Consuming the Word: The Sensory Experience of the Eucharist in the Medieval West

CALL FOR PAPERS
International Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo
13-16 May 2010

Consuming the Word:
The Sensory Experience of the Eucharist in the Medieval West

Recent scholarship on perception in the Middle Ages problematizes the
medieval understanding of the senses, with approaches grounded in
biology and psychology operating alongside (and often in opposition
to) the social construction of sensory experience. This panel seeks
to explore the sensory aspect of medieval life in the context of the
celebration of the Eucharist. This ritual was arguably the central
moment of Christian devotional practice in western Europe during the
medieval period. The theology, iconography and liturgy of the
Eucharist, however, were not static phenomena. Changes in the
interpretation, depiction and celebration of the sacrament affected
the devotional lives not just of clerics but of the laity as well.

We therefore invite papers which explore the experience of the
Eucharist throughout the medieval period (broadly construed, ca.
500-1500), specifically those which highlight the importance of the
role played by sensory perception for those who participated in the
Eucharistic celebration. E-mail a brief CV and an abstract of no more
than 300 words by 15 September 2009 to Thomas A. Greene
(tgreen3@luc.edu).

Thomas A. Greene
tgreen3@luc.edu
Loyola University, Chicago
Dept. of History
6525 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60626