BC names new Calderwood University Professor in Islamic and Asian Art

Emine Fetvaci, a prominent scholar and accomplished teacher whose research areas include the arts of the book in the Islamic world, and Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid art and architecture, has been appointed to Boston College’s Norma Jean Calderwood University Professorship in Islamic and Asian Art, effective January 1, 2021.

Emine Fetvaci (Daniel Star)

"Emine Fetvaci is one of the world's leading scholars of Ottoman painting, and she is playing an important role in redefining Islamic art history by exploring Islamic art in conversation with a broader early modern world,” said Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J.

“She brings to Boston College both this scholarly expertise and a deep commitment to formative liberal arts teaching. I am delighted that she will be joining us as the Calderwood Professor of Islamic and Asian Art."

read more here @ Boston College

Four leading female academics enter race to become Trinity provost

The Irish Times:

Four leading female academics have put their names forward for the position of provost of Trinity College Dublin.

Prof Linda Doyle, former dean of research; Prof Linda Hogan, former vice-provost; Prof Jane Ohlmeyer, professor of history and chairwoman of the Irish Research Council; and Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, associate professor in French, have all confirmed to colleagues that they have applied for the position.

Provost Patrick Prendergast is due to finish his 10-year term on July 31st, 2021, and the next head of Trinity will take over the following day.

The identity of any other applicants is unknown as the initial interview process is confidential.

However, the number of senior female academics who have entered the race raises the possibility that Trinity could have its first female provost in its 428-year history.

Applications for the position of provost closed at midday on Friday, and initial interviews will take place during December and January.

read more here @ Irish Times

Abortion and Contraception in the Middle Ages

From Scientific American:

Today, conversations around abortion in modern Christianity tend to take as a given the longstanding moral, religious and legal prohibition of the practice. Stereotypes of medical knowledge in the ancient and medieval worlds sustain the misguided notion that abortive and contraceptive pharmaceuticals and surgeries could not have existed in the pre-modern past.

This could not be further from the truth.

While official legal and religious opinions condemned the practice, often citing the health of women, a wealth of medical treatises produced by and for wealthy Christian women across the Middle Ages betray a radically different history—one in which women had a host of pharmaceutical contraceptives, various practices for inducing miscarriages, and surgical procedures for the termination of pregnancies. When it came to saving a woman’s life, Christian physicians unhesitatingly recommended these procedures.

read more here @ Scientific American