Dear Members of the Society,
Welcome to the 2023 issue of Medieval Sermon Studies! Here, along with several interesting articles and book reviews, you will find a special section that originated in our 2021 virtual (Léon) Symposium, ‘Conversions and Life Passages through the Mirror of Medieval Preachers’. I thank Linda Jones and Jussi Hanska for their editorial efforts here, joining our regular editorial team of Patricia Stoop, Marjorie Burghart, and Edward Sutcliffe.
A highlight of the Society’s work this year was a pair of online workshops for postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. Our goal was to enable newer members of our field, in a non-Symposium year, to receive input on their projects from international peers and senior scholars in a virtual format. The first workshop took place in February for early career scholars. Alexander Marx presented ‘The medieval reception of the Roman Conquest of Jerusalem (70 CE): What sermons can tell us about a seminal historical event’. His two respondents were Jessalynn Bird and Jussi Hanska. Svetlana Yatsyk discussed ‘A diachronic analysis of circulation of “Breviloquium de virtutibus” by John of Wales’ and received feedback from Shari Boodts and Paolo Maggioni. In April, our second workshop was held in which first-year PhD students presented drafts of their dissertation proposals. Katarina Hallquist presented ‘Inner vision in the spirituality and preaching of late medieval Vadstena Abbey, Sweden’; Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby responded. Lucas Christensen’s proposal, entitled ‘Hierophant: Guiding physical and spiritual perception in Early Byzantine homiletic ekprhasis’, was responded to by James C. Skedros. Those who presented at our similar virtual sessions in 2021 were invited to attend, along with members of the Council. Many thanks go to Carolyn Muessig for organizing these events and to all those willing to give time and effort to encouraging a new generation of sermonists.
At the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo this spring, we sponsored five sessions, in both face-to-face and virtual formats. We also had a delightful dinner and a fruitful business meeting lunch. It was wonderful to be in person once again! We are grateful to our Secretary, Jessalynn Bird, for organizing. Thanks also go to Alexander Marx for organizing a session for us at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July.
Over the past year, the Council has been discussing the future of Medieval Sermon Studies. The field of academic publishing is changing rapidly, and many scholars are seeking open access platforms for publishing their work. We set up a task force to examine various options that will provide our journal with a continued high level of professional recognition, an attractive and professional-looking presentation, a reasonable turn-around time for articles, variable length for individual issues, and increased open access, all at a reasonable cost. Along with our editors, the task force includes Yuichi Akae, Emanuele Fontana, Ottó Gecser, and Hans-Jochen Schiewer. We are grateful for their ongoing research and anticipate a recommendation from the group before our next Symposium.
Our 24th Symposium will take place in Prague, 12–16 July 2024, on the theme, ‘Preaching and Conflict’. The planning committee headed by Pavel Soukup and Lucie Doležalová, and assisted by Kim Rivers and Pietro Delcorno, is busily at work. The call for papers is out, keynote speakers have been invited. Registration will open around 1 April. Watch for further details on our website (imsss.net, with thanks to Kim Rivers and Kim Nguyen), Facebook page, and Google group.
With best wishes,
Anne Thayer
President