A Conversation with Geraldine Heng
Season 3, Guest Episode
In this special guest episode from the American Academy of Religion, Dr. Geraldine Heng discusses the obstacles in conceptualizing race in premodernity and the evidence for racialized thinking in the European medieval period. Dr. Heng is professor of English and comparative literature, with a joint appointment in Middle Eastern studies and women’s studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the founder and director of the Global Middle Ages Project. In this interview, she talks with Dr. Kristian Petersen about the research in her book The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won AAR's 2019 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Historical Studies.
Read the transcript for "The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages."
THE TEAM
For the American Academy of Religion
Hosted by Kristian Petersen, PhD
Scholarship provided by Geraldine Heng, PhD
Transcription provided by American Academy of Religion
For The Dybbukast
Hosted by Aaron Henne
Edited by Mark McClain Wilson
Theme music composed by Michael Skloff and produced by Sam K.S.
"The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages" Learning Resources
Learn more about:
Global Middle Ages Project—G-MAP
Canon 68 of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215
the blood libel
1290 expulsion of Jews from England
Saracen etymology
Referenced in the episode:
art historian Madeline Caviness
David Theo Goldberg at the University of California Humanities Research Institute
Books and writings by Geraldine Heng:
The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages by Geraldine Heng
The Global Middle Ages, an Introduction by Geraldine Heng
England and the Jews: How Religion and Violence Created the First Racial State in the West by Geraldine Heng
Empire of Magic by Geraldine Heng
“England and the Jews, before Shakespeare” by Geraldine Heng for Shakespeare’s Globe
Watch with captions on YouTube:
ABOUT THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
The American Academy of Religion is the largest scholarly society dedicated to the academic study of religion, with more than 5,000 members around the world. The AAR's mission is to foster excellence in the academic study of religion and enhance the public understanding of religion.