Race and Medieval Studies

03/20/22 • 60 min

This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture

In this episode, Hettie V. Williams is in discussion with Drs. Heide Estes and Mary Rambaran-Olm about race and Medieval Studies. Estes is Professor of English in the Department of English at Monmouth University where she regularly teaches medieval literature, ecocriticism, history of the English language, and linguistics. She is also Chair of the University Qualifications Committee and a member of the Faculty Association and Inclusion working group. Estes is also editor of the journal Medieval Ecocriticisms and the author of Anglo-Saxon Literary Landscapes: Ecotheory and the Environmental Imagination published by Amsterdam University Press in 2017. Rambaran-Olm is a literary historian specializing in the literature and history of early medieval England with a focus on the fifth to eleventh centuries. She has written several articles, essays and book chapters and is currently working on a book project about race in early medieval England. She is currently the Provost’s Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. Some resources shared by Dr. Rambaran-Olm:
This is an intro into race in Early English studies: https://medium.com/@mrambaranolm/race-101-for-early-medieval-studies-selected-readings-77be815f8d0f

Also if people want a primer on the term "Anglo-Saxon" I wrote that and it's open access here: https://medium.com/@mrambaranolm/history-bites-resources-on-the-problematic-term-anglo-saxon-part-1-9320b6a09eb7

As for people to follow on Twitter who work on the Middle Ages and are doing good things:

@erik_kaars

@DrDadabhoy

@archaeofiend

@chantermestuet

@ShammaBoyarin

As for people to follow on Twitter who work on the Middle Ages and are doing good things:

@erik_kaars

@DrDadabhoy

@archaeofiend

@chantermestuet

@ShammaBoyarin

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Digital Black Christians

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Erika D. Gault about digital Black Christians and Hip Hop. Williams is Associate Professor of African American history in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University. Gault is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Arizona. Dr. Gault’s scholarly work focuses on the intersection of religious history, technology, and urban Black life in post-industrial America. She is also the author of Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop (New York University Press, 2022). The focus of this show is on Dr. Gault’s innovative way of rethinking the Black Church and the new generation of Black Christians that she refers to as “digital Christians” and their engagement with religion.

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The Criminalization of Black Youth

In this episode, Hettie V. Williams is in discussion with Professor Kristin Henning about the criminalization of Black youth in the U.S. and the juvenile justice system. Williams is Associate Professor of African American history at Monmouth University. Henning is an attorney and nationally recognized trainer and consultant on race, adolescence and policing. She is currently the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at the Georgetown University Law Center and previously the lead attorney of the Juvenile Unit at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Henning is also the author of The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth (Pantheon Books, 1921).