We are delighted to announce that the first electronic election of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society has been a success. Out of 85 members eligible to vote, 69 members voted. Anne Thayer has been reelected to the Council, and Jessalynn Bird, Pietro Delcorno, and Patricia Stoop have been newly elected.

The new Council has also met to elect its officers. Here is the new Council:

President: Anne Thayer

Vice Presidents: Linda Gale Jones and Patricia Stoop

Secretary: Jessalynn Bird

Treasurer: Pietro Delcorno

Councilors: Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby, Beata Spieralska-Kasprzyk

Beginning in January 2021, Marjorie Burghart and Holly Johnson will replace Jonathan Adams and Ralf Lützelschwab as co-editors of Medieval Sermon Studies.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in our first electronic election and for your commitment to the IMSSS, and a big thank you to Kim Nguyen and Kim Rivers for making our first electronic election a success!

It is with great sadness that the Council of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society has decided to reschedule the 22nd IMSSS Symposium (2020, Jul. 17th – 21th, León, Spain), as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19). The 22nd IMSSS Symposium has not been cancelled, but it has been postponed until July 2021. We'll meet back in León next year, free at last. Meanwhile, however, the foreseen balloting to elect the new Council will be carried out regularly thanks to eVoting. More information will be provided shortly.

Dear colleagues,

The Medieval Institute appreciates your concerns and patience regarding the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies as we have carefully considered emerging information and discussed how best to proceed. The health and safety of our attendees and our community are our first priority. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the most recent recommendations of the CDC and the WHO regarding social distancing and public gatherings, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Congress, which was scheduled for May 7-10, 2020.

Please see the Congress website for information about refunds, special and sponsored sessions approved for 2020, and other important details (wmich.edu/medievalcongress).

We look forward to seeing everyone next year.

Jana K. Schulman
Director, Medieval Institute
Western Michigan University

The collection of essays that came out of the 2016 IMSSS Symposium has been published:

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Gloria Cigman, on December 13, 2018, in Oxford. She was born in London ninety years ago.

From 1968 to 1996, she taught Medieval English Studies at the University of Warwick as Lecturer and then as Senior Lecturer.

We are in Gloria's debt for her founding of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society. She launched the “Medieval Sermon Studies Newsletter” in 1977, and then the Symposia in 1979 at Linacre College in Oxford (UK).

As Leo Carruthers remembers in his short history, «Gloria played a unique role, since it was her dynamism and vision that brought people together and gave the necessary impetus to the group who would go on to found the Society in 1988».

Since the passing of Phyllis Barzillay Roberts in January 2018, this is the second great loss for our Society and many of us this year.

Thank you so much, dear Gloria: we’ll miss you. RIP.