{"id":9572,"date":"2024-03-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=9572"},"modified":"2024-03-13T13:25:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T17:25:55","slug":"learning-about-learned-medieval-women-with-dr-megan-j-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2024\/03\/13\/learning-about-learned-medieval-women-with-dr-megan-j-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning about Learned Medieval Women with Dr. Megan J. Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week, we\u2019re looking back at an earlier episode of \u201cMeeting in the Middle Ages.\u201d In late 2022, we chatted with Dr. Megan J. Hall, Assistant Director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame. We spoke with her about women&#8217;s literacy and learning in medieval England, the trials and tribulations of writing an academic article, and why impromptu bell-ringing can reveal the true value of scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2024\/03\/Megan-Hall-Image.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9573\" style=\"width:674px;height:auto\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Learning about Learned Medieval Women with Dr. Megan J. Hall\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/5kzcKDxYqcW2QlRzCkZjMt?si=f27024e861914e14&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Studying history can show us the bigger picture. It can help to explain why nation states behave as they do, why complex geopolitical situations emerge, and how entire landscapes have been shaped over time. But it also allows us to connect with the past on a local level. It can show us where we come from. Speaking with Dr. Hall, we were reminded several times that through historical research, people can identify with those who came before. Moments of identity like that can drastically reshape our relationship with the past. Dr. Hall\u2019s meeting with a group of bellringers in rural England is a perfect example. During this surprise encounter, she was able to share her own work with the group and participate in a tradition of bell ringing which has centuries of history. Her work prompted one of the group to ask \u2018so, could women read in the Middle Ages?\u2019 Dr. Hall was able to correct a common misconception of women and the possibilities open to them in medieval England. Yes, some women could read! Some books were written specifically for women! This revelation changed the questioner\u2019s view of medieval women, and was a triumphant \u2018I knew we could!\u2019 she experienced a moment of solidarity with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Hall\u2019s story, as has been the case for so many of the conversations we\u2019ve had on Meeting on the Middle Ages, is also a reminder of the privilege that medievalists have. We are able to visit museums, archives, libraries, and go beyond the public spaces. We can consult ancient materials. We don\u2019t have to rely on facsimiles (well, sometimes we do). We can work with the original, turning it over in our hands and connecting with its creator. In doing so, we become another link in a chain that has been forged over centuries. With the Ancrenne Wisse it begins with the object\u2019s creator, perhaps the scribe or composer of a manuscript. It binds together dozens of men and women who received the text and used it in their lives. Dr. Hall is part of that chain. And in telling her story, we all become a part of it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks for listening. See you next time in the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will Beattie &amp; Ben Pykare<br \/>Medieval Institute<br \/>University of Notre Dame<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2024\/03\/Hall-Transcript.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Hall-Transcript.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-d09d470c-fd91-4f9c-bf92-49c11f3064ea\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2024\/03\/Hall-Transcript.pdf\">Hall-Transcript<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2024\/03\/Hall-Transcript.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-d09d470c-fd91-4f9c-bf92-49c11f3064ea\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, we\u2019re looking back at an earlier episode of \u201cMeeting in the Middle Ages.\u201d In late 2022, we chatted with Dr. Megan J. Hall, Assistant Director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame. We spoke with her about women&#8217;s literacy and learning in medieval England, the trials and tribulations of writing &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2024\/03\/13\/learning-about-learned-medieval-women-with-dr-megan-j-hall\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Learning about Learned Medieval Women with Dr. Megan J. Hall&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[264206,518730,460589],"tags":[76062,518728,77938,103,518735,14827,483892,73938,324659,518732,518733,518731,518734,483958,32102,73442,518727],"class_list":["post-9572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-disciplines","category-podcasts","category-womens-studies","tag-academia","tag-ancrenne-wisse","tag-book","tag-education","tag-evidence","tag-history","tag-literacy","tag-manuscripts","tag-medieval-studies","tag-megan-hall","tag-middle-ages","tag-misconceptions","tag-people","tag-public-medievalism","tag-reading","tag-women","tag-women-intellectuals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1846"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9575,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572\/revisions\/9575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}