A Narrative for the Eye & Ear: The 25 Annual Medieval Renaissance Forum

On April 16 and 17 many new to the Plymouth Community will scratch their heads in confusion when they discover a “new look” given to Rounds Hall. The brightly colored banners and stained glass draped over the ancient building is not just an odd attempt to brighten campus, but to commemorate a great tradition in Plymouth State’s history. Plymouth’s Medieval Forum and Society will present the 25 Annual Medieval Renaissance Forum to Plymouth State University. This year’s theme, “Narrative for the Eye & Ear” is spearheaded by newly appointed Forum Director Naomi Kline. The Forum will commence on April 16, at 9:30 am at Rounds Hall Entranceway. Vice President for Academic Affairs, Virginia Berry, and Forum Director Naomi Kline will welcome guests of the forum, and Dr. Bowers from the English Department will once again offer a reading from Chaucer’s General Prologue. Tradition prevails, as Gaudeamis Igitur, a Latin anthem, is sung by all to initiate the event, and kick off the 25 Annual Medieval Renaissance Forum. The general sessions will begin at 10:15 Friday morning and continue through Saturday afternoon. Participants choose between four and five sessions in each of the six timeslots which will cover a variety of medieval and renaissance related topics. Medieval and Renaissance experts from over fifty colleges around the world will be in attendance, presenting roughly twenty sessions throughout the weekend.Special guest and keynote speaker Dr. Brian Levy of the University of Hull in England, an expert on Medieval French and Anglo-Norman Cultures will speak on “The Humor in the Bayeux Tapestry.” Dr. Levy is a well-known expert in his field and has published a variety of essays and books on the topic, including his latest book The Comic Text: Patterns and Images in the Old French Fabliaux. Dr. Levy will address the Forum during a luncheon in the HUB Multipurpose Room at noon on Friday.Special workshops to the forum include a Period Dance Workshop directed by Ken Pierce. A director of the early dance program at the longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, Pierce is a veteran chorographer, performer, teacher and scholar. Pierce has been involved in such productions as King Arthur at the Boston Early Music Festival. A Medieval Pottery Workshop and tutorial on the religious origins of the maze and significance in European culture are also featured in this year’s forum.In addition to their hard work to assemble the forum, many Medieval and Renaissance specialists from the Plymouth State Campus present sessions and informational papers. Plymouth State Professor, Dr. Andrew Smyth will present a lecture on Friday morning entitled “Snarling Rhetoric: Dogs in the Polemical Works of Sir Thomas More.” Dr. Naomi Kline, also of Plymouth State, will also present a lecture on Saturday morning. Former Plymouth State Professor Dr. Eleanor Congdon’s rather exotic lecture on “Venetian Merchants, Wool from Aragon/Catalonia, and the Woolent Textile Industry,” is also sure to draw a crowd.Plymouth State undergraduate students also participate in this exciting event. Seniors Lauren Moreau, Laura Grindle, Allison Cunningham, Stephen Bates and Maureen O’Brien will present their senior projects for the forum to commemorate their years of hard work as Medieval Studies Majors at Plymouth State. The student presentations are scheduled for Saturday at 2:15 in Rounds 304.Arguably the most widely-recognized affair of the forum, “The Human Chess Game,” is on Friday afternoon around two outside of the Hartman Union Building. Plymouth students gather to honor a great tradition and become, themselves, pieces of a massive chess board. A success in the past, the chess game has become a celebrated event among Plymouth students and faculty.The tradition of Plymouth’s Medieval Forum dates back to 1980, when the first Forum was organized by Chairman Richard Chisolm. The idea for a forum at Plymouth was conceived in 1979 by four Plymouth Medievalists when they were forced to travel as far as Michigan to attend a Forum of this nature. In 1982, the Medieval Major was approved as an offering, and finally appeared in the ’82-’83 course catalogue. Manuel Marquez-Sterling headed the council and the Forum from 1983 until 1998, when Eleanor Congdon was appointed chair. English Professor Andrew Smyth successfully directed the 24 medieval forum before it was handed off to Art Department faculty, Dr. Naomi Kline.For more information, registration and itinerary on the 25 Annual Medieval Renaissance Forum visit http://www.plymouth.edu/medieval/forum.htm or contact Forum Director Dr. Naomi Kline.