Adam Miyashiro

The Delaware Valley Medieval Association visits Stockton College on Saturday, February 18, 2012

Schedule:

1:00 – 1:15 PM: Campus Center-Board of Trustees’ Room, Welcome Remarks and Introductions

Adam Miyashiro, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Colum Hourihane, Director, Index of Christian Art, Princeton University

1:15 – 2:15 PM: Session I:

Marla Pagan-Mattos , Ph.D. Candidate, Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania: “The Erasure of a Saintly Genealogy: The Vida de San Millán de la Cogolla of Berceo and the Task of ‘tornar en romance’”

Claire Taylor Jones, Ph.D. Candidate, Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania: “Meister Eckhart’s Daughter?”

*Winner of Delaware Valley Medieval Association Graduate Student Paper Prize

2:30-4:00 PM: Session II:

Aaron Hostetter, Assistant Professor of English, Rutgers University, Camden: “Feeding Aristocratic Identity in Sir Gowther”

David King, Associate Professor of French, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey: “Judicial Duels and Moral Anomie in La Mort le Roi Artu”

Teofilo Ruiz, Professor of History and Spanish, University of California, Los Angeles: “Writing Festivals in Late Medieval Spain”

4:00-4:30 PM: Question and Answer Session

4:30-5:30 PM: Reception, Campus Center-Board of Trustees’ Room

Transportation

Driving

From the North (Northern New Jersey and New York, north of Parkway Exit 44)
Travel south on the Garden State Parkway to Exit 44. Take Exit 44. At the stop sign at the end of the ramp, turn right onto S. Pomona Road (County Road 575). Travel ½ mile. At the entrance sign for The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on the left, turn left onto Vera King Farris Drive. Parking for Housing 1, 4 and 5 is available immediately on the right. For campus parking, continue ½ mile on Vera King Farris Drive, parking is available on the right. The first lot is Lot 1.

From the West (Camden/Philadelphia Area, west of Expressway Exit 12)
Travel east on the Atlantic City Expressway to Exit 12. Take Exit 12. At the stop sign at the end of the ramp, turn left onto Wrangleboro Road (County Road 575). Proceed straight through the traffic lights at Tilton Road (County Road 563) and White Horse Pike (Route 30). At the next traffic light, W. Jimmie Leeds Road, turn right. Travel 1 mile on W. Jimmie Leeds Road to the entrance sign for The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on the left, turn left onto Vera King Farris Drive. For campus parking, continue about 1 ½ miles on Vera King Farris Drive, parking is available on the left. The first lot is Lot 4.

From the South (Southern New Jersey, south of Parkway Exit 44)
Travel north on the Garden State Parkway to the Atlantic City Service Plaza. Exit to the left into the service plaza (the exit is part of the service plaza). Travel on the outer road of the service plaza. At the second stop sign, turn left. At the next stop sign turn right, continue to the traffic light at the end of the ramp. At the traffic light, turn left onto W. Jimmie Leeds Road. Travel 1 mile on W. Jimmie Leeds Road to the entrance sign for The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on the right, turn right onto Vera King Farris Drive. For campus parking, continue 1 ½ miles, parking is available on the left. The first lot is Lot 4.

Train and Shuttle Information (Philadelphia to/from Egg Harbor City Station)

Shuttle transportation to and from Stockton College will run for the 1:12 PM train to Egg Harbor City Station (on the Atlantic City Line) and will depart at 4:30 PM and 5:45 PM for the train back to Philadelphia.  Shuttle leaves from A&S Circle.

Train Schedule

Philadelphia 30^th St Station to Egg Harbor City Station

Shuttle arrives between 1:30-1:45 PM at the Arts and Sciences Circle

Departs                                  Arrives

12:00 PM                               1:12 PM

Egg Harbor City Station to Philadelphia 30^th St Station

Departs                                  Arrives                        Shuttle Departs

5:02 PM                                 6:14 PM                     4:30 PM

6:12 PM                                 7:29 PM                     5:45 PM

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I was invited by Professor Miyashiro to participate in the 6th Annual Conference in Medieval Studies hosted by Moravian College of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on December 3, 2011. This daylong conference was very well organized and was attended by over 200 participants from all over the country. Soon after the registration, the conference participants were welcomed by Dr. Jim Skalnik. Right after the opening speech, the attendees and the presenters dispersed to various thematic panels of their choice. I was one of the first presenters of the day. The panel that I was part of, titled “Connections between Europe and Southwest Asia,” was held in a well-equipped conference room and was very well attended. Although it was an undergraduate conference, I felt slightly nervous to be among the best of the students from different academic institutions of the country. Nevertheless, everybody was very supportive and welcoming, as both, the presentations and the discussion afterwards, were held in the atmosphere of great respect and professionalism.

I was able to attend a number of interesting panels throughout the day. One of the presentations was of special interest to me, because the texts it discussed, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale and Clerk’s Tale, was well known to me. It was very useful to be able to hear a different opinion that my peer undergraduate student had about the same texts I choose to discuss in one of my papers for the class.  Although it contradicted my reading of the texts, I found it very valuable and was able to have a useful discussion with the presenter.

After a short lunch break, I attended the plenary session led by Dr. Nicholas Paul form Fordham University. His speech titled “Missing Men: The Noble Family and the Crisis of the Disappearing Crusader” presented a curious glimpse into the medieval reality of the Crusades and the unfortunate consequences of the war campaigns for most of the solders, their wives and families.

One of the most unusual presentations at the conference was the dance production inspired by Dante Alighieri’s “Vita Nuova” and “The Divine Comedy.” Composed by Maria Malizia and performed by her and a group of other students from the Penn State University, this was a unique and a very creative dance interpretation of the greatest text, and it was titled “Lost in the World, the Journey of Bea.” In the words of its director Maria Malizia, she “has set this classic poem and its timeless lessons to contemporary music and movement in an effort to speak to [her] generation.”

In the following time frame I attended a panel were Tania Rivera, another student from Stockton presented her paper “Religion, Gender, and Orientalism in The Canterbury Tales.” It was an interesting paper and it was followed by a curious discussion between the audience and the presenters.

The busy day of the conference was closed by the concert of Medieval and Early Modern Music performed by “Bell’s and Motley.” The group, comprised of Sondra and John Bromka, traveled from the historical village of Marcellus in upstate New York and performed historic music using the original, medieval hand-crafted musical instruments.

At the close of the day, I was fascinated by the amount of knowledge that I was able to receive in one day. There was a lot of information “to digest.” It was a definitely valuable experience for a number of reasons. First of all, I had a great opportunity to proudly represent Stockton College, and to make some useful connections with the Professors and students from other schools from all over the country. Secondly, the conference presented me with a unique opportunity to see what other students are interested in, what topics they discuss, how do they interpret the works I read and write about. When in class, in general there’s no real between-the- students communication about the topics chosen for the mid-term and final papers. These works are as a rule written with just the Professor in mind, whereas the conference experience allowed me to broaden my understanding of the particular topics within the thematic setting. Another valuable aspect of the conference was the feedback received in the form of question, discussions, and after-panel comments from other students and Professors likewise.  It is just that extra opportunity to get an opinion about your work and a suggestion of how it could be improved, that is very valuable and is not always available.

Overall I was very pleased to be selected by Professor Miyashiro to attend the conference. I was able to turn this special day into a very valuable experience that will help me in the future no matter what professional path I will choose.

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Stockton Literature students present Undergraduate Research in Medieval Studies

December 3, 2011

This past Saturday, Sviatlana Fenichel and Tania Rivera, both Stockton College Literature majors and members of the Literature Honors Society (Sigma Tau Delta), presented their research at the 6^th Annual Undergraduate Medieval and Early Modern Studies Conference, held at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA.  This year’s conference boasted a robust 100 papers from undergraduates from more than 32 institutions of higher learning, including the University of Southern California, Georgetown, Rutgers, and Penn State.  Tania and Sviatlana represented Stockton with professionalism and courtesy, engaged with other undergraduates from these institutions, and participated in other panels throughout the day that interested them.

Sviatlana Fenichel’s paper, “Medieval Feminism: The Case of the Arabian Nights,” which argues for a post-colonial feminist reading of Muslim women in medieval non-Western literary contexts, was featured in the first panel “Connections Between Europe and Southwest Asia,” moderated by Eric Johnson (Kutztown University).  Her paper was well received in a crowded conference room, and she, with her co-presenters, fielded questions from the audience, which comprised faculty and student participants.

Sviatlana Fenichel presenting her paper, "Medieval Feminism: The Case of the Arabian Nights""

Tania Rivera, who presented a paper entitled “Religion, Gender, and Orientalism in The Canterbury Tales,” focused on the late fourteenth-century writer Geoffrey Chaucer’s views on the differences between Jews and Muslims, by examining the opportunity they are given to convert to Christianity in “The Man of Law’s Tale” and “The Prioress’ Tale,” both in The Canterbury Tales.  Tania presented in the panel “Controversies of Gender and Religion in Chaucer,” presided by Daina Smolkis of Moravian College.  Her paper was also well attended, and received well by the audience, who asked her some tough questions, which Tania answered to the best of her knowledge.

Tania Rivera presenting her paper "Religion, Gender, and Orientalism in The Canterbury Tales"

Very few of these opportunities are available in this field for undergraduates, and both of these students demonstrated their commitment to learning, intellectual engagement, and scholarly acumen with their presentations.  Tania and Sviatlana’s research papers were both written for courses taken at Stockton College, and subsequently revised for this conference.  Tania’s paper comes out of her research for “Chaucer” (LITT 3110) in Fall 2010, while Sviatlana’s presentation was a condensed version of her Senior Seminar thesis in “Literatures of the Medieval Mediterranean” (LITT 4160), both courses taken with Prof. Miyashiro of the Literature Program.

Overall, Sviatlana and Tania learned much in this conference experience, and performed to the level we expect  of our Literature majors and Sigma Tau Delta members alike at Stockton College.  Congratulations to both of them!

Tania Rivera (left) and Sviatlana Fenichel (right)

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On Friday, March 4, the Literature Club (Idols of the Tribe) and Sigma Tau Delta, Stockton’s Literature Honors society, organized a visit to the Free Library of Philadelphia, where students toured the rare materials housed in their Rare Books Department.  They were guided in their tour by Katharine Chandler, a Special Collections librarian and a historian of the book, in a private exhibition of some of the oldest and finest, forms of writing in human history through the modern period.  Sigma Tau Delta faculty advisors Deborah Gussman and Adam Miyashiro joined the students as they saw items such as Cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia (ca. 2000-1000 BCE); a papyrus “Book of the Dead” from ancient Egypt (ca. 800 BCE); medieval manuscripts (1200-1500 CE) and early printed books and incunabula (books printed before 1500); and various examples of materials from Asia and the Middle East.  Leah Bender, a Historical Studies major with an interest in ancient history, reflected on her experience: “Visiting the rare books collection at the Philadelphia Free Library was a fantastic experience.  As both a history major and a bibliophile, it was a rare treat to see some of these items in person.”  Eta Rho Chapter President Jessica Pickolycky and Vice President Samantha Neal, were instrumental in bringing 12 Stockton students to Philadelphia and back again to Stockton College.

The club will plan other trips next year, when we hope to visit the Morgan Library in New York City and University of Pennsylvania’s Van Pelt Library Rare Books and Manuscripts room and the Archaeology and Anthropology Museum.

Pictured: Deborah Gussman (far left), Adam Miyashiro (far right), and members of the Literature Club, Sigma Tau Delta, and other Stockton College ARHU members

Stockton students in the Elkins Room of the Free Library

Our guide to the archives, Ms. Katherine Chandler, of the Free Library of Philadelphia, who not only introduced us to the rare materials, but discussed with students careers in the Library Sciences.

All photos courtesy of Toni Fredella (LITT major)

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Welcome to my WordPress website at Stockton College!

Below and off to the left, you will find information about myself, my current and past courses, research interests, and plans for an interdisciplinary minor in Pre-Modern Studies at Stockton College.

You will also find links to my favorite medieval and non-medieval websites, and some miscellanies revolving around my interest in cultural studies, critical-race theory, and postcolonial studies.

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