[427] Modern medieval masculinity examined in March 20 MTSU lecture

MURFREESBORO — Do contemporary men feel a need to return to the mores and gender roles of the Middle Ages?

Dr. Amy Kaufman, an assistant professor of English at MTSU, might provide some answers to that question in her Women’s and Gender Studies Research Series lecture scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in the SunTrust Room of the Business and Aerospace Building.

The title of Kaufman’s presentation is “Medievalism and Masculinity in the 21^st Century.” Her talk will examine the way medievalism in games, television, film religion and advertising shapes and validates American masculinity by appealing to a purportedly more authentic manhood in the medieval past.

“From Skyrim to Robin Hood to Game of Thrones, medievalism is everywhere in popular culture,” said Kaufman. “It is no coincidence that this immersion in the past coincides with a perceived masculinity crisis in which alarmist social critics warn us about ‘the end of men’ and knighthood and chivalry movements are springing up across the country.”

This lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the MTSU Office of Women’s and Gender Studies. For more information, contact the office at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.