Cultures of Performance: Medieval English Theatre Society Annual Meeting 2017 – Call For Papers

Cultures of Performance: a Celebration of the Work of Philip Butterworth
Medieval English Theatre Society Annual Meeting
University of Glasgow
25 March, 2017

Conference Website

The 2017 meeting honours Philip Butterworth, recently retired from Leeds University, and formerly of Bretton Hall College. Philip has been a loyal contributor to Medieval English Theatre, and was one of those present at the first meeting in Lancaster in 1978. His numerous influential publications on the performance of early drama, as well as his many productions, suggest that the time is right to celebrate that contribution.

The topic for the meeting is Cultures of Performance and we invite proposals for 20 minute papers on topics including (but not limited to):

  • Changing conceptions of dramatic genre
  • Para-theatrical traditions
  • Performance and performers – acting and actors
  • Staging and stage spaces
  • Spectacle and stage-effects
  • Voice and speech
  • Modern performance of early dramatic texts and shows
  • Preparation and rehearsal

Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words to Pamela King (Pamela.King@glasgow.ac.uk) by Wednesday 14 December. 2016.

Postdoctoral Editorial Fellow at Speculum – Call For Applications

Applications are now being accepted for a two-year Postdoctoral Editorial Fellowship at Speculum, the journal of the Medieval Academy of America.

The Speculum fellowship represents a significant fulfillment of one aspect of the Medieval Academy’s continuing efforts to recognize and support extraordinary medievalists in the early stages of their careers. We believe that after the fellowship tenure, the Speculum fellow will be a more experienced scholar and editor and will be an exceptionally attractive candidate for academic positions, as well as for significant publishing and editorial opportunities.

This two-year full-time post at Speculum offers qualified individuals the opportunity to develop as scholars and editors. The term of the award is subject to the Fellow’s acceptable performance of the duties required, as determined by the Editor of Speculum. Fellows will receive:

  • $43,000 annual stipend
  • Health benefits
  • Special Borrower’s privileges at Widener Library, Harvard University
  • Limited travel funds

Fellows are expected to:

  • Continue to develop research program 1 day/ week.
  • Assume responsibilities for a particular set of editorial tasks at Speculum. These tasks will include, but are not limited to: liaising with book review editors; contacting reviewers; checking citations for accepted articles; proofreading reviews, Brief Notices, Books Received, and Tables of Contents, and entering corrections; proofing full issues of Speculum
  • Participate in the cultural life of medieval studies in the Boston area.
  • Reside in the Boston area during the fellowship period.

Eligible candidates must meet the following requirements and demonstrate the following qualifications:

  • PhD in some field of medieval studies completed before the end of spring term, 2017, but no earlier than January 1, 2011
  • Attention to detail and evidence of a high level of scholarly precision, particularly with regards to bibliographic detail
  • Strong work ethic
  • Facility with languages
  • Demonstrated ability to manage large amounts of digital information

The deadline for applications is 15 October, 2016. Click here for more information and to apply.

Religious Orders and British and Irish Catholicism – Call For Papers

Religious Orders and British and Irish Catholicism
University of Notre Dame’s London Gateway, London, UK
28–30 June, 2017

Speakers include:

  • Caroline Bowden (QMUL)
  • John McCafferty (UCD)
  • Thomas McCoog (Fordham)
  • Susannah Monta (Notre Dame)
  • Thomas O’Connor (Maynooth)
  • Michael Questier (QMUL)
  • Alison Shell (UCL)

The third biannual Early Modern British and Irish Catholicism conference, jointly hosted by Durham University and the University of Notre Dame, will concentrate on the relationship between religious orders and British and Irish Catholicism. A wealth of recent scholarship has focussed on the activities of both male and female religious following the upheavals of the sixteenth century. This conference will consider the relationship between religious orders and those on the western peripheries of Catholic Europe. These relationships are to be explored in the widest possible framework, including through the religious orders as links between English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Catholics, and the global Church; British and Irish religious in exile; the presence of members of religious orders in Britain and Ireland; memories of pre-Reformation religious orders such as in the landscape; religious orders in the non-Catholic imagination; the views of Britain and Ireland held by religious orders and their international membership. The time frame being considered is broad, from c.1530 to 1800.

The conference is interdisciplinary and welcomes papers from researchers in fields including History, Literary Studies, Theology, Philosophy, Musicology and Art History.

We invite proposals for 20 minute communications on any related theme from any field. Panel proposals consisting of three speakers are also encouraged.

Please send proposals (c. 200 words) by email to Cormac Begadon (cormac.begadon@durham.ac.uk) by 27 January, 2017 at the latest.

For questions relating to booking and travel, please contact Hannah Thomas (hannah.thomas2@durham.ac.uk).

For general queries relating to the conference, please contact James Kelly (james.kelly3@durham.ac.uk).

Christopher Dawson Centre Annual Summer School in Latin: Late Medieval, Renaissance and Neo-Latin

Christopher Dawson Centre
Annual Summer School in Latin: Late Medieval, Renaissance and Neo-Latin
Jane Franklin Hall, 4 Elboden St, South Hobart
23-27 January, 2017

Latin is arguably the mother tongue of Europe. Its literature is immensely rich. In a sense it never died; original work continued to be written in Latin up to modern times. This course will offer a general introduction to literary and technical Latin written from the Late Medieval and Renaissance periods to the present day. We shall also look at passages of older material that remained highly influential in the later period (e.g. Scripture, Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder). There will be a strong emphasis on reading inscriptions and on palaeography, including an opportunity to handle original manuscripts.

Some prior knowledge of Latin is desirable, but beginners with experience of learning a foreign language might consider purchasing a self-instruction primer and working on the basics between now and the start of the course. Participants will never be embarrassed if their Latin is imperfect: the teaching method leaves the entire task of translation and exposition to the Lecturer. This approach has been useful to relative beginners as well as those who are more experienced.

Any Latin Primer designed for self-instruction can be used, but F. Kinchin Smith’s Teach Yourself Latin (out of print, but cheap copies are easily available from internet sites such as www.abebooks.com) is particularly good.

The Lecturer is Dr David Daintree who founded the Annual Latin Summer School in 1993.

The Programme

There will be four lectures a day on each of the five days, from Monday 23 to Friday 27, starting at 9.00 am. There will be only one lecture after lunch each day, to free up the afternoons for private study.

At this stage a daily programme has not been finalized. Dr Daintree would be happy to include material by request from participants.

The cost of the course is $350. Meals and accommodation are not included. Jane Franklin Hall may be able to offer inexpensive self-catering accommodation on site, but participants would need to arrange that directly with the college at office@jane.edu.au. Proceeds from this course go to the Christopher Dawson Centre (http://www.dawsoncentre.org).

To enrol and for further information contact dccdain@gmail.com.

Professor Annalise Acorn, University of Sydney Free Public Lecture

“Punishment as Help and Blaming Emotions,” Professor Annalise Acorn (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Canada)

Date: 26 September, 2016 (preceding the ‘Emotions in Legal Practices: Historical and Modern Attitudes Compared’ conference on 27–28 September 2016).
Time: 6:00pm–7:30pm
Venue: Law School Foyer, Level 2, New Law School, Eastern Avenue, The University of Sydney
Cost: Free and open to all with online registrations required: http://whatson.sydney.edu.au/events/published/sydney-ideas-professor-annalise-acorn
Enquiries: Sydney Ideas (sydney.ideas@sydney.edu.au) ARC Centre for the History of Emotions (jacquie.bennett@adelaide.edu.au)

In this paper I argue that criminal punishment, devoid of all emotions of blame, is inhuman in relation to the offender and contrary to a morally robust justification for the criminal law. Increasingly, progressive philosophers of punishment, such as Hannah Pickard, Nicola Lacey and Martha Nussbaum, claim that emotions such as anger and resentment have no place in criminal punishment. Lacey and Pickard in particular argue that punishment should be carried out through an ethic of forgiveness.

I argue that these rejections of the emotions of blame in punishment, though they claim to be new and improved, are grounded in the ancient and Aristotelian idea that punishment to be different from revenge must be for the benefit of the wrongdoer. This conceptualisation of punishment as help has also long been connected to a view of wrongdoing as illness and punishment as cure. I argue that Lacey and Pickard’s view is a distinctively twenty-first-century therapeutic version of these age-old ideas. I argue that the impulse to punish an offender with the expression of affective blame is not at all inconsistent with the intention to help the offender. Further, I question the assumption that being on the receiving end of affective blame is necessarily unhelpful to a wrongdoer. From there I argue that an ethic that eschews affective blame in favour of detached forgiveness deprives human relations of the Strawsonian good of unreserved mutuality and moral engagement. While such unreserved moral mutuality may be difficult within the relation between the state and the criminal wrongdoer, a criminal sentence intended convey no affective blame would be morally unintelligible to both the offender and society.

Professor Annalise Acorn is Professor of Law at the University of Alberta. In 2014–2015 she was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford where she worked on a book on resentment and responsibility. She is the author of Compulsory Compassion: A Critique of Restorative Justice (2004).

Professor Acorn’s main area of research interest is the theory of the emotions in the context of conflict and justice. She has published numerous articles in journals such as The Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Valparaiso Law Review, and the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. In 1998–1999 she was the president of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. In the same year she was a McCalla Research Professor.

This event is co-presented by Sydney Ideas and the ARC Centre for the History of Emotions for the conference ‘Emotions in Legal Practices’.

XXVth Congress of the International Arthurian Society – Call For Papers

XXVth Congress of the International Arthurian Society
Würzburg University, Germany
July 24-29, 2017

Würzburg is a city rich in tradition, famous for its picturesque medieval city centre and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Würzburger Residenz. Idyllically located between vineyards in the valley of the Main River, the city is a perfect starting point for various excursions into the surrounding area of Franconia.

We highly welcome contributions covering the following topics:

a. Voice(s), Sounds and the Rhetoric of Performance
b. Postmedieval Arthur: Print and Other Media
c. Translation, Adaption and the Movement of texts
d. Current State of Arthurian Editions: Problems and Perspectives
e. Sacred and Profane in Arthurian Romance
f. Critical Modes and Arthurian Literature: Past, Present and Future

If you would like to organize a paper session or panel discussion concerning one of those topics or if you wish to present a 25-minute paper, please use the form below to direct your proposal (max. 250 words) including a short CV to artuskongress2017@uni-wuerzburg.de by October 1, 2016.

Speakers must be members of the Society at the time of the conference.

Sessions comprise three papers of 25 minutes each (90 minutes in total). If you wish to submit a session proposal, please fill in the form located at the congress website (https://www.romanistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/artuskongress2017/home) with your contact details, details of the other members you wish to participate in your session and the papers’ abstracts.

In case you would like to propose a panel discussion, please fill in your contact details and those of at least two other participating members of the Arthurian Society giving short initial speeches.

For paper proposals please use the form located at the congress website (https://www.romanistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/artuskongress2017/home) as well.

Note: For the sessions arrangement it would be of great help if you listed the languages you understand (English, French, German).

Travel grants are available for undergraduates and graduate students presenting a paper. Please contact the president of IAS Prof. Dr. Cora Dietl (cora.dietl@germanistik.uni-giessen.de) for further information.

Newcastle University: Humanities Research Institute Post-doctoral Research Fellow – Call For Applications

Newcastle University – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences – HASS Faculty Office
Humanities Research Institute Post-doctoral Research Fellow

Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Salary: £28,982 to £30,738 per annum, with progression to £37,768.
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Contract / Temporary

Newcastle University wish to appoint to appoint an outstanding postdoctoral researcher for a three-year research fellowship hosted by the Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute (NUHRI). The successful candidate will pursue a personal research project, contribute to the work of NUHRI more generally, and enhance the profile of humanities research both within and outside Newcastle University.

The NUHRI Fellowships are intended primarily to enable early career researchers to undertake a research project of their own design that will lead to an original and significant piece of publishable work. Applications will be considered from candidates working in all areas of the humanities (broadly defined). Projects that are multi- or interdisciplinary in nature are particularly welcome.

The post is full-time for three years, beginning in October 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Applicants must have been awarded a doctoral degree since 1 January, 2012, or be in expectation that the award will be made by 31 October, 2016. Applicants should not already have held a permanent academic appointment.

For more information please contact Professor Matthew Grenby, Director of NUHRI: m.o.grenby@ncl.ac.uk

For full applications details and to apply, please visit: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AUI079/b43842r-newcastle-university-humanities-research-institute-post-doctoral-research-fellow.

Applications close on 26 September, 2016.

University of Western Australia: Lecturer English and Cultural Studies (Creative Writing) – Call For Applications

University of Western Australia
Faculty of Art – School of Humanities
Lecturer – English and Cultural Studies

Work type: full-time
Location: Crawley

2-year appointment commencing 7 February 2017
Salary range: Level B $93,182 – $110,654 p.a.

The University of Western Australia (UWA), a member of the prestigious Group of Eight research-intensive universities, is ranked amongst the top Australian universities and among the top 100 universities in the world.

The Creative Writing program at the University of Western Australia is part of the discipline of English and Cultural Studies and the School of Humanities. It consists of units at all undergraduate levels and has a nationally and internationally recognised record of excellence in creative writing education and creative production, including the publication of Masters and Doctoral work supervised within the program. Creative Writing at UWA has productive relationships with local, national and international writing communities and a partnership with the literary journal Westerly, published at UWA since 1956.

We are seeking an individual with strong leadership qualities, vision and energy to direct the Creative Writing program.

The successful applicant will have highly developed skills in teaching Creative Writing and will be responsible for the development of curriculum and teaching materials in this area.

The appointee is expected to have a demonstrated active research and publication output, particularly creative research in the form of published creative writing.

To be considered for this role, you will demonstrate:

  • PhD in Creative Writing, Literary Studies or equivalent.
  • National recognition in Creative Writing.
  • Ability to develop, coordinate and teach undergraduate units in Creative Writing.
  • Ability to develop, coordinate and teach postgraduate units in Creative Writing.
  • Ability to attract research funding and build research collaboration.
  • Ability to supervise Honours and Postgraduate Students.
  • Commitment to pursue the best educational practices and to implement institutional goals.
  • Ability to relate well to staff and students at all levels and evidence of a commitment to equity and diversity principles.

Further information about English and Cultural Studies at the University can be found at http://www.humanities.uwa.edu.au/home/english-and-cultural-studies.

Closing date: Wednesday 28 September, 2016.

For full details and to apply, please visit: http://external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/cw/en/job/496818/lecturer-english-and-cultural-studies-ref-496818

Gender and Medieval Studies Student Essay Prize 2016 – Call For Applications

The Gender and Medieval Studies Group offers a postgraduate student essay prize, which is awarded at the GMS conference in January each year. The competition is open to students at all levels including those who will be completing their degree in the coming year.

Essays should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length (including notes) and should engage with questions of gender and/or sexuality in the Middle Ages. Essays should follow a recognised academic referencing system (such as MHRA), should include a bibliography and all images should be captioned.

Submissions from postgraduates working within any discipline in the field are encouraged.

The prize gives free registration to the GMS conference (held every January at a different UK institution) for two years (2017 and 2018) and a contribution towards UK travel costs to the conference. In 2017 the conference will be on Gender, Places, Spaces, Thresholds and will be held at Canterbury, Christchurch University (12th-15th January).

The winning essay will also be considered for publication in the academic journal Medieval Feminist Forum, run by the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship (SMFS).

There may be years when no prize is awarded, depending upon submissions in any given year.

Electronic submissions should be submitted to Isabel Davis (i.davis@bbk.ac.uk) by November 21, 2016.

University of Adelaide: Postgraduate Dissertation Scholarships in Early Modern English Legal History – Call For Applications

Two postgraduate scholarships are offered, each of three years duration, one leading to a PhD in the School of Law, the other leading to a PhD in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. The successful candidates will pursue research on a topic related to the legal order in early modern England, under the supervision of Professor David Lemmings and Em Prof Wilfrid Prest, in connection with “A New History of Law in Post-Revolutionary England, 1689-1760”, a project funded by the Australian Research Council. For further details of these scholarships, eligibility requirements and mode of application, go to http://www.adelaide.edu.au/graduatecentre/scholarships/research-international/opportunities, or email Helen.Payne@adelaide.edu.au.

Applications close: 31 October, 2016