Short abstracts (100-200 words) are welcomed for proposed chapters in the edited volume, The Medieval in Museums. Please send abstracts by 5pm GMT on Monday 3 November to Fran Allfrey (University of York) and Maia Blumberg (QMUL) fran.allfrey@york.ac.uk ; m.blumberg@qmul.ac.uk. Inquires can also be directed here.
The Medieval in Museums seeks to demonstrate the cultural, aesthetic, political and historical stakes and effects of how medieval objects, texts, and histories are presented in museums. Our interpretation of ‘museum’ is broad, encompassing a range of ‘memory institutions’ including galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, and heritage sites both independently and government managed. We invite contributions which address the presentation of the medieval in physical galleries, landscapes, or other visitor-facing spaces in exhibitions and events programming; in behind-the-scenes archive and collections stores; and analogue or digital database or catalogue systems. Similarly, ‘the medieval’ here encompasses Late Antiquity to the Late Medieval, as a temporal marker which shifts according to geo-spatial-political realities across a ‘global Middle Ages’.
We welcome traditional chapters, and will also consider dialogues, interviews, or other creative-critical text-based formats. Contributions may be from individual authors or two or more co-authors.
Full CFP available via the following link ➡️bit.ly/CfPMiM
The Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine has a new working group: Beauty Studies in the Premodern World. The group offers a transdisciplinary forum to explore the cultural histories of beautification and bodily care in the premodern world, examining beauty practices as historically significant forms of knowledge related to health, hygiene, status, and identity. The Working Group will meet once a month.
We are delighted to start with a reading seminar with Evelyn Welch (University of Bristol): ‘Whose Hair is it Anyway? Beauty, Health and Shaven Heads in Early Modern Europe’. This is based on Chapter 5 of Renaissance Skin (Manchester University Press, 2025). The full book is available open access here.
This will be on 13 October at 1:00 pm UK time / 2:00 pm CEST. The meeting link is available via the CHSTM website after you register.
We very much hope to see some of you there. Please share this to any of your colleagues that might be interested.
There are two more talks scheduled for 2025:
Monday, November 10, 2025, 1pm UK time/2pm CET Seminar with Katharina Seidl (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna / Ambras Castle, Innsbruck) on the “The Art of Beauty exhibition” at Ambras Castle, Innsbruck (June-October 2025)
Monday, December 8, 2025, 1pm UK time/2pm CET Reading seminar with Erin Griffey (University of Auckland) on her book Facing Decay: Beauty, Aging and Cosmetics in Early Modern Europe (Penn State University Press, 2025)
On behalf of, Erin Griffey, Montserrat Cabré, and Romana Sammern
25th George Rudé Seminar in French History and Culture 8-10 July 2026 University of Western Australia
The conference organisers are pleased to invite you to the 25th George Rudé Seminar in French History and Culture, which will be held from 8-10 July 2026 in Boorloo / Perth at the University of Western Australia on the unceded land of the Whadjuk Noongar on the banks of the Derbal Yerrigan / Swan River.
The George Rudé Seminar, held every second year in Australia or New Zealand, brings together specialists in French history and culture from across the world in recognition of the contribution made by George Rudé to the study of French history and culture in Australasia and internationally.
Call for Papers: The conference welcomes papers on all aspects of French and Francophone history, from the Middle Ages to the present. Papers may be given in English or in French and will normally be of 20 minutes duration. Proposals for thematic panels of three papers will also be considered.
While the conference will mainly be held in person, some online presentations will be possible. Please indicate your requirements when submitting your proposal. Please note that the conference will run in Australian Western Standard times.
Proposal Submissions: Proposals including presentation title, 200-word paper abstract, 150-word biographical statement, are due by 15 December 2025. Successful proposals to present will be notified by 31 January 2026.
All queries and proposals should be sent to: georgerudeseminar2026@gmail.com
Travel Bursaries: A limited number of travel bursaries will be available to postgraduate, early career and unwaged presenters to support the costs of travel to the conference. See further details about the Alison Patrick Memorial Scholarship below. Please indicate in your proposal submission if you would like to be considered for bursary support and what your specific support needs are.
French History and Culture: Each Rudé conference produces a peer-reviewed selection of papers in the journal French History and Culture, published free and online through H-France at http://www.h-france.net/rude/rudepapers.html.
George Rudé Society: For further information on the George Rudé Society and on earlier conferences, see https://h-france.net/rude/
Alison Patrick Memorial Scholarship
Applications are invited for a scholarship in memory of Alison Patrick, to enable (post)graduate students to attend the George Rudé Seminar in French History and Culture. The Scholarship provides up to $3300 (AUD) towards travel and expenses.
Alison Patrick was Reader in History at the University of Melbourne. She had a lifelong interest in the scholarship of the French Revolution, and a strong commitment to students. She was one of the founders of the Rudé Seminar and presented papers over many years.
Eligibility: The Scholarship is open to students undertaking full- or part-time doctoral study in French or francophone history (or a related field) at a recognised university anywhere in the world.
Applications: Applications for the Scholarship to attend the 2026 George Rudé Seminar at The University of Western Australia, in Boorloo/Perth, should be sent to georgerudeseminar2026@gmail.com
Applicants should send a CV, a 200-word paper abstract, and provide the names of two academic referees (one of whom should be the candidate’s supervisor) by the closing date: 15 December 2025
The email application must be clearly marked ‘Alison Patrick Memorial Scholarship Application’ in the subject line.
Conditions: The recipient/s is expected to attend in person and present a paper at the Rudé Seminar. They will also be expected to offer the paper as an article for publication in French History and Culture. Papers from the George Rudé Seminar, published on H-France. If accepted, following referees’ reports, the published article will carry an acknowledgement of the Scholarship.
Costs incurred will be reimbursed upon presentation of receipts. In certain cases, fares may be paid directly by the Scholarship fund.
Part scholarships may be offered to more than one applicant. The Scholarship will not be awarded to the same person twice. If numerous applications of equal quality are received, preference may be given to papers on the French Revolution, Alison Patrick’s primary area of interest.
The 2025 ANZAMEMS conference will be preceded by a training seminar on 2 December. This will be an intensive palaeography workshop that capitalises on the range of expertise at the University of Melbourne across the disciplines of Classics, History, Philosophy, Art History, Italian, English, and French. It is intended to support the academic development of currently enrolled higher degree by research students and early career academics. The full program is available on the conference website.
If you would like to attend the seminar then please complete and submit this application form. Applications close 31 October and will be approved on a rolling basis.
The ANZAMEMS Seminar is open to HDRs and ECRs up to 5 years post submission who are current members of ANZAMEMS0
Chet Van Duzer, visiting research fellow at the University of Western Australia, is running a series of workshops in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne on the subject of early modern maps in October 2025. See details below.
Tuesday, 14 October, Canberra, Australian National University, Hope Building (at 14 Ellery Crescent), 12-2 pm: Workshop: “Looking Slowly at Early Modern Maps”
Abstract: Maps are incredibly rich documents that only reveal some of their secrets after slow and deliberate study, and it is precisely this aspect of maps that we will explore in this two-hour workshop.
Chet Van Duzer will analyze several early modern maps and provide examples of important characteristics of them that can only be appreciated and understood through slow looking. He will also supply advice on how to study maps slowly, and workshop participants will consult historic maps to begin to practice looking slowly at them, with plenty of time for examining the maps together and asking questions. The goal of the workshop is that participants will gain experience and tools for engaging more fully with maps in the future.
Tuesday, 14 October, Canberra, National Library of Australia: Talk, 6pm to 7pm: “Mapping the Unknown: Cartographers’ Strategies for Navigating Uncertainty”
Abstract: We tend to trust maps as accurate depictions of the world, and most early modern cartographers are content to benefit from that trust without raising questions about the reliability of their sources. In this talk I examine several methods that cartographers used from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries to depart from this convention and indicate to their viewers which parts of their map they were certain about, and which they were uncertain about. Some of these methods include listing sites about whose location the cartographer is uncertain, using a different graphic style to depict unknown coastlines, using signs to distinguish between certain and uncertain regions, and surrendering to uncertainty and reprinting varying maps of the same region together.
Monday, 20 October, Melbourne, Australian Catholic University, 2 pm: 90 minute workshop: “Looking Slowly at Early Modern Maps”
Abstract: Maps are incredibly rich documents that only reveal some of their secrets after slow and deliberate study, and it is precisely this aspect of maps that we will explore in this 90 minute workshop.
Chet Van Duzer will analyze several early modern maps and provide examples of important characteristics of them that can only be appreciated and understood through slow looking. He will also supply advice on how to study maps slowly, and workshop participants will consult historic maps to begin to practice looking slowly at them, with plenty of time for examining the maps together and asking questions. The goal of the workshop is that participants will gain experience and tools for engaging more fully with maps in the future.
Wednesday, 22 October, Sydney, University of Sydney: Talk, 12:10pm-1:30pm, Vere Gordon Childe Centre Boardroom: “Mapping the Unknown: Cartographers’ Strategies for Navigating Uncertainty”
Abstract: We tend to trust maps as accurate depictions of the world, and most early modern cartographers are content to benefit from that trust without raising questions about the reliability of their sources. In this talk I examine several methods that cartographers used from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries to depart from this convention and indicate to their viewers which parts of their map they were certain about, and which they were uncertain about. Some of these methods include listing sites about whose location the cartographer is uncertain, using a different graphic style to depict unknown coastlines, using signs to distinguish between certain and uncertain regions, and surrendering to uncertainty and reprinting varying maps of the same region together.
6-8 August 2026 University of King’s College Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Following on the success of the “Malory at 550 Conference” of 2019, University of King’s College is hosting another Malory conference in scenic Nova Scotia. Proposals on any aspect of Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur are invited. Topics might include, but are not limited to, textual analysis, critical approaches old and new, fifteenth-century culture and English politics, source studies in English and French, the manuscript and early print context of the work, and historical and contemporary reception of the Morte. The conference is in-person only.
Please send proposals of 250 words, together with contact details, to Kathy Cawsey (kathy.cawsey@dal.ca) and Elizabeth Edwards (eedward2@dal.ca) by January 31, 2026.
This conference is sponsored by Arthurian Literature, and by the Early Modern Studies Program and Foundation Year Programs of the University of King’s College. Details on accommodation and events to follow.
Each year the Folger Institute awards research fellowships to create a high-powered, multidisciplinary community of inquiry. This community of researchers may come from different fields, and their projects may find different kinds of expression. But our researchers share cognate interests in the history and literature, art and performance, philosophy, religion, and politics of the early modern world.
The Folger Institute offers four Long-Term Scholarly fellowships at $70,000 for the 2026-2027 academic year (approximately $7,777 per month, for a standard period of 9 months). These fellowships are designed to support full-time scholarly work on significant research projects that draw on the strengths of the Folger’s collections and programs. Scholars must hold a terminal degree in their field in order to be eligible.
Additionally, The Folger Institute offers one Long-Term Public Humanities fellowship. For the 2026-27 year, the Folger Institute will offer one Long-term Public Humanities Fellowship at $70,000 for a standard period of 9 months (approximately $7,777 per month). This fellowship is designed to support significant, full-time research and public humanities project implementation related to the histories, concepts, art, and objects of the early modern world (ca. 1400-1800) and its legacies
The Public Humanities fellowship is open to college and university faculty, independent scholars, artists, public scholars, writers, PhD candidates, postdocs, community leaders, cultural workers, educators and other knowledge holders. Applicants are not required to hold a terminal degree but should describe their equivalent training and industry-specific experience in their CV.
Please note that for the 2026-27 fellowship year, all long-term fellows will have the option to take up to 3 months of their 9-month fellowship virtually. This virtual time may be taken at any point in the fellowship and does not have to be taken concurrently. Applicants may propose any research schedule that best fits their project’s needs.
The deadline for all Long-Term fellowship applications is December 15, 2025.
The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 30 August at 2-3pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Violence and the Colonial Household’. See schedule below.
A free, online mini-conference mini conference on ghosts is occurring on Tuesday 30th September from 10am UK time. If you would like to attend, please email Charlotte Millar (charlotte.millar@unimelb.edu.au) for the zoom link and more information.
Programme – Tuesday September 30th
Session 1: 10am – 11.00am BST (UK time)
Morgan Daimler, The Dead and the Ever Living: Exploring the Intersection of Fairies and Ghosts in the Role of the Witch’s Familiar
Rowan Steininger, The Fairy Otherworld as the Land of the Dead in Two Orfeo Narratives
Comfort Break
Session 2: 11.30 – 12.30am BST (UK time)
Farah Nada, ‘There is no ghost in this house’: Locating the Spectre in Elizabeth Bowen’s A World of Love
Anne-Marie Creamer, ‘Dear Friend, I can no longer hear your voice’: Lamentation and Conjuring Ghosts as Strategies for Survival’
Registration is now open for the conference of the Australian Early Medieval Association to be hosted at the Australian Catholic University Melbourne Campus from 2-4 October 2025. Themed “Tempestuous Times: Crisis, Change, and Allegory in the Early Medieval and Medieval” paper abstracts and speaker information are available on the AEMA website. All sessions will also be hosted live through zoom for online registered attendees.
Registrations from in-person and online attendance can be made through this link; in-person attendees can also register for an optional excursion to view the exhibition Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard at the Melbourne Museum.
