Other Peoples’ Thinking: Language and Mentality in England before the Conquest

Other Peoples’ Thinking:
Language and Mentality in England before the Conquest

A conference sponsored by the Institute for Research in the Humanities
University of Wisconsin * Madison USA
April 17*18, 2009.

How did the people of Anglo-Saxon England conceive of their place in the
world that they inhabited? To what extent do the textual records dating
from that formative period reflect assumptions that may have no exact
equivalents today, and that require explication if the culture of that
era is not to be misunderstood? This two-day conference will provide an
opportunity for specialists to share insights into these questions.
Speakers have been asked to explore the extent to which the lexicon
pertaining to a given area of experience provides access to a people’s
mentality.

Main speakers are Robert E. Bjork (Arizona State University), Kathleen
Davis (Rhode Island University), Nicole Discenza (University of South
Forida), Roberta Frank (Yale University), Joseph C. Harris (Harvard
University), Antonette diPaolo Healey (University of Toronto), Karl
Reichl (University of Bonn), and Elaine Treharne (Florida State
University). Cross-disciplinary and theoretical perspectives will be
encouraged through the participation of additional panelists, including
Andrew Rabin (University of Kentucky: Anglo-Saxon law) and, from the
UW-Madison faculty, Thomas Dale (Art History), Thomas DuBois
(Scandinavian Studies and Folklore), Harold Scheub (African Languages
and Literature), Walton O. Schalick (History of Medicine and Bioethics),
Frank Salomon (Anthropology), and Karl Shoemaker (History and Legal
Studies).

For abstracts, the program, and a more complete description, see the
Institute’s home page and follow the link there: http://irh.wisc.edu/.
Those wishing to attend are encouraged to email the organizer in
advance:

John D. Niles _jdniles@wisc.edu _
Frederic G. Cassidy Professor of Humanities
and Senior Fellow, Institute for Research in the Humanities
Department of English
University of Wisconsin * Madison
Madison WI 53706
(608) 265-9836