Fifteenth Century Conference | University of Bristol, 3-5 September 2020

The theme of the conference is ‘Disruption’, a term that is gaining ground in management and leadership studies today, often as an expression of positive change. The concept seems particularly appropriate to the events of the fifteenth century, when Britain and Europe were struggling to contain militarism, social and cultural change, competing ideologies, and intellectual challenges. Then as now, disruption throws up important questions. How can leaders and thinkers process disruptive events? What impact do disruptive events have on communities and populations? Is disruption different from change? Can individuals trigger disruption or does it happen at institutional or social levels? What can be learned from disruptive events and their aftermath? Can disruption be a force for good?

We welcome abstracts, from any discipline, that explore aspects of disruption’, or any other topic relevant to fifteenth-century studies. Areas of interest can include, but are not limited to:

• politics • religion • military history • economics and commerce • cultural history • environment • institutions • science and medicine •literature & literary forms • intellectual history • literary criticism and theory • gender • space • law • language • materiality

Plenary speakers: Peter Crooks (TCD) and Helen Swift (Oxford)

Send abstracts and queries to: helen.fulton@bristol.ac.uk

Abstracts (maximum 300 words) may be for individual papers (20 minutes), roundtables (90 minutes), or sessions of three or four speakers (90 minutes) and should include contact details for all speakers. Proposals are welcome from academics at all career stages and from independent scholars.

Deadline: 30 May 2020