Ritual and Ceremony from Late-Medieval Europe to Early America (NEH Summer Institute)
Directed by Claire Sponsler, Professor of English at the University of Iowa
June 21 through July 23, 2010
This NEH Summer Institute for College and University Faculty offered a comparative study of ritual and ceremony across related European cultures from 1300 to 1700. It built on anthropological theories of the ubiquitous role of ritual and ceremony and the impact of that work in performance studies. Testing assumptions about influence and exchange among national traditions and local contexts, it sought a new understanding of the processes and effects of cultural hybridity and assimilation.
Beginning with an exploration of the theories and definitions of “ritual,” each subsequent session advanced topically, chronologically, and geographically while touching on the implications of ceremony and ritual in religious, domestic, and secular contexts. Throughout the institute, participants used the Folger’s collections. They first read about ceremonies and liturgical performance through medieval authors including Hildegard of Bingen and Chaucer. Rituals surrounding motherhood and birthing practices, specifically the childbed, were also examined as sites of domestic ritualistic performance. Moving into the civic sphere, the session topics included records of Lord Mayor shows, pageant plays, royal entries, and other public ceremonies. The institute concluded with representations of ceremony on the early modern stage through histories and tragedies, discussions of the materials of ritual, and sites of pilgrimage.
Materials and Products
The syllabus is available here.
While the website is no longer supported, it has been archived: Institute Website: Ritual and Ceremony
A PDF of the website's pages with the participants' interpretive essays.
A PDF of the original promotional flyer.
Participants
(All affiliations are as of the program's date)
Bernadette Andrea, Professor of English, University of Texas, San Antonio Christopher J. Bilodeau, Assistant Professor of History, Dickinson College Rachel L. Burk, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Tulane University Peter Craft, PhD Candidate in English, University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign J. Caitlin Finlayson, Assistant Professor of English, University of Michigan, Dearborn Elina Gertsman, Assistant Professor of Medieval Art, Case Western Reserve University Marcia B. Hall, Professor of Art History, Temple University Matthew C. Hansen, Assistant Professor of English, Boise State University Kenneth L. Hodges, Associate Professor of English, University of Oklahoma John M. Hunt, Term Assistant Professor of History, University of Louisville Matthew W. Irvin, Assistant Professor of English, Sewanee The University of the South Nancy J. Kay, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art History, Merrimack College Andrew D. McCarthy, Assistant Professor of English, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga Cynthia Nazarian, Assistant Professor of French and Italian, Northwestern University Patrick O’Banion, Assistant Professor of History, Lindenwood University Stephanie M. Seery-Murphy, Lecturer in History, California State University, Sacramento Christopher Swift, PhD Candidate in Theatre Studies, City University of New York, Graduate Center Lisa Voigt, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University Anne E. Wohlcke, Assistant Professor of History, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Suzanne M. Yeager, Assistant Professor of English and Medieval Studies, Fordham University
Faculty
(All affiliations are as of the program's date)
Ian Archer, Keble College, Oxford Lawrence M. Bryant, California State University, Chico Barbara Fuchs, UCLA Gail McMurray Gibson, Davidson College Bruce Holsinger, University of Virginia Roslyn L. Knutson, University of Arkansas, Little Rock Joseph Roach, Yale University Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Exeter College, Oxford Michael Wintroub, University of California Berkeley Barbara Wisch, SUNY Cortland
Website Production Claire Sponsler, Advisory Editor Kathleen Lynch, Editor Owen Williams, Associate Editor Adrienne Shevchuk, Production and Managing Editor Allison Isberg, Editorial Assistant Swim Design, Design and Development Julie Ainsworth, Folger Shakespeare Library Photographer
Folger Institute Staff
David Schalkwyk, Chair
Kathleen Lynch, Executive Director
Owen Williams, Assistant Director
Adrienne Shevchuk, Program Assistant
Matthew Carr, Intern
For more past programming from the Folger Institute, please see the article Folger Institute scholarly programs archive.
Hosted by the Folger Shakespeare Library. For more information about current summer seminars, please visit the National Endowment for the Humanities website.