How to be a Medievalist – and Why

From Game of Thrones to far-right appropriations of the European Middle Ages, the early twenty-first century is witnessing a boom in popular interest in the medieval, one that is impacting both politics and popular culture. Paradoxically, while this boom has triggered a fascination with the study of "medievalism," interest in the academic disciplines that are devoted to the study of the Middle Ages themselves is in relative decline, and as a scholar of medieval literature, one is frequently confronted with questions about the value of such scholarship. In our workshop, we will take up these questions and reflect on the relevance of studying the European Middle Ages and their literature from a today's perspective.