{"id":18896,"date":"2024-05-06T04:38:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T04:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/?page_id=18896"},"modified":"2024-05-06T04:54:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T04:54:38","slug":"budny-2024-congress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/abstracts\/budny-2024-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Budny (2024 Congress)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mildred Budny
\n(Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

Abstract of Response
\npresented at the 59th International Congress on Medieval Studies
\n(Kalamazoo, 2024)<\/h3>\n

Roundtable on
\n“Retrospect and Prospect for P.-O.M.o.N.A. . . .
\nAs the Curtain Falls”
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Co-Sponsored by P.-O.M.o.N.A.
\nand the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Organized by Phillip Bernhardt\u2013House (Academic Vagabond)<\/h4>\n

2024 Congress Program<\/a><\/h4>\n

Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Director of the Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence (RGME)<\/strong>, co-sponsor of three Sessions with P.-O.M.o.N.A.<\/strong> since its inception, and as witness to the creation of P.-O.M.o.N.A.<\/strong> as a named organizational entity in a conversation at the 2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), I offer some reflections for this Roundtable.\u00a0 I respond to the Roundtable’s design as a “Retrospect and Prospect” for the organization, whose first official appearance took shape at the 2019 Congress, in a session co-sponsored by the Research Group.<\/p>\n

Over time, the several Sessions officially sponsored or co-sponsored by P.-O.M.o.N.A. at the annual Congress<\/a> have included long-time Associates<\/a> of the Research Group (including Phillip himself), whilst there has been considerable overlap in terms of P.-O.M.o.N.A.’s interests (and people) with the RGME’s other sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions, such as some co-sponsored with the Societas Magica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Phillip

Phillip Bernhardt-House sits in the Board Room alongside the Research Group Posters for the 2019 Congress. Photograph by Mildred Budny.<\/p><\/div>\n

Reflections<\/h2>\n

With the perspectives and experience as the founder and director of another scholarly organization, celebrating an anniversary this year, I leave a consideration of the subjects of study and exploration for P.-O.M.o.N.A. <\/strong>to other representatives on this Roundtable, starting with Dan Attrell, and propose mainly to focus upon the mission, functions, and life-cycle of its organization as it undertakes and pursues its activities.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, by now in its 35th year as an international scholarly society and its 25th as a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, with continued Sessions at the Congress through the years, often in co-sponsorship with other organizations (such as the Societas Magica), P.-O.M.o.N.A<\/strong>. was founded specifically to hold sponsored Sessions (and sometimes Invited Lectures) at the Kalamazoo Congress, as a way to gather scholars and practitioners, and to bring attention to interrelated fields of study and approach, for Polytheist-Oriented Medievalists of North America<\/strong> to speak, gather feedback, and gain wider notice as an organization at an international scholarly Congress having annual meetings for medievalists and others.<\/p>\n

That purpose was the foundation years ago (1994) of the Societas Magica, which has gained wide membership, with a team of officers and others, and has extended its reach beyond the Congress, with a Newsletter, Website, Journal, Social Media presence, and Conferences of other kinds and at other institutions.\u00a0 P.-O.M.o.N.A<\/strong>., in contrast, has functioned principally through the efforts of its founder, Phillip Bernhardt\u2013House, and has an informal approach to its structure and organization, by remaining focused on the annual Congress at Kalamazoo, whether in-person or, since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, online \u2014 and, more recently, in hybrid or partly hybrid format with both in-person and online attendance for its Congress Sessions.<\/p>\n

Approaching the “Retrospect” for P.-O.M.o.N.A. as an historian, I observe the ebb-and-flow of its sessions, addressing a variety of aspects as people might come forward to speak about them, and recall conversations with Phillip as we prepared plans for the next Congress, year after year, with varying success.\u00a0 The variations would arise when, for example, the Congress Committee might reject a proposed Session, or people lined up to speak encountered obstacles in their timetables and could not attend, either in person or online.<\/p>\n

First Official Session: 2019 Congress<\/h2>\n

Whilst Phillip notes a “Proto-P.-O.M.o.N.A.” Session in 2018<\/a> (Session 525), when its discussions and feedback got the ball rolling for another session as follow-up in the next year, the first official Session sponsored by P.-O.M.o.N.A. at the Congress, and on the 2019 Congress Program<\/a> (Session 237), was co-sponsored by the Research Group, in line with our co-sponsorships with other organizations, established or new.\u00a0 Phillip made the proposal, described his aims, and we agreed to co-sponsor.<\/p>\n

The Session took place on Friday, 10 May.\u00a0 It considered “Classical Deities in Medieval Northern European Contexts”.\u00a0 Phillip organized, and Dan Attrell presided.\u00a0 For its two Papers, Phillip gave a Response:\u00a0 \u201cP.-O.M.o.N.A.:\u00a0 Where Have We Been, Where Are We Going?\u201d.<\/p>\n

As its wont, the Research Group announced the Session and its Program on our website as part of our Program for that year’s Congress, published there the speakers’ Abstracts for their Papers, and provided a Poster.<\/p>\n