Faculty Spotlight - November 14, 2024
College of Arts & Sciences: Faculty Spotlight Series
Dr. Amber Dunai
Associate Professor of English and Linguistics,
Coordinator of the MA in English program as well as the language and linguistics minor.
Presentation: Thursday, November 14, 2024, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Talk by Dr. Amber Dunai.
Location: Founders Hall, Bernie Beck Lecture Hall (Doors open at 4:15 p.m.)
All are welcome to attend. Appetizers and light refreshments will be served!
“The Art of Memory"
Dr. Dunai's talk will introduce practices associated with the medieval art of memory and explore how they shaped texts, formed communities, and fueled creativity in the Middle Ages.
Abstract:
When we talk about memory today, we often mean the ability to retain and recall information. In the Middle Ages, though, memoria involved much more than this. To exercise one’s memory was not just to store, sort, and retrieve information, but also to internalize and transform it: to make something simultaneously “old” and “new.” The art of memory shaped individuals and communities, as well as the written and visual texts they engaged and created. Traces of this art are everywhere in the material remains of the Middle Ages: manuscripts, architecture, images, and more.
This talk introduces practices associated with the medieval art of memory and discusses how they shaped medieval and modern texts alike, as well as the ways that memoria formed communities and fueled creativity in the Middle Ages. It also considers how these practices of the past can offer fresh perspectives on memory and creativity in the present. The ideas explored in this talk are foundational to the upcoming England study abroad program in May 2025.
Dr. Amber Dunai is an Associate Professor of English and Linguistics. She earned an MA in Linguistics at the University of North Texas and a PhD in English with a focus in medieval literature at Texas A&M University. She is coordinator of the MA in English program as well as the language and linguistics minor. Her work appears in the Chaucer Review, Journal of Tolkien Research, Mythlore, Performance Matters, and Tolkien Studies, and her current projects bring together her interests in medievalisms, linguistics, and Tolkien studies. Dr. Dunai’s classes are discussion-centered. Students in her classes should expect to apply a range of analytical tools in order to arrive at inventive and convincing readings of texts. She emphasizes the importance of making connections among readings and ideas, and she encourages students to approach assignments in a way that puts course topics into conversation with personal, professional, and scholarly interests.
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