Introduction: Cluster on the Social Value of Medieval Studies

The Introduction sets up the professional context, the extremely difficult job market for new medievalists, that motivated the creation of this cluster of articles. It then reflects on the typical position allocation process and underscores the importance of adding qualitative arguments, especially those highlighting the social value of Medieval Studies, to the quantitative data usually required in official position requests. The cluster, then, seeks to help individual faculty members, chairpersons, and deans to articulate those qualitative arguments. It includes six essays offering six different approaches to defining or illustrating the social value of Medieval Studies. The Introduction concludes with a summary of the contributors’ major insights.