Center for Medieval Studies

Institute for Advanced Study
College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota

 

 

THE MINNESOTA MANUSCRIPT  RESEARCH LABORATORY

 

invites you to attend the

 

2007 Workshop on MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS

 

A practical, hands-on introduction to the study of manuscripts

at the research center of

THE HILL MUSEUM AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY (HMML)

Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN

 

June 3—8, 2007

 

 

 

 

The Minnesota Manuscript Research Laboratory (MMRL) is a project of the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota. The Laboratory seeks to be a resource for scholars, through a variety of workshops, web pages, and individual consultations. These offerings aim to provide an orientation to the study of medieval manuscripts and their contents, and are open to graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and other individuals.

 

For more information on the MMRL and HMML, please visit their web sites:

 

MMRL: http://www.cmedst.umn.edu/projects.html

Click on “Current MMRL website”

 

HMML:  http://www.hmml.org

Click on “Visit & Shop” for directions to HMML and links to other visitor information.

 

Workshop objectives include:

 

  • providing an orientation to the study of medieval scripts, books, and documents;

 

  • introducing basic skills for the description of manuscripts, the identifi­cation of unattributed texts, and textual editing;

 

  • providing practice in identifying and locating manuscripts pertinent to various research projects;

 

  • discussing the kinds of problems that scholars in various fields investigate through the study of medieval manuscripts;

 

  • introducing a set of printed and on-line tools to help students learn “how to read a medieval book.”

 

This one-week workshop will in no sense substitute for a university course in palaeography or codicology. Instead, it will orient students to these disciplines, assist them in evaluating scholarly arguments pertaining to manuscripts, and help them decide if they wish to pursue further study of textual disciplines. The main focus will be on manuscripts in Latin, plus those in European vernacular languages and Greek, but information presented will also apply to work in other languages. The presenters attempt to include materials of specific interest to those enrolled.

 

 

 

Facilities & accommodations:

 

The workshop sessions will be held at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, at Saint John’s University and Saint John’s Abbey, located about an hour northwest of Minneapolis. HMML is world-renowned for its extensive collection of microfilm and digital images of medieval manuscripts. Their ever-expanding collection contains images of over 90,000 medieval manuscripts. Students will also have access to the Alcuin Library at Saint John’s, which contains not only a collection of rare printed books, but also extensive materials on the history of the Middle Ages in general and the history of books and of religion in particular, including many books and journals difficult to find elsewhere in the state. 

 

Students will be housed in a dormitory on the Saint John’s campus and take meals in the campus refectory. They will also be welcome to attend, as observers or participants, monastic prayer services, which continue a liturgical tradition established early in the Middle Ages. These services are held in Saint John’s Abbey Church, designed by the noted architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981). In the evening, they may enjoy the beautiful grounds, where hiking, swimming and canoeing are available.

 

 

Workshop enrollment:

 

Enrollment priority will be given to University of Minnesota graduate students, but the workshop is open to undergraduate and graduate students from any institution, as well as to faculty, independent scholars, and other interested individuals.

 

While the workshop is designed as a non-credit educational opportunity, so that no tuition is charged, University of Minnesota students who wish to earn credit may make arrangements by enrollment in the regular academic year, in consultation with the Director of the Center for Medieval Studies, 301 Nolte Center, (612) 625-3034, noake001@umn.edu.

 

Cost of room for five nights, full board (three meals per day), and educational activities:

 

$550 for full-time University of  Minnesota students, registered for Spring semester, 2007

 

$575 (including a $25 administrative fee), for other individuals

 

Funds are available to defray fees for University of Minnesota graduate students officially registered for the Medieval Studies minor. Other students are encouraged to inquire about the availability of funds from their own academic departments.

 

For a two-page application, follow this link (pdf document to download) or contact:

 

Center for Medieval Studies

302 Nolte Center

315 Pillsbury Dr. S.E.

Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Phone:  (612) 626–0805          Email:  cmedst@umn.edu

 

Applications accepted until all places are filled or until May 18.

 

 

The Manuscript Laboratory’s program design and teaching materials are largely the collaborative work of the following three Minnesota scholars:

 

Diane Warne Anderson (Ph.D., Duke University) has taught palaeography and Latin for the University of Minnesota Department of Classics and Near Eastern Studies and for CMS.  She has also taught Latin and Greek at Saint John’s University and St. Olaf College. She has been employed as a cataloguer of medieval manuscripts at HMML and has published scholarly contributions to manuscript studies.

 

Theresa M. Vann (Ph.D., Fordham University) is the Joseph S. Micallef Curator of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and Adjunct Associate Professor of History at Saint John's University. She has edited several scholarly books, is publishing a translation of The Siege of Rhodes, and has overseen the creation of HMML's on-line manuscript catalogue.

 

Susan J. Noakes (Ph.D., Yale University) is Director of the Center for Medieval Studies and Professor of French and Italian at the University of Minnesota.  Among her many publications on medieval literature are several which treat centrally the history of manuscripts, early printed books, and reading practices in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, including Timely Reading: Between Exegesis and Interpretation (Cornell U. Press, 1988).