Getting ready for Kalamazoo

Coordinator Tyler Sergent has sent out the information relevant for Cistercian researchers planning to attend Kalamazoo this May. The 2025 Cistercian & Monastic Studies Conference is part of the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies, held 8-10 May at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It is a highlight of the year in medieval research; indeed the huge conference started out as a rather small annual assembly of .... Cistercian Studies people! Now, thousands of experts and beginning scholars descend upon the sleepy midwestern campus and exchange ideas and build cameraderie. 
The full Congress program is available online here.
Two new developments: there is no longer the daily mass said by monks in a seminar room. Used to be, participants wanted mass daily. I do think there are other masses being said daily in classrooms, but officially there is only the one at 5:15PM on Saturday in Kanley Chapel.
Finally, Sergent writes that the traditional sit-down Cistercian dinner is no longer on the program. "University facilities are not really able to accommodate this kind of event on campus anymore," he explains. There will, however, be a cocktail party with ample time to sit, relax, and visit together. The sit-down dinner used to end with a wondeful, if eccentric, moment when everyone rose from their seats and joined in singing the Salve Regina according to the Cistercian setting. It was – in its own way – a delight! But time goes on, and things change.