The Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interactions (FEEGI) invites paper proposals for its fifteenth biennial conference, to be held April 19-20, 2024 at the John Carter Brown Library, Providence, RI. This conference marks the 30^th anniversary of FEEGI, which we will celebrate by returning to the JCB, where the founding meeting took place.

FEEGI conferences investigate the histories of places and people touched directly and indirectly, advantageously or catastrophically, by the process of enhanced global interactions that commenced in the fifteenth century. Our conferences provide an opportunity for exchanges about the circumstances, causes, and consequences of increased global interaction in the early modern period (roughly 1450 to 1850). We welcome proposals exploring political, economic, and socio-cultural interactions from a variety of fields and perspectives. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches.

One hallmark of FEEGI conferences is the creation of a space for comparative thinking and intellectual exchange among scholars across traditional temporal, geographic, and imperial boundaries. To promote such dialogue the Program Committee configures panels to make deep thematic connections, and all our sessions are plenary.

FEEGI members may submit proposals for individual papers no later than 30 September 2023 on http://www.feegi.org/conferences. (Details on membership can be found on http://feegi.org/membership.html ). Submissions should include a 200-400 word abstract as well as a brief (1-2 page) CV. We welcome submissions from advanced graduate students. 

Graduate students papers accepted for the program will be eligible for consideration for the FEEGI prize for best presentation by a graduate student. Additionally, in collaboration with Itinerario: Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions, FEEGI offers the FEEGI/Itinerario article prize. The paper awarded this prize receives a “fast-track” to publication in Itinerario. For further details, including the timeline, please contact FEEGI’s Vice-President.

For more information, please visit the FEEGI website (www.feegi.org) or contact Ernesto Bassi, FEEGI Vice-President & 2024 Program Chair, at feegi2024@gmail.com.

FEEGI 2024 Program Committee:
Danna Agmon, Virginia Tech
Alejandra Dubcovsky, University of California Riverside
Kristie Flannery, Australian Catholic University
Faisal Husain, Penn State
Tessa Murphy, Syracuse University
Ernesto Bassi, Cornell University

Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group 2023 Annual Conference
FATE AND FORTUNE
UWA, Saturday 21 October 2023

Renaissance thinkers were interested in moral philosophy, and they found inspiration in both ancient and medieval sources. How should one conduct themselves to be happy and useful within society? What will the future bring for us in a time of deep transformation?

An image of a new world to be discovered; changed perspectives in astronomy and medicine; Renaissance humanity wondered whether they were able to influence their path in life, whether their decisions were dependent on a free will—as Pico della Mirandola stated in his Oration on the Dignity of Man—or were but the choice of an omnipotent God, as Catholics, and even more strongly Protestants, each emphasised. The role of Providence would become prevalent across European culture, from visual art to Shakespeare’s plays, gradually replacing the capricious Wheel of Fate which was equally central to medieval thought.

This conference will broadly discuss themes concerning human destiny and the possibility of executing our own will, placed within the attempt to acquiesce to, to acquire, or to enforce a vision of peace and harmony within the constant social and political metamorphosis of the Renaissance, and of the world today.

Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group Incorporated welcomes abstracts which address the theme of ‘Fate and Fortune’ in the medieval and Renaissance periods including:

● Representations of Providence, of destiny, or of doom in literature and literary works.
● Paintings and sculpture relating to fate, divine or otherwise.
● Philosophical works or analyses of Fate and Fortune, or those relating to ethics and utopias.
● Astrology, which enjoyed a blooming during the Renaissance much as it has today, with people turning to psychics, magic, and the stars to search for answers to important questions.
● Political writings depicting the perfect ruler, a utopian vision, or condemning contemporary tyranny.
● Social ideals that valorised the reception of an ancient wisdom, from the Stoics, Plato, Aristotle, or others.
● Educational ideas inspired by Renaissance or classical philosophy, such as liberal and postcritical education.

We welcome abstracts for twenty-minute papers. We particularly welcome submissions from undergraduate, honours, and postgraduate students, even if beyond the scope of the conference theme.

The conference will take place in hybrid form. Please specify in your submission whether you would attend in-person or online.

Please send abstracts of 150–200 words with your affiliation and a short (up to 50 words) biography to the conference subcommittee at pmrg.committee@gmail.com by 21 August 2023.

For further details, please see https://conference.pmrg.org.au/

Call for Papers

‘Shakespeare Beyond All Limits’ 

7–9 December 2023 

At The University of Sydney and the State Library of NSW

http://conference.anzsa.org/

The Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association (ANZSA) is delighted to announce its next conference will be ‘Shakespeare beyond all Limits’, hosted by The University of Sydney from 7–9 December 2023. We are now inviting proposals for scholarly papers and panels.

Our keynote speakers are:

• Ewan Fernie (Chair, Professor and Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute; and Culture Lead of the College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham, UK), courtesy of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, the Australian Catholic University
• Urvashi Chakravarty (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada)

2023 is the four-hundredth anniversary of the publication of one of the most influential books of all time, Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies (1623), known subsequently as the First Folio. This conference, ANZSA’s first since the COVID-19 pandemic, represents an exciting opportunity for Shakespeare researchers, educators and practitioners to gather together in person in Sydney for a scholarly exploration of this remarkable book and all things Shakespearean from his time to ours.

The conference theme, ‘Shakespeare beyond all limits,’ derives from Ferdinand’s declaration of his love for Miranda in The Tempest (3.1.71–73): ‘I / Beyond all limit of what else i’th’world, / Do love, prize, honour you.’ In our case, we use the phrase to signify the astonishing reach and impact of Shakespeare through the ages and invite scholars to share their insights on the texts and contexts, limits and liberties, uses and problems, and appropriations and transformations associated with his name and works.

Day 1 of the conference will be held at the State Library of New South Wales (Sydney) and include papers with a particular focus on the First Folio and Shakespeare book history. The State Library holds Australia’s only copy of the First Folio (1623), as well as a copy of the Second (1632), Third (1664) and Fourth Folios (1685). We invite scholars researching these editions or others to submit papers for the conference to be included in the program for Day 1. The State Library First Folio is viewable on the State Library NSW (Shakespeare’s First Folio) website and all four State Library Folios are viewable on Internet Shakespeare Editions (Facsimile Viewer). For Day 1, in addition to papers on the Library’s Folios, we are interested in presentations on early-twentieth-century activities around the Shakespeare Tercentenary in Australia (1923) and the printing and publishing of the Folios. Day 1 will also include a postgraduate and early career researcher masterclass and, in the evening, a Public Lecture at the Library, by Professor Fernie.

Days 2 and 3 of the conference will be held on the main campus of the University of Sydney and include papers on our broad theme of ‘beyond all limits.’ On Day 3 (Saturday) we will also include papers with a particular focus on Education and so we enthusiastically encourage teachers and educators at schools and universities to submit abstracts on educational topics.

Please send proposals (250 words max.) for papers (20 mins) and panels (3-4 papers of 15-20 mins each), with a speaker biography (100 words max.) to: 

huw.griffiths@sydney.edu.au or liam.semler@sydney.edu.au 

by 30 June 2023. Huw and Liam are happy to answer any queries about the conference.

Please check the ANZSA website for Conference updates.