Columbo knew...

From the episode 'Old Fashioned Murder', series 6, episode 2, 1968.

a stuffed animal is sitting on a large rock . ALT: a stuffed animal is sitting on a large rock .

Grading.

I keep seeing "all authors use AI, the real issue is they're being forced to be sneaky about it" headlines.

Full stop No. This is a lie peddled for normalization. It's schoolyard-level pressure tactics "C'mon, all the cool kids are already doing it. We won't tell. It's fine. We're on your side."

My colleague at Campion College at the University of Regina:

My sister has a new cartoon out in The New Yorker!

Laura Moncion – Boyle Prize Presentation / Colloque du prix Boyle - REGISTRATION / INSCRIPTION On 5 Nov. 2025 at 11h00 (EST), the Canadian Society of Medievalists will hold its second annual Boyle Prize Online Presentation, when Laura Moncion, the winner of the Society's Leonard E. Boyle Prize ...

The CSM Online: Tune in Wednesday 5 Nov. 2025, at 11am EST to hear 2025 Boyle Prize Winner Laura Moncion talk about her dissertation, "Being a Recluse is No Small Thing: Late Medieval Women’s Reclusion in Theory and Practice."

Register for the Zoom link: forms.gle/n6LJh7JYKvRD...

A medieval manuscript with two women, one writes in a book and the other stands in front of her. Text overlayed reads: "Book by early feminist medieval writer joins Getty's collection."

Medieval writer Christine de Pizan is often characterized as the first professional female author.

Learn how her pioneering feminist writing championed women’s moral and intellectual power in a new acquisition to Getty's medieval manuscripts holdings: gty.art/4hQL0iZ

Meta used my book and various other publications by me for AI training. Needless to say, it doesn’t ask authors for their permission.

#medievalsky #jobfairy. Job posting, Tenure Track (!) medieval, early modern Literature at UNBC. universityaffairs.ca/search-job/?....

I inherited two surveys, one 300-1100, the other 1100-1400, when I started my job here (in Regina, Canada). Another colleague teaches the Renaissance/Reformation period. I was a bit surprised I wouldn’t be teaching past 1400 in the surveys, as I’m primarily a late medievalist.

A handy guide for helping authors. Fans should pre-order their books, boost their books to other people, and review their books. It doesn’t matter where. It just matters that it happens. Thanks!

Want to help your favorite author?

✅ Pre-Order.
✅ Boost.
✅ Review.

The algorithms of publishing require fuel to engage, and this is the recipe for making it. 🙏

Assortment of medieval faces, displayed Zoom-meeting style, from decorated initials in a 14th-century book of hours now at the Walters Art Gallery, manuscript W.39, from the Museum's Flickr page. https://www.flickr.com/photos/medmss/13960223208/

Canadian Society of Medievalists Online Research Forum 2025, CFP: we invite submissions of works in progress for a Zoom forum, Sat 1 Mar 2025, 1-4pm EST. 7-minute talks, early-stage, emerging, or ongoing research! Submit proposals here by 15 Feb docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A laugh for my medievalist friends:

I *loved* this book and noted down various passages to inspire and encourage me in my own writing. I keep coming back to them.

In December I’m only cleaning as a way of avoiding the marking!😄

So far this month I haven’t even opened the document! Sigh. The marking will end eventually, right?

If there’s still space, I’d appreciate being added.

If I were in Toronto this evening, I’d definitely be going to this talk by Joanne Findon.

Cardamom-flavoured chocolate from Sirene Chocolate Company!

Yes, this looks super-interesting. I’ve stumbled upon an orphan train story doing genealogical research and want to know more about the historical context.

I just checked the public library system for my province (Saskatchewan), and they have four copies of Oathbreakers on order. Patrons are already vying to get on the wait list for them!

My public library system has a similar arrangement, but we can recommend up to 10 books a month. So far they’ve accepted 100% of my recommendations this year.🙂

Agreed. Snark, sarcasm, and mean-spiritedness are unprofessional and have no place in reviewers’ comments.

Two grey cats cuddling

I’m so sorry about your day. Here are my two kitties, Zefram and Barclay, brothers who love nothing better than cuddling with one another.

Yay and congratulations!

I could not agree more with this column.

Every academic article has a corresponding author whose email address is listed on the first page. If an article is paywalled, just send a short, polite email requesting a PDF from the author. 95% of the time you’ll receive it within a day. People like knowing their work is being read!

I stayed at Hotel Nardizzi Americana and Hotel Aberdeen on Via Firenze in Rome in March and was satisfied with them both. (Both are mentioned in Rick Steves’ guidebook.) They are modest, reasonably priced, and well-located near Termini station. Restaurants in the area can be over-priced, though.

My colleague Sam Lawler, commenting on the space junk that recently fell in a farmer’s field here in Saskatchewan:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Thanks to all who are sharing this post. A reminder: both this book (New Evidence for the Dating and Impact of the Black Death in Asia, 2022) and its predecessor (Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death) are both OPEN ACCESS on Project Muse. (Links in next 2 posts.)