On June 25^th-28^th, University of Saint Andrews hosted a multidisciplinary conference entitled “The Middle Ages in the Modern World”. Thematically, papers and presentations centered on the influence of medieval history on many areas, including the politics and culture of modern and contemporary Europe and the U.S. Patrick Geary, professor of Western medieval history at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and a keynote speaker at the conference spoke with World Academic News on his research and on the place of medieval history in the Western psyche.