CONGRESS CANCELED New Perspectives on Gender and Difference in Honor of Sharon Farmer (A Roundtable)

Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

Description

In recognition of her many contributions to the field of medieval history, the Medieval Foremothers Society has chosen Sharon A. Farmer as the honoree for 2020.

In the early 2000s, Sharon Farmer challenged the binary model of sexual difference, revealing the inconsistencies in medieval gender discourses by testing them against the particularities of context, audience, and status group. Combining multiple methodologies, Farmer asked us to inquire how gender is embodied, how those embodiments reflect particular economic and political relations, and where those relations fit within larger arguments about religion, nation, identity, and power. The goal of this roundtable is to discuss and draw on the methodological innovations of Farmer’s work, particularly her commitment to demonstrating the ethnic, religious, and economic complexity of gender negotiations. This roundtable, which will explore how focusing on the intersection of gender and categories of difference may shed light on the most pressing concerns of the field.

Tanya Stabler Miller

 
May 8th, 3:30 PM

CONGRESS CANCELED New Perspectives on Gender and Difference in Honor of Sharon Farmer (A Roundtable)

Fetzer 1045

In recognition of her many contributions to the field of medieval history, the Medieval Foremothers Society has chosen Sharon A. Farmer as the honoree for 2020.

In the early 2000s, Sharon Farmer challenged the binary model of sexual difference, revealing the inconsistencies in medieval gender discourses by testing them against the particularities of context, audience, and status group. Combining multiple methodologies, Farmer asked us to inquire how gender is embodied, how those embodiments reflect particular economic and political relations, and where those relations fit within larger arguments about religion, nation, identity, and power. The goal of this roundtable is to discuss and draw on the methodological innovations of Farmer’s work, particularly her commitment to demonstrating the ethnic, religious, and economic complexity of gender negotiations. This roundtable, which will explore how focusing on the intersection of gender and categories of difference may shed light on the most pressing concerns of the field.

Tanya Stabler Miller