*CALL FOR PAPERS Eighth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance
Studies June 15-17, 2020 *Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, Missouri
The Eighth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
<https://www.smrs-slu.org/> (June 15-17, 2020) is a convenient summer venue
in North America for scholars to present papers, organize sessions,
participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion. The
goal of the Symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation into
all topics and in all disciplines of medieval and early modern studies.
The *plenary speakers* for this year will be *David Abulafia*, of Cambridge
University, and *Barbara Rosenwein*, of Loyola University, Chicago.
The Symposium is held annually on the beautiful midtown campus of Saint
Louis University. On campus housing options include affordable,
air-conditioned apartments as well as a luxurious boutique hotel.
Inexpensive meal plans are also available, although there is a wealth of
restaurants, bars, and cultural venues within easy walking distance of
campus.
While attending the Symposium, participants are free to use the Vatican
Film Library, the Rare Book and Manuscripts Collection, and the general
collection at Saint Louis University's Pius XII Memorial Library.
The Eighth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
<https://www.smrs-slu.org/> invites proposals for papers, complete
sessions, and roundtables. Any topics regarding the scholarly investigation
of the medieval and early modern world are welcome. Papers are normally
twenty minutes each and sessions are scheduled for ninety minutes.
Scholarly organizations are especially encouraged to sponsor proposals for
complete sessions.
The deadline for all submissions is *December 31, 2019*. Decisions will be
made in January and the final program will be published in February.
For more information or to submit your proposal online go to:
https://www.smrs-slu.org/
<https://www.smrs-slu.org/>
Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies <https://www.smrs-slu.org/>
www.smrs-slu.org
The Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies provides a
convenient summer venue in North America for scholars in all disciplines to
present papers, organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage
in interdisciplinary discussion.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
The Ibero-Medieval Association of North America (IMANA) is delighted to
again announce the Call for Papers for panels at the International Congress
on Medieval Studies (ICMS) at Western Michigan University (7-10 May 2020).
A full call has gone out in a separate email.
IMANA-sponsored panels always invite graduate student submissions, as well
as scholars at all levels of experience and from the breadth of disciplines
that touch on medieval Iberia, literary, historical, and beyond. If you
wonder about your discipline, the answer is YES, whatever it is. If you
wonder about your affiliation or lack thereof, the answer is also YES,
whatever it is. We are particularly interested in provoking the widest
cross-disciplinary conversations from the widest variety of subject
positions.
Please join our conversation at the ICMS by submitting a proposal for a
paper, attending any of our panels during the Congress, and joining us for
the IMANA Banquet announced on MEDIBER in the Spring!
Proposals should include an abstract, your contact information, and the
ICMS Participant Information form available here:
https://wmich.edu/medievalcong
The final deadline for submissions is 15 September 2019, so generally a
slightly earlier submission date is A Good Thing.
I invite position statements of up to 3 pages for the following roundtable:
*Proposal: Iberomedieval Studies: Taking Stock, Moving Forward (roundtable)*
*Official description:*
The relevance of medieval studies in general to the present has become both
more evident and at the same time fraught, and Iberomedieval studies must
assess how the discipline works within this shifting context. This is
happening as the organization of IMANA itself is shifting to take on
greater collective governance and responsibility, which also merits broader
consideration within the context of the social and disciplinary shifts in
medieval studies. This roundtable will consist of a conversation among
practitioners across all domains, generations, and positions of
Iberomedieval studies, to take stock of how the field is structured, how we
constitute our community through conversations, work, and organizations
like IMANA, and how we can move into the future integral to the larger
academic and intellectual work of our time.
*Further thoughts*:
As our community is reorganizing IMANA, it seems to me that we should
engage in some conversations to move toward clarity and consensus as part
of the process. Our broader field of medieval studies is also in the
process of taking stock in many areas, with which Iberomedieval Studies
must also contend.
I am therefore asking anyone interested in participating in a roundtable
discussion next year at the ICMS at Kalamazoo to submit a >>position
statement<< formulated in personal/professional response to the following
two texts: the roundtable proposal, and the draft mission statement for
IMANA.
Possibilities: What kinds of paths do you see within and between the
disciplines with/in which we work? What are the issues of culture,
identity, ethics, and commitments that arise as you make your way in
Iberomedieval studies? What dimensions and dynamics shape your work? How
do you frame the texts and questions that move you? What speaks to you,
and in what language(s), with what music? As an Iberomedievalist, how do
you play, where's your bliss, what dances? How does that fit, if it fits,
in the institutional structures that we both inherit and shape? How do we
make the most satisfying shape of the world of our work?
Heterodoxy is invited.
(2) Draft IMANA Mission Statement (developed by the IMANA Inaugural Board,
on the basis of Brocato's initial draft)
The Iberomedieval Association of North America is an international
community of those who study the Iberian Middle Ages, conceived broadly,
and including all of the areas of study that touch on medieval Iberia and
its context, but not limited to, languages, literatures, religions,
cultures, societies, and politics. As such, we work as a community in
intensely and uniquely interdisciplinary and interstitial ways, dealing
with the rich and fascinating artifacts and dynamics of medieval Iberia, a
zone of intense cultural, intellectual, and religious contact.
Iberomedieval Studies is therefore uniquely positioned – and poised – to
also turn the legacy of (racist and antisemitic) violence and oppression
into a transformative understanding of those dynamics. As a community, we
value and foster rigor, respect, inclusion, diversity, and support for all
scholars at all levels of endeavor.
Please send your position statement either by replying to this email, or to
linde.brocato@miami.edu.
again announce the Call for Papers for panels at the International Congress
on Medieval Studies (ICMS) at Western Michigan University (7-10 May 2020).
A full call has gone out in a separate email.
IMANA-sponsored panels always invite graduate student submissions, as well
as scholars at all levels of experience and from the breadth of disciplines
that touch on medieval Iberia, literary, historical, and beyond. If you
wonder about your discipline, the answer is YES, whatever it is. If you
wonder about your affiliation or lack thereof, the answer is also YES,
whatever it is. We are particularly interested in provoking the widest
cross-disciplinary conversations from the widest variety of subject
positions.
Please join our conversation at the ICMS by submitting a proposal for a
paper, attending any of our panels during the Congress, and joining us for
the IMANA Banquet announced on MEDIBER in the Spring!
Proposals should include an abstract, your contact information, and the
ICMS Participant Information form available here:
https://wmich.edu/medievalcong
The final deadline for submissions is 15 September 2019, so generally a
slightly earlier submission date is A Good Thing.
I invite position statements of up to 3 pages for the following roundtable:
*Proposal: Iberomedieval Studies: Taking Stock, Moving Forward (roundtable)*
*Official description:*
The relevance of medieval studies in general to the present has become both
more evident and at the same time fraught, and Iberomedieval studies must
assess how the discipline works within this shifting context. This is
happening as the organization of IMANA itself is shifting to take on
greater collective governance and responsibility, which also merits broader
consideration within the context of the social and disciplinary shifts in
medieval studies. This roundtable will consist of a conversation among
practitioners across all domains, generations, and positions of
Iberomedieval studies, to take stock of how the field is structured, how we
constitute our community through conversations, work, and organizations
like IMANA, and how we can move into the future integral to the larger
academic and intellectual work of our time.
*Further thoughts*:
As our community is reorganizing IMANA, it seems to me that we should
engage in some conversations to move toward clarity and consensus as part
of the process. Our broader field of medieval studies is also in the
process of taking stock in many areas, with which Iberomedieval Studies
must also contend.
I am therefore asking anyone interested in participating in a roundtable
discussion next year at the ICMS at Kalamazoo to submit a >>position
statement<< formulated in personal/professional response to the following
two texts: the roundtable proposal, and the draft mission statement for
IMANA.
Possibilities: What kinds of paths do you see within and between the
disciplines with/in which we work? What are the issues of culture,
identity, ethics, and commitments that arise as you make your way in
Iberomedieval studies? What dimensions and dynamics shape your work? How
do you frame the texts and questions that move you? What speaks to you,
and in what language(s), with what music? As an Iberomedievalist, how do
you play, where's your bliss, what dances? How does that fit, if it fits,
in the institutional structures that we both inherit and shape? How do we
make the most satisfying shape of the world of our work?
Heterodoxy is invited.
(2) Draft IMANA Mission Statement (developed by the IMANA Inaugural Board,
on the basis of Brocato's initial draft)
The Iberomedieval Association of North America is an international
community of those who study the Iberian Middle Ages, conceived broadly,
and including all of the areas of study that touch on medieval Iberia and
its context, but not limited to, languages, literatures, religions,
cultures, societies, and politics. As such, we work as a community in
intensely and uniquely interdisciplinary and interstitial ways, dealing
with the rich and fascinating artifacts and dynamics of medieval Iberia, a
zone of intense cultural, intellectual, and religious contact.
Iberomedieval Studies is therefore uniquely positioned – and poised – to
also turn the legacy of (racist and antisemitic) violence and oppression
into a transformative understanding of those dynamics. As a community, we
value and foster rigor, respect, inclusion, diversity, and support for all
scholars at all levels of endeavor.
Please send your position statement either by replying to this email, or to
linde.brocato@miami.edu.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Full calls for sub-themes for the 2020 Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, *Privilege
and Position*, are now available on our website:
https://nam04.safelinks.protec
We invite papers engaging with privilege and position in global medieval
cultures. The Colloquium meets *April 17-18, 2020* in Sewanee, TN; our
plenary speakers will be Seeta Chaganti (University of California, Davis)
and William Chester Jordan (Princeton). Financial aid is available, at
https://nam04.safelinks.protec
Sub-themes
include
- Gender and Genre in Medieval Literature
- Interested Gifts: Generosity, Power, and Privilege
- Manuscript Privileges
- Mysticism and Hierarchy
- Peasants and Privilege
- Peripheral Medieval Studies
- Private Law in Theory and Practice
- Privilege and Position in Pedagogies Medieval and Modern
- Privilege and Position in *Piers Plowman *(sponsored by the *Piers
Plowman *Society)
- The Privileged Afterlives of Early Medieval Saints
- Privileging Gower (sponsored by the John Gower Society)
- Querying Privilege in Medieval Drama Scholarship: Performance vs. Texts
Submissions are due *November 1, 2019*, through our website or via e-mail
at medievalcolloquium@sewanee.edu
not accepted will be automatically placed in our general call (so there are
two chances for your paper to be accepted if you apply to a sub-theme).
Thank you to the organizers of these sub-themes, and we look forward to
your submissions!
Yours,
Matthew Irvin
Director, Sewanee Medieval Colloquium
Pronouns: he/him
and Position*, are now available on our website:
https://nam04.safelinks.protec
We invite papers engaging with privilege and position in global medieval
cultures. The Colloquium meets *April 17-18, 2020* in Sewanee, TN; our
plenary speakers will be Seeta Chaganti (University of California, Davis)
and William Chester Jordan (Princeton). Financial aid is available, at
https://nam04.safelinks.protec
Sub-themes
include
- Gender and Genre in Medieval Literature
- Interested Gifts: Generosity, Power, and Privilege
- Manuscript Privileges
- Mysticism and Hierarchy
- Peasants and Privilege
- Peripheral Medieval Studies
- Private Law in Theory and Practice
- Privilege and Position in Pedagogies Medieval and Modern
- Privilege and Position in *Piers Plowman *(sponsored by the *Piers
Plowman *Society)
- The Privileged Afterlives of Early Medieval Saints
- Privileging Gower (sponsored by the John Gower Society)
- Querying Privilege in Medieval Drama Scholarship: Performance vs. Texts
Submissions are due *November 1, 2019*, through our website or via e-mail
at medievalcolloquium@sewanee.edu
not accepted will be automatically placed in our general call (so there are
two chances for your paper to be accepted if you apply to a sub-theme).
Thank you to the organizers of these sub-themes, and we look forward to
your submissions!
Yours,
Matthew Irvin
Director, Sewanee Medieval Colloquium
Pronouns: he/him
Monday, August 19, 2019
The Centre for the Digital Research of Religion at Masaryk University and
the “Dissident Networks Project” (DISSINET, https://dissinet.cz/) hosted at
this research centre are pleased to invite proposals for short presentations
(5 min.) of various digital tools for historical research (e.g.: software,
environments for the annotation of texts and digitized manuscripts, the
adaptation of general-purpose digital tools to historical research, etc.)
to be presented at a roundtable session on "Digital Tools for Historical
Research" at the International Medieval Congress 2020 in Leeds, UK (6-9
July 2020).
Each speaker should briefly present a tool and be prepared to answer
questions from the audience on its use and application. The speakers may be
connected with the developers of the tool, but this is in no way a
requirement. They need only know it well enough to be able to present it to
the audience and answer questions. Overall, the roundtable and subsequent
discussions are intended to create a space for networking between users and
potential users of such tools (and in some cases their developers).
The participants in any session of the congress, including this roundtable,
are expected to register for the congress and pay the registration fee and
their travel costs.
Please send brief informal proposals to David ZbÃral at
david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz by September 15th at the latest. Any proposal
should contain the name of the tool or environment to be discussed, a short
description of the tool, information about its availability (licence), and
the address of a website where more information about the tool is available
(if applicable). A formal abstract is not required.
We look forward to your proposals!
All the best,
David.
Dr. David ZbÃral
Associate Professor
*Masaryk University | Faculty of Arts*
Department for the Study of Religions | Centre for the Digital Research of
Religion
A: Arna Nováka 1 | 624 00 Brno | Czech Republic
T: +420 549 495 372 <+420549495372>
E: david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz | W: https://religionistika.phil.mu
the “Dissident Networks Project” (DISSINET, https://dissinet.cz/) hosted at
this research centre are pleased to invite proposals for short presentations
(5 min.) of various digital tools for historical research (e.g.: software,
environments for the annotation of texts and digitized manuscripts, the
adaptation of general-purpose digital tools to historical research, etc.)
to be presented at a roundtable session on "Digital Tools for Historical
Research" at the International Medieval Congress 2020 in Leeds, UK (6-9
July 2020).
Each speaker should briefly present a tool and be prepared to answer
questions from the audience on its use and application. The speakers may be
connected with the developers of the tool, but this is in no way a
requirement. They need only know it well enough to be able to present it to
the audience and answer questions. Overall, the roundtable and subsequent
discussions are intended to create a space for networking between users and
potential users of such tools (and in some cases their developers).
The participants in any session of the congress, including this roundtable,
are expected to register for the congress and pay the registration fee and
their travel costs.
Please send brief informal proposals to David ZbÃral at
david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz by September 15th at the latest. Any proposal
should contain the name of the tool or environment to be discussed, a short
description of the tool, information about its availability (licence), and
the address of a website where more information about the tool is available
(if applicable). A formal abstract is not required.
We look forward to your proposals!
All the best,
David.
Dr. David ZbÃral
Associate Professor
*Masaryk University | Faculty of Arts*
Department for the Study of Religions | Centre for the Digital Research of
Religion
A: Arna Nováka 1 | 624 00 Brno | Czech Republic
T: +420 549 495 372 <+420549495372>
E: david.zbiral@mail.muni.cz | W: https://religionistika.phil.mu
Sunday, August 18, 2019
CFP The Digital Middle
Ages in Ireland and Beyond (A Roundtable), ICMS Kalamazoo 2020 by Vicky
McAlister CFP The Digital Middle Ages in Ireland and Beyond (A
Roundtable), ICMS Kalamazoo 2020, May 2020, Western Michigan University
Sponsored by the American Society for Irish Medieval Studies (ASIMS)
This session will discuss how scholars and students can use digital
technologies to achieve a more nuanced understanding of medieval
culture. At ICMS “Kalamazoo” in 2019 ASIMS sponsored the very successful
Digital Castles roundtable. Particularly enlightening discussion during
this session centered on the ways we can use the digital humanities to
engage students in our work as scholars. Consequently, we would like to
broaden the scope and appeal of a digital humanities session proposed
for Kalamazoo 2020. While the geographic focus is on Ireland, we
particularly welcome proposals that discuss medieval Ireland’s
connections with the wider world. This panel considers innovative
approaches towards better understanding, through digital means, the
material culture of medieval Ireland. As so many of 2019’s attendees (as
well as the majority of ASIMS members) are based at teaching focused
institutions, we plan to particularly emphasize how digital projects can
be accomplished on a budget and at a distance from the geographic area
of study. Presentations will be of less than ten minutes’ duration, with
ample time for audience participation and discussion. Another benefit of
the session’s approach is its multidisciplinarity, reflecting approaches
from history, manuscript studies, archaeology, art history and
literature. This session will therefore provide a venue for an exciting
interdisciplinary dialogue, framed within the digital humanities.
Please send your abstract to Vicky McAlister, Southeast Missouri State
University, vmcalister@semo.edu by *Friday, September 6th, 2019.*
More information available at https://asims.org/kalamazoo/
Ages in Ireland and Beyond (A Roundtable), ICMS Kalamazoo 2020 by Vicky
McAlister CFP The Digital Middle Ages in Ireland and Beyond (A
Roundtable), ICMS Kalamazoo 2020, May 2020, Western Michigan University
Sponsored by the American Society for Irish Medieval Studies (ASIMS)
This session will discuss how scholars and students can use digital
technologies to achieve a more nuanced understanding of medieval
culture. At ICMS “Kalamazoo” in 2019 ASIMS sponsored the very successful
Digital Castles roundtable. Particularly enlightening discussion during
this session centered on the ways we can use the digital humanities to
engage students in our work as scholars. Consequently, we would like to
broaden the scope and appeal of a digital humanities session proposed
for Kalamazoo 2020. While the geographic focus is on Ireland, we
particularly welcome proposals that discuss medieval Ireland’s
connections with the wider world. This panel considers innovative
approaches towards better understanding, through digital means, the
material culture of medieval Ireland. As so many of 2019’s attendees (as
well as the majority of ASIMS members) are based at teaching focused
institutions, we plan to particularly emphasize how digital projects can
be accomplished on a budget and at a distance from the geographic area
of study. Presentations will be of less than ten minutes’ duration, with
ample time for audience participation and discussion. Another benefit of
the session’s approach is its multidisciplinarity, reflecting approaches
from history, manuscript studies, archaeology, art history and
literature. This session will therefore provide a venue for an exciting
interdisciplinary dialogue, framed within the digital humanities.
Please send your abstract to Vicky McAlister, Southeast Missouri State
University, vmcalister@semo.edu by *Friday, September 6th, 2019.*
More information available at https://asims.org/kalamazoo/
Friday, August 16, 2019
CFP Leeds 2020: Beyond ‘Virgin’ Lands: Interdisciplinary Approaches to
Gendered Landscapes
by Emma O'Loughlin Bérat
Leeds IMC 2020 Call for Papers
*Beyond ‘Virgin’ Lands: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Gendered
Landscapes*
Organised by
Dr. Emma O’Loughlin Bérat (Independent/ Bonn Universität)
and Dr. Karen Dempsey (University of Reading)
Also see CFP
here: https://www.academia.edu/40073
[1]
Interactions with the medieval landscape often appear as innately masculine.
From Brutus’ foundation of the eponymous Britain to patrilineages derived
from castle names to metaphorically feminine (virginal and untamed) lands
awaiting male domination. Yet, as recent research shows, the apparent
prevalence of these ‘fantasies’ in medieval sources is due in part to
modern assumptions. In fact, historical women built castles and were patrons
of monasteries, the legendary Syrian princess Albina gave her name to Albion
before Brutus ever landed, female saints impressed their footprints
permanently into rock and the menstrual blood of Queen Medh carved furrows
into the Irish landscape. In symbolic, nominal, architectural, horticultural
and legal ways, to name a few, medieval women shaped, curated and cared for
the medieval landscape. Then as now, the landscape is a cultural construct:
the ways we understand it have much to do with the gendered preconceptions
and approaches we bring to our study and the sources and interactions we
privilege.
Our interdisciplinary panel(s) will explore the ways women, other gendered
identities and non-human agents, both historical and representational, took
control of and shaped geographical landscapes at a variety of scales. We are
particularly interested in papers that move beyond artificial borders between
male/female, nature/culture, domestic/political and other oppositional
understandings.
Questions may include but are not limited to:
* How did women’s political, communal and private interests influence the
ways medieval people understood their contemporary landscapes? To what
extent did legends and landmarks left by women shape future notions of the
land’s identity?
* In what ways did women's devotional practices draw on landscapes at both
micro and macro levels? What haptic, emotional, affective experiences can
we understand from today?
* What impact do masculine and paternalistic narratives have within the
current discourses on medieval landscapes, particularly in heritage
studies?
* What can we as scholars do to understand the diversity of class, gender,
religious, racial and cultural positions always at play within the
medieval landscape? How does eco-criticism and new materialism help in
this study?
We hope these will be truly interdisciplinary discussions and welcome papers
from all fields, including anthropology, archaeology, heritage studies,
history, art history, literature and religion on any medieval period and
geographical region.
Please submit an abstract of 150-200 words to Emma Bérat
(emmaberat84@gmail.com [2]) and Karen Dempsey (k.dempsey@reading.ac.uk [3])
by 15 September 2019.
[1] https://www.academia.edu/40073
[2] mailto:emmaberat84@gmail.com
[3] mailto:k.dempsey@reading.ac.uk
Gendered Landscapes
by Emma O'Loughlin Bérat
Leeds IMC 2020 Call for Papers
*Beyond ‘Virgin’ Lands: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Gendered
Landscapes*
Organised by
Dr. Emma O’Loughlin Bérat (Independent/ Bonn Universität)
and Dr. Karen Dempsey (University of Reading)
Also see CFP
here: https://www.academia.edu/40073
[1]
Interactions with the medieval landscape often appear as innately masculine.
From Brutus’ foundation of the eponymous Britain to patrilineages derived
from castle names to metaphorically feminine (virginal and untamed) lands
awaiting male domination. Yet, as recent research shows, the apparent
prevalence of these ‘fantasies’ in medieval sources is due in part to
modern assumptions. In fact, historical women built castles and were patrons
of monasteries, the legendary Syrian princess Albina gave her name to Albion
before Brutus ever landed, female saints impressed their footprints
permanently into rock and the menstrual blood of Queen Medh carved furrows
into the Irish landscape. In symbolic, nominal, architectural, horticultural
and legal ways, to name a few, medieval women shaped, curated and cared for
the medieval landscape. Then as now, the landscape is a cultural construct:
the ways we understand it have much to do with the gendered preconceptions
and approaches we bring to our study and the sources and interactions we
privilege.
Our interdisciplinary panel(s) will explore the ways women, other gendered
identities and non-human agents, both historical and representational, took
control of and shaped geographical landscapes at a variety of scales. We are
particularly interested in papers that move beyond artificial borders between
male/female, nature/culture, domestic/political and other oppositional
understandings.
Questions may include but are not limited to:
* How did women’s political, communal and private interests influence the
ways medieval people understood their contemporary landscapes? To what
extent did legends and landmarks left by women shape future notions of the
land’s identity?
* In what ways did women's devotional practices draw on landscapes at both
micro and macro levels? What haptic, emotional, affective experiences can
we understand from today?
* What impact do masculine and paternalistic narratives have within the
current discourses on medieval landscapes, particularly in heritage
studies?
* What can we as scholars do to understand the diversity of class, gender,
religious, racial and cultural positions always at play within the
medieval landscape? How does eco-criticism and new materialism help in
this study?
We hope these will be truly interdisciplinary discussions and welcome papers
from all fields, including anthropology, archaeology, heritage studies,
history, art history, literature and religion on any medieval period and
geographical region.
Please submit an abstract of 150-200 words to Emma Bérat
(emmaberat84@gmail.com [2]) and Karen Dempsey (k.dempsey@reading.ac.uk [3])
by 15 September 2019.
[1] https://www.academia.edu/40073
[2] mailto:emmaberat84@gmail.com
[3] mailto:k.dempsey@reading.ac.uk
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
CALL FOR PAPERS
Leeds International Medieval Conference, 6-9 July 2020
“Mike Clover and the World of Late Antiquity”
Sponsored by the Mike Clover Memorial Consortium.
Following the untimely death of Mike Clover, a much beloved and
admired scholar of Late Antiquity in general and the Vandals in
particular, his students, colleagues, and friends are proposing a
series of conference sessions in his honor for the Leeds International
Medieval Conference, 6-9 July 2020. Given Mike’s interests, the theme
for next year’s conference, “Borders,” makes this initiative even more
appropriate. We would welcome submissions on the kinds of topics that
Mike liked to work on, things like barbarians/Vandals, prosopography,
the Historia augusta, Ammianus, hagiography, coinage, and late Roman
history in general.
Submissions (title and brief abstract) can be sent to Ralph Mathisen,
ralphwm@illinois.edura
Leeds International Medieval Conference, 6-9 July 2020
“Mike Clover and the World of Late Antiquity”
Sponsored by the Mike Clover Memorial Consortium.
Following the untimely death of Mike Clover, a much beloved and
admired scholar of Late Antiquity in general and the Vandals in
particular, his students, colleagues, and friends are proposing a
series of conference sessions in his honor for the Leeds International
Medieval Conference, 6-9 July 2020. Given Mike’s interests, the theme
for next year’s conference, “Borders,” makes this initiative even more
appropriate. We would welcome submissions on the kinds of topics that
Mike liked to work on, things like barbarians/Vandals, prosopography,
the Historia augusta, Ammianus, hagiography, coinage, and late Roman
history in general.
Submissions (title and brief abstract) can be sent to Ralph Mathisen,
ralphwm@illinois.edu
submissions in September 21. Subsequently, the wheels at the IMC will
grind slow but fine, and the IMC states, “we anticipate being able to
notify paper/session proposers whether their proposal has been
accepted into the programme by the December prior to the IMC.”
Ralph W. Mathisen
Professor, History, Classics, and Medieval Studies
Founding Editor and Editor Emeritus, Journal of Late Antiquity
Editor, Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity
Director, Biographical Database for Late Antiquity
Dept. of History -- MC-466
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 USA
ralphwm@uiuc.edu, ruricius@msn.com
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
CFP: "Medieval Responses to the Sounds of Animals"
Children today enjoy learning the sounds made by different animals, which are often captured by onomatopoetic words. Medieval scholars similarly seem to have been fascinated by the sounds of animals, which they apparently took delight in capturing and impersonating in Latin and the vernaculars and also in music. Further, some medieval thinkers expressed curiosity about whether animal sounds, like their bodily movements, signified emotions and desires, intentionally or not, and constituted a language that could be directed at humans and even the Creator, not just at other animals. Building upon recent work by Alison Langdon and Elizabeth Leach, this session seeks to explore the representation and interpretation of animal sounds within various fields of medieval culture, such as music, literature, religious life, and philosophy, and possibly also art.
A session sponsored by the Marco Institute, University of Tennessee. Please send abstracts to Mary Dzon (mdzon@utk.edu) by Sept. 1.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Reproduction and Control in Medieval Abrahamic Traditions: Contraception, Fertility, Abortion
This panel seeks to examine cross-confessional cultural attitudes to the control of human fertility.
In an effort to supplement recent studies that survey medical, theological, and legal discussions of generation
and abortion, we encourage scholars to move beyond authoritative or prescriptive texts, drawing on under-utilized
sources for this subject, such as literary texts, aesthetic productions, and hagiographic materials. By anchoring
our discussions in a broad array of sources on contraception, abortion, and the maintenance of regular menstruation,
this panel aims to provide nuance and a comparative frame in the scholarly perception of the control of fertility
in the Middle Ages.
**********
Sara Ritchey
Associate Professor of History
Affiliated Faculty in Religious Studies
Steering Cmte: Women, Gender, Sexuality
She/Her/Hers
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Friday, August 9, 2019
Erasure in Late Antiquity: Call for Papers
*Leeds International Medieval Congress, 6th to 9th July 2020*
*The Postgraduate and Early Career Late Antiquity Network *
Various forms of erasure have attracted significant interest in recent
scholarship. Whether reassessments of *damnatio memoriae*, temple
desecration and redecoration, or the deliberate denial of links to
preceding movements during processes of cultural and religious change,
these concerns are particularly relevant to the late antique world.
Censorship, the manipulation and alteration of space, and concepts of
absence in theology and philosophy are also closely connected to notions of
erasure, as well as more sudden processes of replacement and change. Yet
there have been few attempts to consider erasure as a more general
phenomenon in late antiquity. What were the means by which inclusion and
exclusion took place? Were there commonalities in erasing processes? How
can scholars recover the traces of what has been erased, and how can the
academic community identify and assess its own erasures?
We invite postgraduate and early career researchers from a variety of
backgrounds to present and discuss erasure across the field of late
antiquity in a series of panels. The Late Antiquity Network was founded in
2012 to provide a unified platform for junior researchers working on a
broad range of geographical and disciplinary areas within the period. We
hold workshops and organise panels at larger conferences to provide
opportunities for junior researchers to build connections with others in
the field, present their research in a constructive environment, and
discuss key current trends and issues. Participants in these panels are
encouraged to interpret ‘erasure’ in a broad sense, thinking about how the
theme intersects with their own research interests. Applications from
masters students, those early in their PhDs, and individuals without
current institutional affiliation are particularly encouraged. Papers
should be no more than 20 minutes, leaving 10 minutes for discussion.
Some suggested topics for discussion, which we invite participants to read
in relation to their own themes or bodies of evidence:
- ‘Remembering to forget’ and self-conscious erasure
- Narrative exclusion and literary erasure
- Physical and spatial erasure
- Erasure and the dynamics of censorship
- Erasure of boundaries (epistemological, ethnic, etc)
- Erasure and changes in religion and culture
- Partial erasure, deliberate or accidental
- Erasure in manuscripts and papyri
- The removal and replacement of individuals
- Erasure and power dynamics
- Concepts of absence and erasure in philosophy and theology
- Sculptural, pictorial and visual inclusion and exclusion generally
- Erasure and the problems of sources’ representation
- Erasure in or by contemporary scholarship
The deadline for abstracts (300 words) is midnight on Friday, September
6th. Please include a brief bio noting your career stage.
Abstracts and queries can be sent to: lateantiquenetwork@gmail.com
*Rebecca Usherwood (Trinity College Dublin), Becca Grose (Reading), and the
Network Committee.*
*Leeds International Medieval Congress, 6th to 9th July 2020*
*The Postgraduate and Early Career Late Antiquity Network *
Various forms of erasure have attracted significant interest in recent
scholarship. Whether reassessments of *damnatio memoriae*, temple
desecration and redecoration, or the deliberate denial of links to
preceding movements during processes of cultural and religious change,
these concerns are particularly relevant to the late antique world.
Censorship, the manipulation and alteration of space, and concepts of
absence in theology and philosophy are also closely connected to notions of
erasure, as well as more sudden processes of replacement and change. Yet
there have been few attempts to consider erasure as a more general
phenomenon in late antiquity. What were the means by which inclusion and
exclusion took place? Were there commonalities in erasing processes? How
can scholars recover the traces of what has been erased, and how can the
academic community identify and assess its own erasures?
We invite postgraduate and early career researchers from a variety of
backgrounds to present and discuss erasure across the field of late
antiquity in a series of panels. The Late Antiquity Network was founded in
2012 to provide a unified platform for junior researchers working on a
broad range of geographical and disciplinary areas within the period. We
hold workshops and organise panels at larger conferences to provide
opportunities for junior researchers to build connections with others in
the field, present their research in a constructive environment, and
discuss key current trends and issues. Participants in these panels are
encouraged to interpret ‘erasure’ in a broad sense, thinking about how the
theme intersects with their own research interests. Applications from
masters students, those early in their PhDs, and individuals without
current institutional affiliation are particularly encouraged. Papers
should be no more than 20 minutes, leaving 10 minutes for discussion.
Some suggested topics for discussion, which we invite participants to read
in relation to their own themes or bodies of evidence:
- ‘Remembering to forget’ and self-conscious erasure
- Narrative exclusion and literary erasure
- Physical and spatial erasure
- Erasure and the dynamics of censorship
- Erasure of boundaries (epistemological, ethnic, etc)
- Erasure and changes in religion and culture
- Partial erasure, deliberate or accidental
- Erasure in manuscripts and papyri
- The removal and replacement of individuals
- Erasure and power dynamics
- Concepts of absence and erasure in philosophy and theology
- Sculptural, pictorial and visual inclusion and exclusion generally
- Erasure and the problems of sources’ representation
- Erasure in or by contemporary scholarship
The deadline for abstracts (300 words) is midnight on Friday, September
6th. Please include a brief bio noting your career stage.
Abstracts and queries can be sent to: lateantiquenetwork@gmail.com
*Rebecca Usherwood (Trinity College Dublin), Becca Grose (Reading), and the
Network Committee.*
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Please consider applying for the following panels at the International
Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo sponsored by The Lazarus Project
and The Rossell Hope Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. Please
send all papers to hrdavies5@gmail.com. The deadline for paper abstracts is
September 15.
ColLABoration
Scholars have increasingly found themselves wrestling with the
institutional and structural problems inherent in practicing the digital
humanities within the modern university. Many have found that the
traditional “lone scholar” approach so long embedded within humanities
scholarship does not often translate well to large-scale DH projects, which
may require skills in everything from (for example) multiple coding
languages to paleography to imaging technology. At the Lazarus Project, we
have adopted a laboratory model — in an English department — to approach
the multifarious aspects of DH work that cannot and should not be the
responsibility of any one person. We are looking for papers that deal with
the advantages and disadvantages, problems and solutions, faced by scholars
who have tried to integrate a collaborative or laboratory approach to the
digital humanities within traditional humanities departments. These may be
abstract (theory based), concrete (accounts of specific projects that faced
these issues), or anything in between. Of particular interest might be the
challenges of pitching and publishing interdisciplinary work and the
tendency within traditional humanities fields — and traditional university
bureaucracies — to value single-author publications and solo scholarly
endeavors more highly than those involving co-authors and collaborators. We
furthermore welcome papers that address interpersonal issues such as
mentoring undergraduates in the digital humanities, integrating
first-generation college students, awarding credit to
collaboratively-produced results, and integrating the collaborative
lab-based model into external departmental and interdisciplinary
conversations.
Mind the Gap: Bridging Departments and Disciplines in the Digital
Humanities (Roundtable)
At many universities and institutions, digital humanities projects exist in
pockets around campus, tending as they do to spring up where individual
professors are driving initiatives or leading projects. This roundtable
seeks contributors who have participated in digital humanities projects
that faced the issue of disciplinary divides. Accounts of interdisciplinary
projects are welcome, as are theoretical examinations of the means of
bridging the gap between different conceptual frameworks and practical
treatments of organizing DH endeavors across departmental divides. How have
you helped to foster an inclusive working environment that makes space for
students and scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds and interests?
What ideological blindspots hinder collaboration between departments? How
can we change institutional expectations to facilitate collaborations
across departments and disciplines? What unexpected benefits have you seen
as a result of these collaborative initiatives? Medievalists are
particularly equipped to deal with these challenges as we frequently must
frequently work across departments and disciplines. We want to bring this
insight and experience to discussion on the digital humanities.
Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo sponsored by The Lazarus Project
and The Rossell Hope Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. Please
send all papers to hrdavies5@gmail.com. The deadline for paper abstracts is
September 15.
ColLABoration
Scholars have increasingly found themselves wrestling with the
institutional and structural problems inherent in practicing the digital
humanities within the modern university. Many have found that the
traditional “lone scholar” approach so long embedded within humanities
scholarship does not often translate well to large-scale DH projects, which
may require skills in everything from (for example) multiple coding
languages to paleography to imaging technology. At the Lazarus Project, we
have adopted a laboratory model — in an English department — to approach
the multifarious aspects of DH work that cannot and should not be the
responsibility of any one person. We are looking for papers that deal with
the advantages and disadvantages, problems and solutions, faced by scholars
who have tried to integrate a collaborative or laboratory approach to the
digital humanities within traditional humanities departments. These may be
abstract (theory based), concrete (accounts of specific projects that faced
these issues), or anything in between. Of particular interest might be the
challenges of pitching and publishing interdisciplinary work and the
tendency within traditional humanities fields — and traditional university
bureaucracies — to value single-author publications and solo scholarly
endeavors more highly than those involving co-authors and collaborators. We
furthermore welcome papers that address interpersonal issues such as
mentoring undergraduates in the digital humanities, integrating
first-generation college students, awarding credit to
collaboratively-produced results, and integrating the collaborative
lab-based model into external departmental and interdisciplinary
conversations.
Mind the Gap: Bridging Departments and Disciplines in the Digital
Humanities (Roundtable)
At many universities and institutions, digital humanities projects exist in
pockets around campus, tending as they do to spring up where individual
professors are driving initiatives or leading projects. This roundtable
seeks contributors who have participated in digital humanities projects
that faced the issue of disciplinary divides. Accounts of interdisciplinary
projects are welcome, as are theoretical examinations of the means of
bridging the gap between different conceptual frameworks and practical
treatments of organizing DH endeavors across departmental divides. How have
you helped to foster an inclusive working environment that makes space for
students and scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds and interests?
What ideological blindspots hinder collaboration between departments? How
can we change institutional expectations to facilitate collaborations
across departments and disciplines? What unexpected benefits have you seen
as a result of these collaborative initiatives? Medievalists are
particularly equipped to deal with these challenges as we frequently must
frequently work across departments and disciplines. We want to bring this
insight and experience to discussion on the digital humanities.
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Call for Papers
INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL CONGRESS
LEEDS, 6–9 JULY 2020
Economies of Early Medieval Monasticism
Organisers: Jennifer Davis (davisj@cua.edu),
Caroline Goodson (cjg70@cam.ac.uk)
The economies of early medieval monasteries warrant re-examination. The
now-classic model of Frankish monasteries as deeply integrated in exchange
economies and tied to the Carolingian dynasty both politically and
economically is based on important evidence, particularly via polyptychs
and extensive charter collections. However, there is room for further
research, especially in relation to how monastic economies changed over
time and how monastic economies worked in various regions. Moreover, the
model favours exceptional examples of monasteries that owned and controlled
huge tracts of lands and their agricultural products and devised robust
implements to record payments of goods and money from properties. But how
applicable are models based on these mega-monasteries to other
institutions? To what degree did all monasteries seek to dominate
territories? Was artisanal production (or other kinds of production) within
religious houses the norm? How might the economic profiles of religious
houses have varied over time or across regions?
We seek contributions from historians and archaeologists working on early
medieval Europe within and without the Carolingian Empire to explore the
range of economic trajectories experienced by monasteries in the period ca.
650–ca. 1000. We welcome contributions considering environmental resources,
plant and animal crops, and labour supplies. Economic approaches to
monastic document production/scriptoria, architecture and art, as well as
spiritual capital would be appropriate topics to explore, too.
Please consider proposing a paper for the strand. To submit a proposal
please send an abstract of no more than 100 words to the session organizers
by 1 September 2019.
Caroline Goodson
Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
King’s College, Cambridge, UK CB2 1ST
Office: +44 01223331228
INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL CONGRESS
LEEDS, 6–9 JULY 2020
Economies of Early Medieval Monasticism
Organisers: Jennifer Davis (davisj@cua.edu),
Caroline Goodson (cjg70@cam.ac.uk)
The economies of early medieval monasteries warrant re-examination. The
now-classic model of Frankish monasteries as deeply integrated in exchange
economies and tied to the Carolingian dynasty both politically and
economically is based on important evidence, particularly via polyptychs
and extensive charter collections. However, there is room for further
research, especially in relation to how monastic economies changed over
time and how monastic economies worked in various regions. Moreover, the
model favours exceptional examples of monasteries that owned and controlled
huge tracts of lands and their agricultural products and devised robust
implements to record payments of goods and money from properties. But how
applicable are models based on these mega-monasteries to other
institutions? To what degree did all monasteries seek to dominate
territories? Was artisanal production (or other kinds of production) within
religious houses the norm? How might the economic profiles of religious
houses have varied over time or across regions?
We seek contributions from historians and archaeologists working on early
medieval Europe within and without the Carolingian Empire to explore the
range of economic trajectories experienced by monasteries in the period ca.
650–ca. 1000. We welcome contributions considering environmental resources,
plant and animal crops, and labour supplies. Economic approaches to
monastic document production/scriptoria, architecture and art, as well as
spiritual capital would be appropriate topics to explore, too.
Please consider proposing a paper for the strand. To submit a proposal
please send an abstract of no more than 100 words to the session organizers
by 1 September 2019.
Caroline Goodson
Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
King’s College, Cambridge, UK CB2 1ST
Office: +44 01223331228
Call for Sessions: Mary Jaharis Center Sponsored Panel at Leeds 2020
by Brandie Ratliff
To encourage the integration of Byzantine studies within the scholarly
community and medieval studies in particular, the Mary Jaharis Center for
Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored
session at the 27th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds,
July 6–9, 2020. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to
Byzantine studies.
The thematic strand for the 2029 IMC is “Borders.” See the IMC Call for
Papers [1] for additional information about the theme and suggested areas of
discussion.
Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website
[2]. The deadline for submission is *September 3, 2019*. Proposals should
include:
* Title
* 100-word session abstract
* Session moderator and academic affiliation
* Information about the three papers to be presented in the session. For
each paper: name of presenter and academic affiliation, proposed paper
title, and 100-word abstract
* CV
Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September if their proposal has
been selected for submission to the International Medieval Congress.
Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September if their proposal has
been selected for submission to the International Medieval Congress. The Mary
Jaharis Center will submit the session proposal to the International Medieval
Congress and will keep the potential organizer informed about the status of
the proposal.
The session organizer may act as the moderator or present a paper.
Participants may only present papers in one session.
If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse a
maximum of 4 session participants (presenters and moderator) up to $600
maximum for European residents and up to $1200 maximum for those coming from
outside Europe. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot
be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration,
transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for
reimbursement.
Please contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu [3]), Director, Mary Jaharis
Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
[1] https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/im
[2] https://maryjahariscenter.org/
[3] mailto:mjcbac@hchc.edu
by Brandie Ratliff
To encourage the integration of Byzantine studies within the scholarly
community and medieval studies in particular, the Mary Jaharis Center for
Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored
session at the 27th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds,
July 6–9, 2020. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to
Byzantine studies.
The thematic strand for the 2029 IMC is “Borders.” See the IMC Call for
Papers [1] for additional information about the theme and suggested areas of
discussion.
Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website
[2]. The deadline for submission is *September 3, 2019*. Proposals should
include:
* Title
* 100-word session abstract
* Session moderator and academic affiliation
* Information about the three papers to be presented in the session. For
each paper: name of presenter and academic affiliation, proposed paper
title, and 100-word abstract
* CV
Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September if their proposal has
been selected for submission to the International Medieval Congress.
Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September if their proposal has
been selected for submission to the International Medieval Congress. The Mary
Jaharis Center will submit the session proposal to the International Medieval
Congress and will keep the potential organizer informed about the status of
the proposal.
The session organizer may act as the moderator or present a paper.
Participants may only present papers in one session.
If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse a
maximum of 4 session participants (presenters and moderator) up to $600
maximum for European residents and up to $1200 maximum for those coming from
outside Europe. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot
be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration,
transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for
reimbursement.
Please contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu [3]), Director, Mary Jaharis
Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
[1] https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/im
[2] https://maryjahariscenter.org/
[3] mailto:mjcbac@hchc.edu
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