An Open Letter to the Medieval Academy of America

by J J Cohen

[Please go here for background and extensive discussion. If you would like to sign this letter, simply leave your full name and institutional affiliation, if any, in the comments section. If you are a member of the Medieval Academy, you may wish to indicate that fact along with your signature; you need not belong to the MAA in order to sign. A copy of and link to the open letter will be sent to the officers of the MAA in the hopes that its message will be considered as deliberations proceed about the April 2011 annual meeting.]


We the undersigned condemn the immigration bill signed into law by Arizona governor Jan Brewer as racist and inhumane. We urge its immediate repeal. To demonstrate our support to those in Arizona whom the law targets, we request that the Medieval Academy of America seriously consider not holding its planned annual meeting of April 2011 in the state if the law remains in place, even if this means canceling the meeting and incurring a financial loss. We further urge that a theme on "Immigration and Tolerance" be added to the meeting's program no matter where it is held in order to place these recent events in a longer historical perspective.