History and Reform.
Fall 2025 Medieval Studies Graduate Student Roundtable
The Roundtable, organized by the Medieval Studies Graduate Association (MSGA), is a place for graduate students to workshop their projects and a community space where everyone's voice and presence are valued whether or not they have expertise on the topic being presented. It is both a space for graduate students to receive feedback on their…
New book introduces Maimonides, ‘one of civilization’s greatest minds’
Maimonides, one of the most significant intellectual figures of the medieval period,worked as a physician, thought like a scientist, and served as a leader of the Jewish community in Cairo.
From posters to precedent, humanities scholars showcase their research
Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.
S. Gottfried wins inaugural Carol Kaske Prize
S. Gottfried, an interdisciplinary College Scholar (with concentrations in philosophy, literature, and medieval studies) has been awarded the inaugural Carol Kaske Prize for "We’re Off to the Wild Woods: A Phenomenological Investigation of the First Branch of the Mabinogi," which offers a phenomenological reading of the Welsh Annwn (the Otherworld) to explore another way of…
Willow Groundwater-Schuldt wins inaugural Tom Hill Graduate Essay Award
Willow Groundwater-Schuldt, a PhD student in German Studies, has been awarded the inaugural Tom Hill Graduate Essay Award for "The Hysteric Kriemhild," which offers a Lacanian reading of the Nibelungenlied, in dialogue with Hegel, to recalibrate modern approaches to the genres of epic and tragedy beyond the Greek tradition. The prize was announced at the…
Sarah LaVoy-Brunette awarded a Henry Roe Cloud Fellowship, Yale
Medieval Studies PhD candidate Sarah LaVoy-Brunette has been named the 2025/26 Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing Fellow in American Indian and Indigenous Studies at Yale University. The Henry Roe Cloud Fellowship honors the legacy of Henry Roe Cloud (Ho-Chunk), a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Nebraska and graduate of Yale College, 1910. Since 2010,…
Alice Wolff earns honorable mention for Knight Institute Slevin Award
Medieval Studies PhD candidate Alice Wolff has earned a Knight Institute James F. Slevin Assignment Sequence honorable mention for "History of an Ingredient: Introduction to Primary Source Analysis," an assignment in her First Year Writing Seminar, "Aspects of Medieval Culture: Food in the Medieval World." The Slevin Award is given for excellence in assignment sequences…
Giving Day 2025
Please help the Cornell Medieval Studies Program do even more by supporting us on Giving Day, Thursday March 13, 2025 – it’s quick and easy. Gifts in previous years have funded student research trips, brought scholars to campus for lectures and workshops, and otherwise supported us in keeping the Cornell Medieval Studies Program a world-class…
Zachary Thomas awarded a Zhu Family Graduate Fellowship
The Zhu Family Graduate Fellowships in the Humanities recognize and support a select group of high-potential graduate students in their final years, enabling them to focus on their research and complete their dissertations, free from teaching obligations. The fellowships were created through a gift from Jonathan Zhu, J.D. ’92, and Ruby Ye, M.S. ’90, Ph.D.…
MSSC 2025: Dissonance and Dysphoria
We hope that you can join us for the 35th annual Medieval Studies Student Colloquium: Dissonance and Dysphoria on Saturday, February 2025. It will be held all day in the A.D. White House.
Medieval Studies Spring 2025 Roundtable
The Roundtable, organized by the Medieval Studies Graduate Association (MSGA), is a place for graduate students to workshop their projects and a community space where everyone's voice and presence are valued whether or not they have expertise on the topic being presented. It is both a space for graduate students to receive feedback on their…
Sarah LaVoy-Brunette, Ph.D. Candidate in Medieval Studies, publishes article in Speculum
Sarah LaVoy-Brunette, current Medieval Studies graduate student, publishes her article, “Anglo-Saxonism and Indigenous Dispossession: Land-Grab Universities and the Emergence of Medieval Studies” in Speculum's Centennial Issue (January 2025).
Manning honored for contributions to archaeology
Sturt Manning, received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Boston in November.
New student awards honor Medieval studies faculty
Medieval Studies has created new prizes for students. Submissions for both prizes are due Jan. 31 and will be judged by a faculty panel in the Medieval Studies Program.
Alice Wolff, Ph.D. Candidate in Medieval Studies, publishes article in Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Alice Wolff, current Medieval Studies graduate student, publishes her article, "A thorny problem: defining weeds from the medieval to the present" in Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 2024.
Crowdfunding launch supports Ways of Knowing podcast at Cornell
A crowdfunding campaign launched Nov. 1 to support a Cornell-based season of "Ways of Knowing,” a new podcast created by The World According to Sound.
Conference considers medicine from historical standpoint
The Nov. 2 conference will focus on an interdisciplinary approach.
Sophia D'Ignazio, Ph.D. 2022, publishes article in Journal of English and Germanic Philology
Sophia D'Ignazio, Cornell Medieval Studies Ph.D. 2022, publishes her article "Schoolgirl Grammar: Reading and Writing Beyond the Classroom" in Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 123.4.
LaVoy-Brunette and Chauncy publish in Medieval Ecocriticisms
Sarah LaVoy-Brunette and Jordan Chauncy, Ph.D. candidates in Medieval Studies, have published a co-authored article, "Settler Fantasies and Queer Disruptions: A Nonbinary Reading of Gerald’s Wolves," in Medieval Ecocriticisms 4 (2024), a special issue on "Trans Natures” edited by Aylin Malcolm and Nat Rivkin. Congratulations to Sarah and Jordan!
A&S announces membership in MLA Strategic Partnership Network
“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.
CfP: 2025 Cornell Medieval Studies Student Colloquium: Dissonance and Dysphoria
The Medieval Studies program at Cornell is pleased to announce the 35th annual Medieval Studies Student Colloquium (MSSC), which will take place in person at Cornell University in the A.D. White House on Saturday, February 22nd 2025.
Medieval Studies Fall 2024 Roundtable
The Roundtable, organized by the Medieval Studies Graduate Association (MSGA), is a place for graduate students to workshop their projects and a community space where everyone's voice and presence are valued whether or not they have expertise on the topic being presented. It is both a space for graduate students to receive feedback on their…
New A&S dean relishes ‘life in a university’
Peter John Loewen says he's excited to support faculty in their research, meet students and showcase the value of a liberal arts education.
Un-Stated: Low-Authority Societies in Medieval Europe
This workshop facilitates inter-disciplinary dialogue between scholars presenting case studies of low-authority and stateless environments during the European Middle Ages and researchers from across the social sciences and humanities interested in similar environments, both in practice and in theory, in the contemporary world. You are invited to join us, listen to the papers, and offer…
Peter Loewen named dean of Arts and Sciences
Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
Outstanding A&S teachers, advisors honored with 2024 awards
Among the faculty members being recognized this year for exceptional teaching and mentorship are Liliana Colanzi, Durba Ghosh, and Nick Admussen.
Giving Day 2024
Please help the Cornell Medieval Studies Program do even more by supporting us on Giving Day, Thursday March 14, 2024 – it’s quick and easy. Gifts in previous years have funded student research trips, brought scholars to campus for lectures and workshops, and otherwise supported us in keeping the Cornell Medieval Studies Program a world-class…
Book brings elusive Greek technical writer into focus
Hero of Alexandria's writings on things like pneumatics, pure geometry and catapults have influenced many others through the ages and his principles touch early modern inventions including the player piano and the fire engine.
2024 Medieval Studies Student Colloquium (MSSC): "Subjectivities"
The 2024 Medieval Studies Student Colloquium (MSSC), "Subjectivities," will be held virtually over Zoom throughout the day on Saturday, March 2nd. Sessions of papers will run between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time). Our keynote address, "Mixed Feelings: Finding Medieval Affect in Early English Poetics," will be delivered by Dr. Jennifer Lorden (William…
Medieval Studies faculty lecture, Thursday 15 February
Romance Studies is hosting their annual faculty lecture entitled Silence, Voice, Noise: Sound Scenes from the Poem of the Cid. The lecture will take place at 4:45pm on Thursday, February 15 in Goldwin Smith Hall room GSH142 with reception to follow in the Romance studies lounge, Klarman Hall room K164. Simone Pinet, Professor of Spanish…
Spring 2024 Medieval Studies Graduate Student Roundtable
Please join us at the Medieval Studies Graduate Student Roundtable this semester!
Sophia D'Ignazio, Ph.D. 2022, publishes article in Medieval Feminist Forum
Sophia D'Ignazio, Cornell Medieval Studies Ph.D. 2022, publishes her article "Women’s Public Language in the 'Old English Apollonius of Tyre'" in Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality 59, No. 1 (2023).
Chat in the Stacks with Courtney Ann Roby
Hero of Alexandria, the Greek mathematician and engineer, was a figure not only of enormous importance for ancient technology, but also for the later traditions that drew on his work, according to Courtney Ann Roby, associate professor in Classics, Medieval Studies, and Science and Technology Studies.
Zachary Thomas publishes translated edition in the Thomistic Ressourcement Series
Thomas' edition and translation of Fr. Franck Quoëx's Liturgical Theology in Thomas Aquinas: Sacrifice and Salvation History has been published as part of the Thomistic Ressourcement Series (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023).
James John, medieval historian, dies at 95
A specialist in the study of Latin manuscripts and the history of universities, John was a part of the Cornell community for more than 50 years, teaching medieval intellectual history, historiography and paleography – the study of historical writing systems and manuscripts.
Medieval Studies and COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture present a lecture with Michael Alan Anderson (Eastman School of Music) (USC)
Michael Alan Anderson, Professor and Chair of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music