Before Orientalism: The “images” of Islam (15th-17th c.) and their Mediterranean Connections
Fundación BBVA, Madrid
18-19 May, 2017

In recent years, the study of religious otherness has experienced a significant surge. Regarding the perception of Islam in Europe, the Romantic dichotomous vision between the orientalist attraction and the rejection and hatred is being left behind. The purpose of this conference is to analyse, from a pluri-disciplinar perspective, which conceptions or images of Islam were developed, from the end of the Middle Ages to the decline of the Austria dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula and other Mediterranean enclaves closely connected to the Hispanic Crown. The aim of this event is to analyse the stereotypes, which have traditionally limited historical studies; and also, the dissociation between the imaged produced by literature and the visual discourses of several social strata which were in closer contact with Islam.

The topics addressed during the conference will be:

1. How the (literary and visual) image of Islam was created and developed in the Iberian Peninsula during the 15th to 17th centuries.
2. What are the convergences and divergences between the spheres of the letters and the arts.
3. The value of stereotypes in the building of the image and identity of Muslims.
4. The weight of 19th century literary and artistic historiography in the blurring of the Medieval and Modern images of religious otherness.
5. The contribution of 16th and 17th orientalist images in the later construction of 19th century orientalism.
6. Is it possible to elaborate a cartography of the representations of Muslims in the different Hispanic territories?
7. Was there an invisible Islam? How was it materialized?

Call for papers

Papers submitted must be of maximum 500 words in Spanish, English, Italian or French, together with a brief summary of the research record of the author, and main publications. Deadline is 1 February, 2017. Acceptance of papers will be communicated by February 10. The papers must be submitted to proyecto.impi@gmail.com. Oral communications will be 15-20 minutes. The registration fee is 50 €. Registration includes both attendance and publication of the texts (once approved by peer review procedure). To participate in the publication it is necessary to attend the conference to present the paper. News related to this conference will be published in https://impi.hypotheses.org

“Reformations during the Middle Ages and Renaissance”
Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association 2017
Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO
June 22–24, 2017

The Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association invites paper and panel proposals for its 2017 conference, to take place on the campus of Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, June 22–24, 2017. The conference theme is “Reformations during the Middle Ages and Renaissance,” in honor of the 500th anniversary of the publication of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. The program organizers invite proposals that consider the idea of reform, broadly conceived, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Proposals may consider religious reform during the medieval and Renaissance periods but may also investigate continuity and change with regard to various aspects of the history and historiography of the periods as well as changes in literary culture, style, patronage, criticism, and subjects. The Program Committee encourages proposals from scholars and students working in all relevant fields, including but not limited to theology, history, literature, theatre, music, and the visual arts. As always, while paper and panel proposals addressing the conference theme will receive special consideration for inclusion, proposals in any area of medieval and Renaissance studies are welcome.

Graduate student presenters are eligible to compete for the Michael T. and Phyllis J. Walton Graduate Travel Award to help defray expenses associated with travel to and presentation at the annual conference. The RMMRA also awards two annual paper prizes: the Allen DuPont Breck Award for the best paper at the conference presented by a junior scholar, and the Delno C. West Award for the best paper at the conference presented by a senior scholar (at the rank of Associate Professor or higher). For additional information on the RMMRA, please visit http://www.rmmra.org.

Paper and panel proposals should be directed to the RMMRA Program Committee via email to RMMRA President-Elect Ginger Smoak (ginger.smoak@utah.edu). Proposals are due by March 15, 2017. A proposal must include:

1. Name of presenter
2. Participant category (faculty/graduate student/independent scholar) and institutional affiliation
3. One-page CV (in case of panel proposal, include one for each participant)
4. Preferred mailing and email address (in case of panel proposal, indicate a panel contact person)
5. An abstract of the proposed paper/panel (250 words)
6. Audiovisual requirements and any other specific requests

The Program Committee will notify participants if their proposals have been accepted by April 5, 2017. Please note that all presenters at the conference must be active members of RMMRA who have paid their annual dues of $25 by the time of the conference.

Romances in Middle-earth
14th Annual Tolkien at UVM Conference
University of Vermont
Saturday April 8th

Organizers of the Tolkien at UVM Conference are now accepting abstracts for the 2017 conference until the February 1 deadline. We welcome papers on every topic but will give priority to those addressing the theme. Tolkien wrote that he had the romances of William Morris in mind when writing The Lord of the Rings. We also know he was ispired by the Arthurian romances of England, Wales, and France. Tolkien’s own interlacing narrative style is very much derived from this medieval genre (while also anticipating the Post-modern). Additionally, Tolkien wrote of numerous romances of great intensity and poignancy within his narrative framework. Papers might consider these within the context of miscegenation, gender fluidity, or the homo-erotic, or they might explore other areas of interest.

Please submit abstracts by the February 1, 2017 deadline to Christopher Vaccaro at cvaccaro@uvm.edu.

The Art of the Network: Visualising Social Relationships, 1400-1600
Annual Postgraduate Renaissance Symposium
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
28 April, 2017

In recent years, the analysis of social networks has generated a fruitful field of scholarly enquiry. Research addressing the dynamics that govern personal relationships within and without communities of various kinds has permeated through historical, anthropological, and sociological studies. These investigations have traced the ways in which societies structured according to gender, family bonds, and neighbourhood ties as well as political, professional, and religious associations regulated social interaction. However, the role of art and architecture in cultivating these interpersonal relationships has not been explored comprehensively. Even art historical approaches have frequently given preference to textual rather than visual evidence in elucidating these social networks.

This conference seeks to shed light on the ways in which social networks have been represented visually. Such an approach has great potential to deepen the discussion surrounding the commission, production, and reception of art and architecture between 1400 and 1600. We invite studies that bring into dialogue social connections on the one hand and visual manifestations on the other. Preference will be given to papers that present unpublished material while engaging with methodological frameworks and/or historiographical perspectives.

Topics might include but are not limited to:

• how artistic networks affect the construction of identities
• the mobility of art and artists within networks
• whether formal, iconographic and/or stylistic features denote adherence to a community
• the identification of specific individuals in works of art
• how issues of display influence social bonds
• the employment of personal, familial, political, ecclesiastical or professional devices

Proposals of no more than 350 words should be submitted together with a short CV to Alexander Röstel (alexander.rostel@courtauld.ac.uk) and Alexander Noelle (alexander.noelle@courtauld.ac.uk) by 31 December, 2016. Successful candidates will be notified in mid-January. Papers should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Costs for travel and accommodation cannot be covered but partial funding might become available and catering will be provided for all speakers.

Memory: Myth and Modernity
Limina 12th Annual Conference
The University of Western Australia
28 July, 2017

Conference Website

Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal published at the University of Western Australia since 1995. The 12th Annual Limina Conference will be held on 28 July 2017 at The University of Western Australia.

Limina’s annual conference aims to foster a supportive environment in which early career researchers and postgraduates can present their latest research findings. We are pleased to invite abstracts for panel sessions and individual papers on the 2017 conference theme of ‘Memory: Myth and Modernity’.

Memory provides us with a framework for reading the past, as well as for shaping our present identities and future aspirations. If, as recent scholarship has attested, these memories can be influenced variously by selective reporting of the media, the digital revolution, physical and mental trauma, and our cognitive biases, then it is incumbent on us to analyse how and what we remember. The 12th annual Limina conference seeks to explore the importance of memory with respect to such issues.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Individual and collective identity
• National and cultural memory
• Narrative and autobiography
• History, places and events
• Nostalgia and the imagination
• Emotions and memory
• Trauma, injury and war
• Ethics of memory
• Gender and sexuality
• Migration and displacement
• Social, psychological and scientific approaches to memory

Submission Guidelines

Please send:

1. A title
2. An abstract (maximum 200 words)
3. A short biography (maximum 50 words)

to liminajournal@gmail.com with ‘Memory 2017’ in the subject line. The deadline for submissions is 31 March, 2017.

Chivalry and its Anxieties: 1000-1600
Saint Louis University
June 19-21, 2017

We invite proposals for papers, sessions, or roundtable discussions for an upcoming conference to be held at Saint Louis University on June 19-21, 2017. This mini-conference, held during the Fifth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, aims to bring together scholars from across disciplines to consider questions of chivalric culture and warfare. Conceptions of chivalry tend to lean toward one of two extremes: valorizing and romanticizing knighthood, as chivalric fiction and knights themselves so often did, or the opposite, condemning knights as murderous thugs and dismissing chivalry as a self-deceiving sham. The knightly vocation was in many ways a difficult one – considering not only the physical hardships of war, but also the moral ambiguities and pragmatic hazards of wielding power, dispensing justice and violence, and winning and preserving status and reputation. What was the relationship of chivalry, theoretically the guiding ethos of the professional warrior class, to the actual challenges faced by knights? If it was applicable to knights’ ordinary activities, what kind of guidance did it offer? This conference will consider how chivalric precepts and attitudes intersected with the realities of knightly life.

Preliminary guiding questions for proposals include:

• How did chivalry interact with warfare, in conception and/or practice?
• What were the implications of chivalry for gender, for the performance and policing of masculinity, for idealized versus real-life relations with women?
• How did chivalric notions of honorable conduct in war interact with the more theoretical doctrines of just war and/or the law of arms?
• In what ways might chivalric fiction have had echoes in knightly real life – e.g. pageantry and social display, military activity, individual ethics and behavior?
• What were the impacts of politics, society, religion, and culture on chivalry and warfare?

These questions are merely for guidance; applicants are invited to submit brief proposals for papers or panels addressing the conference’s themes. We encourage submissions for 20 minute papers from a range of disciplines including: history, religious studies, literary studies, anthropology, archaeology, manuscript studies, and art history. The hope is that this conference will provide a forum for discussion and collaboration between scholars and across disciplines. Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty are particularly encouraged to apply. Please submit a brief CV along with an abstract of roughly 300 words to Craig M. Nakashian (craig.nakashian@tamut.edu) by December 15. Direct any questions or concerns to Craig Nakashian, Anne Romine (aromine@slu.edu) or Sam Claussen (samclaussen@gmail.com).