[Rebecca Seifried]

Hi everyone! Starting a thread to continue the discussion about how to increase the group’s membership (and participation of current members).

One idea I have comes from Twitter commentary about medieval history more generally – and specifically the way it is coopted in contemporary politics. This is a topic that our fellow Classicists are dealing with (especially over on the SCS side of things) and it is attracting a vibrant younger community.

We’re set on panels for the 2021 meeting, but perhaps we could start thinking ahead to a more general panel that connects medieval/post-medieval archaeology with issues of contemporary importance? This is something the AIA as a whole isn’t doing super well, and it’s a niche our group could fill!

In case you have any questions about the contemporary relevance of medieval history, this Viking cosplay guy whose photo I saved in November showed up again today inside the U.S. Capitol. pic.twitter.com/9awIjN1Ir6

— Dr. Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) January 6, 2021

[Stefan Moffat]

Hi Rebecca,

I’d like to reply, but I’m scared that my comments will give away my age, and I’ll be deemed irrelevant.

I don’t use social media, but I read the Economist, so I’m aware (somewhat) of current social issues. If the way that a government addresses social justice in its jurisdiction is an important topic currently with younger generations, showing how similar phenomena occurred in the medieval past is maybe a first step to creating a link between medieval archaeology and current social events. Material evidence of medieval riots/revolts in the Byzantine world?

Stefan

[Author]

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