Olivia Remie Constable, professor of history and Robert M. Conway Director of the Medieval Institute , was elected to the bureau of the Fdration Internationale des Instituts d’tudes Mdivales (FIDEM) for a five-year term. Constable is one of two members from the United States selected to sit on this executive committee.
Founded in 1987, the FIDEM is an international organization that supports medieval studies, promotes communication between medievalists, and hosts an international conference every five years. Additionally, the FIDEM offers a graduate degree in medieval studies.
“This will be an interesting position for me because I will learn more about the state of the field internationally and will help to foster communications between centers for medieval studies around the world,” says Constable. As an added benefit, she notes, she can in turn tell the world about Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute, which has a graduate program and regularly hosts visiting scholars.
Constable was also recently elected a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America (MAA), which is the largest professional organization in the world devoted to medieval studies.
Her scholarly research examines the economic, social, and urban history of the medieval Mediterranean world, looking particularly at connections between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Constable was director of graduate studies in the Department of History from 2000 to 2006 and was appointed acting director of the Medieval Institute in 2008. She has published a number of works and is currently writing a new book titled Muslims in Medieval Europe .
For more information on FIDEM, go to http://web.letras.up.pt/fidem/ .
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on July 20, 2009.
