[Jon Frey]

At the most recent meeting of the IG at the 2021 AIAs, the issue was raised concerning a name change for the group.  The suggestion is to remove “in Greece” from the name of the group in order to make it a more inclusive of medieval and post-medieval scholars outside of the geographic limits of Greece (however that is defined, of course).  This matter could be presented to the Governing Board of the AIA as soon as March, but I need to provide a representative with a justification and some form of a vote.  I currently have a poll up here (https://forms.gle/Nksi9RyEfHpCLhLy5) in an effort to determine the majority opinion of the group, but I thought it might be worth opening a discussion here in case members of the group wish to talk through the matter. Thoughts?

[Rebecca Seifried]

Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this, Jon! It might be worth noting that the last few programs have listed the colloquium sponsor as “the Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology Interest Group” but the interest group meeting itself has the “in Greece” added to the end.

If more justification is needed, we could also point to all the papers in our organized colloquia over the years that have dealt with places outside Greece. Actually, it’d be fun to see those numbers anyway… here’s a quick count to get us started:

• 2020 (Sacred Space) – Ravenna, Pompeii, Cyprus (3/6 papers)
• 2019 (Medieval Countryside) – Avkat (1/7 papers)
• 2019 (Craft Production) – Balkans, Cyprus, Aegean, Mediterranean x 2 (5/6 papers)
• 2018 (Venetians Abroad) – (0/7 papers)
• 2017 (Interwoven Lives) – Cyprus, Lebanon (2/5 papers)
• 2016 (Deserted Villages) – Syria, Egypt, North Dakota (3/10)

[Jon Frey]

That’s a good point to make.  I’ll include it in the letter to Tom, which I’ll post somewhere here for comment / edits before sending it along.

As you say, it would be interesting to drill down more into the places that MAPMA speakers / panels have covered.  Might be neat to see that displayed geospatially.

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