Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto

The Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto is thrilled to welcome CJ Jones, Professor of German Studies and Robert M. Conway Director of the The Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame for the first Convivium of the 2026-2027 series, "Liturgical Books, Religious Bodies: Designing Manuscripts for Monastic Ritual in the Late Middle Ages"!
Register today to attend virtually or in person. https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/events/cj-jones-liturgical-books-religious-bodies-designing-manuscripts-monastic-ritual-late-middle

Read "The Fall of King Arthur of Britain in Giovanni Boccaccio’s On the Downfall of the Famous" by Christopher Berard and Morris Tichenor on Medievalists.net!

The Fall of King Arthur of Britain in Giovanni Boccaccio’s On the Downfall of the Famous - Medievalists.net Giovanni Boccaccio uses the tale of the rise and fall of King Arthur to teach the fickleness of fortune and the peril of pridefulness. Christopher Berard and Morris Tichenor provide a new translation of this once influential but now overlooked medieval retelling of Arthur’s downfall.

The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto has presented Reza Hadisi (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Department of Philosophy / Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto) with the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Faculty Scholar Award. Congratulations, Professor Hadisi! 👏
https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/news/reza-hadisi-elahe-omidyar-mir-djalali-faculty-scholar-award/

Congratulations to CMS Alum, Bard Swallow, who, this fall will begin a Postdoctoral Fellowship with CMS Alum, Siân Echard at UBC on the research project, "With Quaint Words: Multilingual Wordplay in John Gower’s Latin Works". 👏
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news/bard-swallow-awarded-postdoctoral-fellowship-ubc

Congratulations to CMS Alumna, Deanna Brook's, who was recently appointed Assistant Professor at Brandon University. 👏
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news/deanna-brook%E2%80%99s-appointed-assistant-professor-brandon-university

Andrew Wiebe (he/them) is a Two-Spirit (Red River Michif, MMF) PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. His PhD project, Lii Lozh di Kaastor (The Beaver Lodge), is a co-created archival project that involves the creation of an interactive digital atlas of q***r knowledge with Two-Spirit Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and Scholars on Turtle Island. The corresponding thesis is a guide and example of how to build Indigenous and Q***r stories into traditional archival practice through ceremonial methodologies inspired by our relationship with beavers—tearing down trees and rebuilding the environment.

His presentation is called Lii Lozh di Kaastor: Two-Spirit Archives, Archival Friction, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty, and it examines the Two-Spirit Atlas (Lii Lozh di Kaastor) as a case study in Métis digital archival methodology, developed in collaboration with Métis Elders and Knowledge Keepers and grounded in my own Métis research practice. Central to this work is the Métis methodological practice of Kitchen Table Talks: relational conversations through which stories, protocols, and decisions about knowledge stewardship are collectively negotiated.

Two-Spirit histories have survived multiple colonial apocalypses—residential schools,
medicalization, HIV/AIDS, and ongoing archival erasure—yet remain fragmented across settler archival systems that privilege extraction, fixity, and institutional control. Rather than building a seamless participatory archive, the Atlas holds these tensions by centering community governance in its design and stewardship.

Drawing on Indigenous methodologies, Records Continuum theory, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty frameworks such as CARE and OCAP®, this talk explores how OCAP
Principles, often framed within First Nations governance, can be meaningfully extended into Métis research contexts through relational practices.

By focusing on infrastructure—servers, metadata, access controls, duplication, and refusal— Andrew frames archival repair as an ongoing relational process. Ethical digital archives, as Andrew presents, are not finished systems but commitments sustained through Métis governance, accountability, and dialogue over time.

We hope you can join Andrew’s session!

👏 The Dictionary of Old English was recently awarded two major SSHRC awards, allowing for two postdoctoral fellows, Emily Clarke, and Kyle Smith, to assist in the Dictionary's ongoing work of drafting entries and data engineering.
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news/new-sshrc-grants-and-postdoctoral-fellows-dictionary-old-english

Inside Fordham publishes a touching tribute to the late Christopher Lakey.

Christopher Lakey, Discerning Medieval Art Scholar and Fordham Lecturer, Dies at 52 Christopher Lakey, a groundbreaking scholar of medieval art history and lecturer in Fordham’s Department of Art History and Music, died on July 24 of a sudden illness that led to

Professor Emeritus Domenico Pietropaolo (U of T Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & LAS, University of Toronto / Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies at U of T / Uoft Comparative Literature / Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto), with Monica Leoni (University of Waterloo) and Donato Santeramo (Queen’s University), invite audiences to "From Masks to Modernity: Commedia dell’Arte and Eduardo De Filippo" at Global Theatre Week, an exploration of the bold style that started during the Italian Renaissance and its enduring appeal.

"From Masks to Modernity: Commedia dell’Arte and Eduardo De Filippo"
Stratford Festival’s Meighen Forum
Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre
Sunday, Aug. 16
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Meighen Forum announces August lineup of behind-the-scenes talks and guest speakers Stratford Festival’s Meighen Forum to host Global Theatre Week and Readers and Writers Week in August

CMS Alumna Elena Shadrina joins Princeton University's Department of History as Assistant Professor.

Faculty Appointment: Elena Shadrina In fall 2026, Elena Shadrina will join the Department of History as Assistant Professor.