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thesowhat.bsky.social
The So What
@thesowhat.bsky.social
A public-facing, digital publication focusing on the ‘whys’ and ‘so whats’ of medieval studies and pedagogy. Affiliated with Arthuriana.
Participants are encouraged to come with questions and take advantage of this rare opportunity to speak directly with journal editors about the publishing process. Please share widely. Zoom registration is required: bit.ly/3NMo2QK
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Publishing 101 Workshop . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Arthuriana & Arthurian Literature Present: Publishing 101 Workshop Curious about the inner workings of academic journals? This Free hands-on workshop will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the pu...
bit.ly
February 9, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Graduate Student and early career scholars interested in academic publishing will find it especially useful. Topics include:

- Definition of an academic journal
- Finding the right journal/publisher
- The submission process
- The production process
- Reader’s reports
.....and more!
February 9, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Please join Arthuriana and Arthurian Literature for a free workshop on academic publishing and behind-the-scenes glimpse at how scholarly journals operate. The workshop will be on March 2nd at 3:00 pm EST and is open to all.
February 9, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by The So What
Macbeth: SHIT
the bushes were people 😂
February 9, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by The So What
So happy to be a part of this successful venture, and many congrats to the intrepid editors!
TSW is honored to win The Council of Editors of Learned Journals award for 2025 Best Public Outreach! We’re excited to continue making discussions of the medieval period accessible to everyone.

Link: www.celj.org/winners
January 14, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Always so glad to have you on board!
January 19, 2026 at 5:38 PM
TSW is honored to win The Council of Editors of Learned Journals award for 2025 Best Public Outreach! We’re excited to continue making discussions of the medieval period accessible to everyone.

Link: www.celj.org/winners
January 13, 2026 at 2:27 AM
8/ we don’t know where the m! came from in the first post & would now like to offer gif prizes for the best explanation/theory
fozzie bear is sitting at a table with a cup of coffee
ALT: fozzie bear is sitting at a table with a cup of coffee
media.tenor.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:22 AM
7/ & finally @elliecrookes.bsky.social returns to considerations of the Kennedys & American “Camelot” in a timely piece on “Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and the Return of King Arthur.” #medievalsky #arthuriansky
Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and the Return of King Arthur — Arthuriana
In 2021, I published an article in Arthuriana that mapped this facet of the QAnon conspiracy back to JKF’s assassination and discovered a distinctly medievalist bent to the discourse surrounding t...
www.arthuriana.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:19 AM
6/ but wait, there’s more! This issue also includes @kvmfinn.bsky.social’s “Sirocco,”
a beautiful short story focused on the character of #Palomides in Arthurian legend!! #medievalsky #arthuriansky
Sirocco — Arthuriana
‍There are two contexts for this story. The immediate context was the 2009 Yuletide Fanfiction Exchange , where I had been given a prompt focused on the character of Palomides in the Arthurian lege...
www.arthuriana.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:15 AM
5/ wrapping up the cluster is “A House Turned Upside Down: Popular Medievalism, Queerness, and Deconstruction in Netflix’s The #Decameron” by Hilary Rhodes. This piece applies 2 #queer frameworks to examine the show’s many disruptions of social institutions & norms. #medievalsky
A House Turned Upside Down: Popular Medievalism, Queerness, and Deconstruction in Netflix’s The Decameron — Arthuriana
There’s no doubt of it: this is not your college professor’s Boccaccio. In fact, the 2024 Netflix series sets out to create a TV version of The Decameron only in the loosest possible sense, borrowin...
www.arthuriana.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:12 AM
4/ then we have @megan-k-gors.bsky.social’s work on #Bocaccio & Netflix’s Liciscas; her piece, “Licisca(s) and the Transgressive Medieval in Adaptation,” explores social disruption in both Decamerons!
#medievalsky #adaptation #decameron
Licisca(s) and the Transgressive Medieval in Adaptation  — Arthuriana
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked creativity in many people stuck at home, and this creativity brought people in the twenty-first century closer to people in the fourteenth century. Beginning in 2020, a n...
www.arthuriana.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:08 AM
3/ next up, Lucy Barnhouse on “Memes and Medievalism: Reimagining #Boccaccio ’s Fourteenth Century.” This piece explores tropes medieval & modern, exploring the achronicity of the show’s “vibes-based version of the premodern past.” #medievalsky
Memes and Medievalism: Reimagining Boccaccio’s Fourteenth Century — Arthuriana
Boccaccio’s Decameron has been called “the privileged text of the contradictory, rich, and unpredictable experiences of life.” Netflix’s Decameron, while it is interested in the contradictions of ...
www.arthuriana.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:04 AM
2/ first up in the #Decameron cluster is “Shouting at the Air: Plague Medievalisms for the #Covid Era in Netflix’s The Decameron” by @winstonblack.bsky.social, a fascinating discussion of #plague medievalisms, medieval & modern medicine, & even some thoughts on sexy doctors. #medievalsky
Shouting at the Air: Plague Medievalisms for the Covid Era in Netflix’s The Decameron — Arthuriana
Countless novels, comics, shows, movies, and video games present fictional retellings of the Black Death. From cinematic masterpieces like Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957) and haunt i...
www.arthuriana.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:55 PM
We’re thrilled to announce that issue 3 is up & features a special cluster on Netflix’s The Decameron!m! The full issue is available here: www.arthuriana.com/tsw-issues! #pubhums #medievalsky #arthuriansky
And now, a quick teaser 🧵 of the pieces in this issue… /1
a man with long hair and a beard says we have a bit of news on a netflix poster
ALT: a man with long hair and a beard says we have a bit of news on a netflix poster
media.tenor.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Remember the day I learned about The Anarchy: "Wait, there were TWO English civil wars?!?"
On this day in 1120, the White Ship sank en route from Barfleur to Southampton. William Ætheling, King Henry I’s only legitimate son and heir to the throne, drowned whilst trying to save his half-sister, Matilda of Perche, who also perished.

1/4
December 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Your support will help more emerging scholars gain skills for both academic and alternative career paths. Please consider donating to Arthuriana, a registered 501(c)(3), today.

To donate, follow the link below: www.arthuriana.com/store
Store 2 — Arthuriana
www.arthuriana.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Over the course of the one-year fellowship participants contribute to Arthuriana’s quarterly issues and The So What, our public-facing digital humanities project.
December 1, 2025 at 9:11 PM
This #GivingTuesday, support the next generation of editors!

Founded in 2024, the Arthuriana Editorial Fellowship gives early-career scholars and graduate students hands-on experience in scholarly publishing.
December 1, 2025 at 9:11 PM
What a cool project!
'I crumbed together my research into North Sea fish species, North Atlantic trade, and late-medieval environmental crisis around the medieval North Sea basin with my embodied experience of walking in the fens south of Grimsby.'

Our latest MMM blog post by poet Becca Drake is out now! 👇
Meet a Medievalist Maker: Becca Drake — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
“ Meet a Medievalist Maker ” is an ongoing series of blog posts introducing our members and the work they are doing. Each post is organized around our Four P’s: a project they are working on...
www.guildmedmak.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by The So What
Preparing to see "Hamnet" this Thanksgiving? We invite you to read @smithsonianmag.bsky.social's fascinating article on what scholars really know about Shakespeare and his family, including thoughts from Folger Director Farah Karim-Cooper.
The Real History Behind 'Hamnet' and the Tragically Short Life of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway's Only Son
A film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as the Bard and his wife, imagines the lives of the Shakespeare family in fantastical and heartbreaking fash...
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:25 PM
A late Halloween Post: When your dissertation is due in two weeks and the Interlibrary Loan emails accumulating in your inbox are becoming threatening.
November 8, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by The So What
In fantastic news for medievalists, 'Perfume and Milk' from Florence + the Machine's new album Everybody Scream contains references to Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, and allusions to the General Prology of the Canterbury Tales (as well as, I think, the opening of Fitt II of SGGK)
Florence + The Machine - Perfume and Milk (Lyric Video)
YouTube video by florencemachine
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by The So What
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Holding out for the day I find a medieval manuscript opening a shoebox or searching for athletic equipment in my closet.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Rare medieval scroll found in shoebox goes on display in York
The 15th-century Arma Christi, one of only 11 copies, is the focus of a new gallery at Bar Convent.
www.bbc.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:15 PM