Abbey Students Present Research at “Meeting in the Middle”

Belmont Abbey Well Represented at Medieval Studies Conference

Last weekend, three Belmont Abbey College students presented research papers at the tenth annual “Meeting in the Middle” undergraduate conference in Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Longwood University, VA. The theme for this year’s conference was “The View from the North”, and their presentations focused on aspects of the medieval history and culture of the British Isles.

Br. Gregory Marshall presented an insightful paper on a central theme of the Arthurian legend in a paper entitled “Malory’s Enigma: Arthur, Lancelot, and Fate in Le Morte Darthur”.

Sean Moriarty regaled his audience with tales from early Ireland as he explored concepts of medieval kingship in his paper, “The High Kings of Ireland”.

And Brendan Vickers examined the theme of colonial discourse in relation to sixteenth-century English depictions of Ireland in a presentation on “The English Image of Irish Culture: John Derricke’s Plates”.

Congratulations to all three students for their achievement. They performed admirably and won high praise from the audience and from conference organizers for their efforts.

Of the ten colleges and universities represented by the seventeen students who spoke at the conference, Belmont Abbey college had the highest number of participants aside from the hosts, Longwood University.

Any students interested in participating in this event in the future, or in learning more about the Medieval Studies Minor, should contact Dr. Patrick Wadden at patrickwadden@bac.edu.