Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops (RIW), University of Michigan
Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops (RIW), University of Michigan

The Forum for Research in Medieval Studies (FoRMS)

The Forum for Research in Medieval Studies (FoRMS), first formed as a Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop (RIW) in Fall 2010, serves as a structure for the Medieval Lunch series and a reading group for graduate students. In its geographical, historical, and disciplinary scope, FoRMS aims to provide an important forum for graduate students and faculty to discuss their work as contributions to the broad field of “medieval studies.” At FoRMS sponsored lunches throughout the semester, graduate students can present their ongoing research and receive feedback from other members of the FoRMS community. FoRMS also sponsors interdisciplinary reading groups and other social events, which are organized on a more ad-hoc basis.



FoRMS Lunch Workshop

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Tisch 1014
Chelsea Parsons (English)

Title: Using Medieval Disputations to Resolve Liminal Paradoxes in St. Erkenwald

Abstract: The liminal relationship between body and soul in the anonymous Middle English alliterative poem St. Erkenwald (c. 1400) reveals its reception of and contention with medieval theories of the intellect that attempt to reconcile classical philosophy with Christianity. The poem resembles a quodlibetal question about the limits of hylomorphism in a resurrection. Diverging from previous scholarship that draws theological conclusions, this paper discusses the poem’s philosophical diction and argues that Thomas Aquinas’s (d. 1274) definitions of corruption and identity resolve contradictions that the poem raises as it lingers with intermediate ideas of death and limbo.  

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