Medieval Freelancing 101. Webinar 2: Working Beyond Academia, Medieval Academy Webinar Series, Online, September 22, 2020, 1:00–2:30

Although many medievalists are occupied with the challenges of the classroom this fall, others have not returned to teaching this semester, due in great measure to COVID-19 budget cuts. In addition, many medievalists who work in non-teaching environments have seen their salaries reduced or positions eliminated due to pandemic-related financial exigencies. Such cuts are felt keenly throughout the ranks of MAA membership.

Fellow medievalists employed beyond the professoriate have much to bring to the discussion in this time of crisis. Some have built careers in para-academic activities as professional proofreaders, indexers, editors, and translators, while others have gone further afield to work in online publishing, tourism, or publicly oriented scholarship. This two-webinar series will turn to our colleagues to empower fellow medievalists to seek out new employment opportunities using the skills we all share. Both webinars will run for 90 minutes to include discussion from the audience; the first session will address para-academic work, and the second will examine outward-facing employment opportunities.

With the caveat that a successful freelance career can take years to develop, these webinars aim to provide a “beginning freelancer’s toolkit” to explore some of the following:

• How to monetize skills gained in training as a medievalist;
• Efforts needed to establish and expand a business (marketing, networking, rates, etc.);
• What hard skills are useful outside of the training medievalists normally receive;
• Resources available for related sectors;
• What the beginner should expect when starting off.

Webinar #2: Working Beyond Academia will feature four medievalists with experience working beyond academia.

Moderator:
Sarah Celentano (PhD Art History, 2016)

Panelists:
Peter Konieczny (MA History, 1999, MLIS, 2002), Online Publishing
Tara Mendola (PhD Comparative Literature, 2014), Writing for Public Audiences
Ken Mondschein (PhD History, 2010), Public History
Lindsey Hansen (PhD Art History, 2016), Scholarly Tours

The webinar is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.