Helen Damico Memorial Lecture Series

Since 1987, the University of New Mexico and the Institute for Medieval Studies have proudly hosted the IMS Spring Lecture Series, an annual celebration of world-class scholarship and research on the UNM campus. Attracting such luminaries as Christopher de Hamel, Michelle P. Brown, Annemarie Weyl Carr, Paul Freedman, and more! These lectures are an amazing opportunity for students and members of the public to interact with leaders in the many fields of medieval research and to see presentations of their current work first-hand.

Helen Damico, IMS Founder

Helen Damico was a Professor of English Medieval Language and Literature at the University of New Mexico. She was selected twice as an Outstanding Teacher and honored as a UNM Presidential Teaching Fellow. She founded the Institute of Medieval Studies, was a recipient of the New Mexico Humanities Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities, a member of the Medieval Academy of America and recipient of its CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies, and was also an Honorary Member of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists.

After attending a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for College Teachers at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1981, Helen was inspired to create our interdisciplinary Institute dedicated to Medieval Studies here at UNM. She also established the IMS Spring Lecture Series, as well as a variety of other academic pursuits that brought her passion for Medieval and Old English studies to her students and the broader UNM community. 

Helen passed away on April 14, 2020. In remembrance of our beloved founder and her tremendous legacy, the Institute for Medieval Studies hosted its "first" Helen Damico Memorial Lecture Series in the Spring of 2021. Since then, the lecture series has only grown in popularity and influence.