Daily Archives: 17 June 2013

Emotions in History: Ceræ, an Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies – Call For Papers

Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (http://www.ceraejournal.com) would like to invite submissions for its inaugural issue on the theme ‘Emotions in History’, sponsored by the ARC Centre for the History of the Emotions. Submissions are welcomed from scholars working in any discipline related to the medieval and early modern world, including representations of the medieval and early modern eras in later culture.

Emotions drive individual actions and effect broader social change. The way they are felt, expressed and performed evolves over time, and in exploring the way these emotions were experienced in their historical context, we can both gain a better understanding of how past societies understood their experience, and how this has influenced the way we experience emotions today.

We are particularly interested in submissions which engage with the growing field of the digital humanities, and are happy to work with authors to accommodate any requirements involving multimedia or alternative formatting. We also encourage submissions from authors working on emotions in performance and material culture. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by qualified experts in the field.

The ARC Centre for the History of the Emotions is generously funding a prize for the best article published in this issue.

Articles should be approximately 5000-7000 words and formatted according to MLA Guidelines. Submissions should be made to editorcerae@gmail.com by 31 October 2013.

New Journal Launch: Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies would like to announce the launch of its new website, www.ceraejournal.com.

Administered from the University of Western Australia with the generous support of faculty and staff, the journal is directed by a committee of interstate and international graduate students and early career researchers. We are united in our commitment to open-access publishing, the possibilities of the digital humanities, and to forging a strong community of medieval and early modern scholars in the region.

The word ‘ceræ’ refers to the wax tablets used throughout antiquity and the medieval period as a reusable writing surface. Like the wax tablet, online publishing is a flexible medium which can be rewritten and re-inscribed—it has a malleability that traditional print forums do not. Our sources range from tablets and scrolls to manuscript codices, printed pamphlets, archaeological finds and architectural features—and our research outputs likewise can take any form from traditional text to audio-visual recordings, images, and interactive projects in the digital humanities.

We gladly accept manuscripts from any discipline related to medieval and early modern studies (including medievalism in later culture) and will accommodate the needs of authors in including audio-visual material and unusual or innovative formatting requirements. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by qualified experts before publication.

We are supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of the Emotions, who are generously sponsoring our inaugural issue on Emotions in History. The call for papers can be found at: http://ceraejournal.com/journal/.

ANZAMEMS member news – Sarah Greer

Dear ANZAMEMS members, Sarah Greer (recently based at the University of Auckland) has shared the following news about her research with us.

Sarah has recently received my Masters degree in History from the University of Auckland, with my thesis “Behind the Veil: The rise of female monasticism and the double house in Early Medieval Francia” receiving first class honours. The abstract of this thesis is found below.

Sarah has also been selected as a Marie Curie fellow at the University of St Andrews, where she will study for my PhD in History as an Early Career Researcher as part of the international research group “Power and Institutions in Medieval Islam and Christendom”. Her research will focus on a comparative analysis of the patronage relationships constructed by elite women with female religious institutions in Wessex, Francia and Saxony in the 8th to 10th centuries, under the supervision of Dr. Simon MacLean.

Congratulations Sarah!

Abstract

Female monasticism occupied an incredibly important position in the world of early medieval Francia. Convents, and the women living within them, were key figures in the political, social, cultural and religious history of the Frankish kingdoms. Contemporary sources, from secular histories to saints’ lives to monastic rules are filled with the names of convents and nuns, and recognize their powerful roles in the Frankish world.

Yet, in modern historiography, early medieval nuns have been marginalized. Viewed by historians as less important than male monasticism, or as an example of the misogyny of the Carolingian world, female monasticism has not received the scholarly attention it deserves. Indeed, there is a lack of information on some of the most fundamental questions on this subject. Why did monasticism become increasingly attractive in the sixth to ninth centuries? What was the experience of
women inside monasteries? How did communities of nuns interact with the world outside their walls? What can we learn from the monastic regulae about the perceptions of women and the religious life?

This thesis addresses these questions, among others, in order to reveal the complexity and variety that existed in Frankish female monasticism. The flexibility of early medieval women to adapt the monastic life to their own needs and requirements set up the foundation for female monasticism in the centuries to come. The story of monastic women in the Frankish kingdoms is not one of misogynistic repression of female religious freedom, but rather illustrates the ability of women to shape their own lives with the support of various kings, noblemen, bishops and male clergy. My research is an attempt to restore medieval monastic women to the position of importance and respect accorded to them by their contemporaries.