The Durham Early Modern Studies Conference 2019 will be held at Durham University, Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies on 22 July ­– 24 July 2019.

An interdisciplinary conference on the early modern period is well established at Durham, first as a biennial conference on The Seventeenth-Century, and more recently as a broader Early Modern event. The 2019 Durham Early Modern Studies Conference aims to build on this tradition, establishing an annual conference which will offer a broad and inclusive interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of the period c.1450 to c.1800.

We welcome proposals for panels, strands and seminars from scholars interested in any aspect of the early modern period.

Deadline for submissions: 30 September 2018.

PROPOSAL CRITERIA/FURTHER INFORMATION

Call for Panel Proposals

We welcome proposals both for Panels comprising three or four 20-minute papers.

Panel proposals should comprise:

• A cover sheet, detailing the title of the panel, a short summary of its scope and purpose (no more than 200 words), the names of the participants, and the name and e-mail address of the panel organizer (who will be the contact with the conference committee)
• A 200 word synopsis of each of the three/four papers
• Short cvs (one page) of the 3/4 presenters, the panel chair and the commentator (the chair and commentator may be the same person)

The conference committee encourages panels which include papers from participants at a range of career stages. We are open to the submission of panel proposals including papers not in English, but encourage organisers to contact the Conference Committee first. Panel discussions will be in English.

Call for Strand Proposals

The Conference Committee encourages the submission of proposals of ‘strands’ of between three and six panels, which would then be scheduled to run through the conference.

Strand proposals should include a short rationale for the ‘strand’ and the name and contact details of the organiser, together with the panel proposals as detailed above.

Call for ‘Seminar’ Proposals

Seminars will be two-hour sessions, including anything from six to twelve ‘participants’. Each ‘participant’ will write a paper (3,000–3,500 words, excluding references), which will be circulated in advance. ‘Participants’ will be expected to read all the papers in advance. The first 1–1.5 hours of the seminar will then consist of a moderated discussion by the ‘participants’. The seminars will also be open to ‘auditors’ from the conference delegates, who will be able to ask questions and join in the discussion for the latter part of the seminar.

Outline Seminar proposals should comprise:

• The names and brief cvs (one page) of the seminar organisers. There may be up to three organisers, one of whom should be identified as the point of contact for correspondence
• The rationale for the seminar (maximum 300 words)
• Titles, 200-word synopses and brief author cvs for a minimum of three papers to be presented at the seminar (conference organisers may present papers, but do not have to do so)

The chair and details of further papers/participants (a minimum of six and a maximum of twelve) can by supplied following notification of the acceptance of the seminar for the Conference Programme. The deadline for the submission of the full list of papers and participants will be 30 November. Between 30 September and 30 November details of all seminars accepted for the Conference will be posted on the Conference website, with an invitation to submit proposals for papers to the seminar organiser(s).

Deadlines

Proposals for panels, strands and seminars should be submitted by 30 September 2018 to early.modern@durham.ac.uk.

Replies to all submissions will be circulated by the middle of October 2018. Details of the process for the submission of full seminar proposals will be circulated at the same time.

Further information

Visit the dedicated conference page on https://www.dur.ac.uk/imems/events/conferences/?eventno=38761

Academic enquiries to: early.modern@durham.ac.uk/

This session at the 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies examines the many valences of wounds in late medieval Christianity, focusing on themes surrounding wounds and wounding both visible (corporeal and/or material) and invisible (rhetorical and allegorical). The image of the wounded body held a central place in late medieval Christian practice and material culture; the wounds of the crucified Christ were tangible reminders of his Passion and served as foci of veneration, while stigmatic saints and maimed martyrs were marked as holy by means of bodily trauma. Papers may also consider the Christian response to physical injury, in the form of saintly intervention through healing miracles and medical intervention through the establishment of hospitals and provision of care by religious orders.

Moving beyond the ample possibilities for discussion stemming from the theme of “visible” wounds in medieval Christianity, this session also encourages a broad examination of “invisible” wounds within the late medieval Christian context. Examples might range from the accusations of metaphorical violence levied against the mendicant orders by antifraternal critics, to the conceptualization of the Western Schism as a wound to the Church. By exploring wounds both “visible” and “invisible,” this session elicits the perspectives of scholars of history, art history, literature, and theology and seeks to expand conceptions of wounds and injury within a late medieval Christian framework.

Please send a brief proposal (300 words max) and a participant information form (currently available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to Hannah Wood at Hannah.wood@mail.utoronto.ca and Johanna Pollick at j.pollick.1@research.gla.ac.uk by 15 September 2018.

As per ICMS rules, any abstracts not accepted for our session will be forwarded for consideration for General Sessions.

The 2019 conference of the Medieval Association of the Pacific will be held February 6-9, at the Phoenix-Scottdale Embassy Suites Hotel. This year’s meeting will be hosted jointly by MAP and the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS).

The program committee welcomes submissions on any topic related to the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. We particularly encourage proposals for papers or panels that focus on the conference theme: “Magic, Religion, and Science in the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance.”

Proposals accepted on a rolling basis until November 1, 2018

Registration Information:

The registration fee is $200; the graduate student rate is $100. The first 20 graduate students to register with accepted paper proposals will have their registration fees waived. To be eligible, students must be current members of MAP.

Refunds for registration fees (less $20 handling charge) are made up until two weeks prior to the start date of the conference. No refunds are made after that date.

For more detailed information, see the ACMRS website (https://acmrs.org/conferences/annual-acmrs-conference) or send an email inquiry to acmrs@acmrs.org.  

Pre-Conference Professionalization Workshop:

Speak with interdisciplinary experts about how to market yourself, make connections, and deliver a polished presentation at an upcoming conference or professional venue. We especially encourage graduate students, junior faculty, advanced undergraduates, and anyone interested in making a strong impression, networking, and presenting your work to attend and bring your most burning professionalization questions. The workshop will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 6, and participation will be limited to the first 25 individuals to register. Registration is free.

Pre-Conference Manuscript Workshop:

ACMRS will host a workshop on manuscript studies led by Dr. Timothy Graham, Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of New Mexico. The workshop will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 6, and participation will be limited to the first 25 individuals to register. The cost of the workshop is $50 ($25 for students) and is in addition to the regular conference registration fee.

The Beowulf Project by Chris Vinsonhaler:

Professor Chris Vinsonhaler, City University of New York, presents Beowulf: the Grendel episode, a new translation which gives its audience a darkly comic experience that is both heroic and ironic.

Conference Publication:

Selected papers focused on “Magic, Religion, and Science in the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance” will be considered for publication in the conference volume of the Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance series, published by Brepols Publishers (Belgium).

Submissions:

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis until midnight, Mountain Standard Time on November 1, 2018. Responses will be given within a week of submission. Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a brief CV to ACMRSconference@asu.edu. Proposals must include audio/visual requirements and any other special requests; late requests may not be accommodated. Full panel submissions are welcomed.

Selection Committee:

Ayanna Thompson, Director of ACMRS, Arizona State University
John Ott, President of MAP, Portland StateUniversity
Susan J. Dudash, Assistant Director of ACMRS, Arizona State University
Anthony Perron, Secretary of MAP, Loyola Marymount University
Ryan Kashanipour, Conference Volume Editor, Northern Arizona University

MAP Membership:

MAP members are encouraged to renew their memberships before attending the conference.Graduate students and independent scholars wishing to be eligible for registration subventions or MAP’s prizes must be currently registered members of the organization. Membership costs are $35 for regular members and $15 for students. In order to renew, please visit the MAP website: http://www.medievalpacific.org/membership/. If you have questions about membership or would like to ask whether your dues have been paid, please contact the MAP treasurer, Edward Schoolman at eschoolman@unr.edu.

Proposals are invited for a roundtable on ‘Playing the Past: Race, Gender, and Heroism in Gaming’, to be convened at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 9-12 May, 2019.

Video and PC gaming have come to play a substantial role in popular consciousness in the 21^st century and the medium itself offers a uniquely immersive experience unfathomable in other facets of popular culture. In virtual “medieval” and fantasy worlds, a player gets the chance to live the story rather than being a passive observer, and in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, he or she can even relate to other players as that character, experiencing the world as priest or paladin existing in an expansive virtual space. However, the interactive nature of these games also raises important questions about how we conceptualize and create the past and the impact these imagined worlds can have on notions of the “medieval” for a non-academic audience.

Often these games leave women behind in the role of damsels in distress, drawing from modern conceptions of “medieval” chivalric codes that do not make space for female adventurers and heroes. Moreover, race often refers to various humanoid creatures like trolls and goblins, and these fantasy “races” are often included in lieu of real racial and ethnic diversity on the grounds that fantasy creatures are somehow “more medieval.” When a developer chooses to include women or people of color in their “medieval” video game, alt-right gamer movements like Gamergate have resisted, claiming the game has become “ahistorical” by allowing anyone but white men into their pseudo-medieval fantasy. This roundtable will raise questions about how the past has been used in gaming to alienate non-white, non-male players, and the extent to which gaming developers have managed to resist medievalist tropes as held in popular consciousness.

Each participant will give a 7-10-minute presentation, which will be followed by a roundtable discussion. Possible topics can include but are not limited to constructions of the past in video game medievalisms, problematic uses of race and gender in fantasy gaming, and the mobilization of faux medievalism against inclusivity by online movements like Gamergate. 

Please submit a 200 word abstract to Ali Frauman atafrauman@indiana.edu by 15 September, 2018 and direct any questions to the same address.

Proposals are invited for a session on Fraud, Mockery, Jest, and Cony-Catching in the Early Modern Period, to be convened at RSA 2019 conference, Toronto, 17-19 March 2019.

To what extent is a jest also a lie? Are frauds funny? Taking a cue from “mockery” as mimic, sham, and spoof, this panel is interested in the ways fraud, imposture, and deceit function as ludic entertainment – whether intentionally or as byproduct.

This panel invites submissions that consider the jocularity of fraud, counterfeit, trickery, disguise, quackery, and cozenage. Papers are welcome to explore the theme in regards to:

• Material culture including trick objects like blow books, mock almanacs, or fraudulent copies of famous works
• Gendered experiences of deception or artifice
• Jestbooks, ludic ballads, mock pamphlets
• Mountebanks, street performers, gambling games, and pick-pockets
• Medicine, especially the preoccupation with quack physicians
• Natural philosophy and debates pushing back against charges of superstition
• Magic, either through a focus on prestidigitation or representations and discussions of witchcraft
• Satire
• Parody
• Religious debates including displays of anti-Catholic sentiment and fears as well as fetishizations of “Popery”
• Theatre, stagecraft, and/or anti-theatrical sentiment

Proposals should be for 20-minute papers, and should include:

• title for the paper
• abstract of 150 words
• 1-page CV
• current contact information
• A/V requirements

Submit proposals to agovjian@live.unc.edu by 10 August, 2018. Subject line: “RSA – Fraud and Mockery.”

Proposals are invited for a roundtable on ‘Encountering Medieval Iconography in the Twenty-First Century: Scholarship, Social Media, and Digital Methods’, to be convened at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 9-12 May, 2019.

Organizers: M. Alessia Rossi and Jessica Savage (Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University)
Sponsored by the Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University

Stemming from the launch of the new database and enhancements of search technology and social media at the Index of Medieval Art, this roundtable addresses the many ways we encounter medieval iconography in the twenty-first century. We invite proposals from emerging scholars and a variety of professionals who are teaching with, blogging about, and cataloguing medieval iconography. This discussion will touch on the different ways we consume and create information with our research, shed light on original approaches, and discover common goals.

Participants in this roundtable will give short introductions (5-7 minutes) on issues relevant to their area of specialization and participate in a discussion on how they use online resources, such as image databases, to incorporate the study of medieval iconography into their teaching, research, and public outreach. Possible questions include: What makes an online collection “teaching-friendly” and accessible for student discovery? How does social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, make medieval image collections more visible? How do these platforms broaden interest in iconography and connect users to works of art? What are the aims and impact of organizations such as, the Index, the Getty, the INHA, the Warburg, and ICONCLASS, who are working with large stores of medieval art and architecture information? How can we envisage a wider network and discussion of professional practice within this specialized area?

Please send a 250-word abstract outlining your contribution to this roundtable and a completed Participant Information Form (available via the Congress Submissions website: https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) by 15 September 2018 to M. Alessia Rossi (marossi@princeton.edu) and Jessica Savage (jlsavage@princeton.edu).

More information about the Congress can be found here: https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress.