In fall 2020, the ICMA formed a new administrative body, the IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee. The committee is chaired by Andrea Achi and Joseph Ackley, and committee members are Paroma Chatterjee, Bryan Keene, Ellen Shortell, Thelma Thomas, Alexa Amore, Meg Bernstein, Adam Levine, Erika Loic, and Risham Majeed.

The IDEA committee can be reached at idea@medievalart.org.

In November 2020, the IDEA Committee organized an online Town Hall called the ICMA Town Hall on Diversity, Medieval Art History, and 2020. Over one hundred ICMA members participated in this event, which served as a productive forum for listening, brainstorming, and discussing issues of diversity and inclusivity and how they pertain to our practices and our work as medieval art historians.

Following this event, the IDEA Committee collaborated with other ICMA committees to plan, develop, and implement many of the suggestions and requests voiced at the 2020 Town Hall.

We write to you now to update you on work undertaken by ICMA committees over the course of 2021, inspired by the 2020 Town Hall and other collaborations with the IDEA Committee. The links below connect you to videos of ICMA committee chairs talking about these initiatives. We hope that the opportunity to hear directly from our committee chairs not only will provide useful information about IDEA-inspired developments at the ICMA, but also will demonstrate and demystify the workings of the organization in general, for those who do not serve on committees.

Please explore the videos from:

ICMA President, Nina Rowe
IDEA Committee Chairs, Andrea Achi and Joseph Ackley
Advocacy Committee Chair, Jennifer Feltman
Digital Resources Committee Chair, Lindsay Cook
Gesta Editors, Susan Boynton and Diane Reilly
Grants and Awards Committee Chair, Stephen Perkinson
Programs and Lectures Committee Chair, Bryan Keene
Publications Committee Chair, Amanda Luyster
Membership Committee Chair, Martha Easton
Student Committee Chairs, Emmalee Dove and Gilbert Jones

A few highlights of the ICMA’s IDEA-inspired initiatives are:

Holding mentoring sessions on applying to graduate school, fellowship applications, publication, and navigating the job market
Encouraging submissions to Gesta on topics dealing with areas that are currently underrepresented in the journal, including Africa, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Islamic world, broadly defined, and art made for Jewish communities
Broadening the make-up of the Gesta Editorial Board in terms of demographics, age, locale, and areas of research
Instituting an Advocacy Seed Grant, focused on public-facing scholarly engagement
Widening the content and revising the organization of our library of open access Digital Resources for Teaching Medieval Art History, with IDEA issues in mind
Funding grant applications for projects geared toward wide audiences, on topics addressing the medieval world expansively defined, and from scholars of diverse backgrounds working at a range of types of institutions
Sponsoring conference sessions and lectures on topics concerning medieval art around the globe
Organizing online events on Queer Medieval Art History
Expanding participation on the Student Committee (now with members on four continents!)
Rebranding of the ICMA Instagram account, so that it serves as a showcase for student research, while also addressing themes of race, gender identity, sexuality, climate change, and other issues pertinent to the academy today

Plans are underway for a 2022 IDEA Town Hall to be held online early in spring.

As always, we are eager to do whatever we can to help you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions or suggestions.

Nina Rowe, President
Ryan Frisinger, Executive Director (icma@medievalart.org)