MEDFEST
Medieval Conferences

This is a selection of conferences on medieval art and related topics. Many are for graduate students, but conferences open to all are also included. Conferences from all over the world are included here, as long as the listing is (mainly) in English. Remember also to check the main Symposia (North America) and the Symposia (Everywhere else) pages for other conferences with calls for papers in many or all fields. Conferences with Web sites will be left posted for a while after the event for the pleasure of the reader.

Index for this Page

Other Medieval Conferences

All Medieval Conferences

Note that almost all of these conferences are held annually. This list also includes individual CFPs for Kalamazoo.

ADRIATIC FRONTIERS: COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS CULTURES, SPACE AND TIME

24-27 March 2010. Location: Montecatini Terme (near Florence). Host: European University Institute (Florence). "The workshop...seeks to provide a forum for the study of the multifaceted history of a region that has remained on the margins, despite the increased interest in the Mediterranean. Although Fernand Braudel had early upheld the study of interactions of Catholic, Muslim, Christian Orthodox, and Jewish cultures on either side of political borders as a promising field of study, few efforts have been made since then for a greater understanding of the Adriatic, specifically, as an intercultural space...Proposals were due before July 15, 2009. Abstracts to the online form at (http://www.rscas.org/medform.asp). Applications sent by e-mail to the organizers cannot be accepted." See link above for more information.

ARIZONA CENTER FOR MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES

11-13 February 2010. (Every year at about that time) The deadline for proposals was 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on 16 October 2009. All proposals must be submitted through the Online Conference Submission Site For more information, check the Web site. They also have an Undergraduate Conference, to be held Friday, 30 October 2009. See here.

ART HISTORY ON THE EDGE: Art and Architecture in the Provinces of the Medieval World(s)

13-16 May 2010. Sponsored by the Medieval and Renaissance Faculty Workshop of the University of Louisville, International Congress at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. "In the first half of the twentieth century, a centralized model of interpretation dominated scholarship on medieval art. That is, the art and architecture of kingdoms and empires, including the provinces, were examined almost exclusively in light of their relationship to a capital city. In the past fifty years, we have witnessed the emergence of a multiplicity of approaches to the interpretation of art and architecture in the provinces. A much more fluid and dynamic relationship in artistic trends between the center and periphery has been acknowledged. Further, the recognition that their geographical location along 'edges' frequently put provinces in contact with other cultures and traditions has led to an interest in the cross-cultural exchange which frequently occurred in these regions. The aim of this session is to bring together scholars of all periods and regions of medieval art in order to consider the connections, commonalities, and differences between seemingly disparate cultures. Through a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary discussion, it will be demonstrated that changes in the perception of the provinces as well as the approaches to art and architecture created in these regions have broad implications for how we interpret and understand artistic and architectural developments throughout the medieval world(s).

Andrew Rabin
Assistant Professor
Department of English
The University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292
Bingham Humanities 336B
502-852-1722
[No due date listed--probably was early September]

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION FOR MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES (ANZAMEMS)

2-5 February 2011. The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. "The final deadline for proposals is 3 September 2010, but early submissions are encouraged." See the excellent Web site for more information.

AUSTRALIAN EARLY MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION

Held 30 Sept.-2 October 2009. Caulfield Campus of Monash University, Victoria. Annual? See the Web site for more information. Also has a link to more conferences.

AUTHORITY AND GENDER IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE CHRONICLES

16-18 July 2010. University of Cambridge. UK. "The second biennial Cambridge International Chronicles Symposium (CICS) follows the success of our inaugural proceedings held at Cambridge in 2008. The theme for CICS 2010 will be debated over the three days during open sessions of three twenty-five minute papers, alternating with longer keynote addresses. Selected papers will be published in a volume bearing the same title within two years of the conference. The 2008 inaugural proceedings appeared in The Medieval Chronicle, vols VI (2009) and VII (2010, forthcoming). We invite proposals from scholars in the disciplines including but not limited to English, History, Literature, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. The deadline was 15 December 2009.

Nicholas Sparks,
Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic,
9 West Road,
Cambridge.
UK
E-mail: ns410@cam.ac.uk

BARNARD MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE CONFERENCE

December 4, 2010. Barnard College, NYC. Theme: Animals and Humans in the Culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. "An interdisciplinary conference that will explore some of the many ways in which the human-animal connection and 'divide' was imagined, employed, figured and explained by people in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Special attention will be given to the multiple constructions and fluid and tense nature of the boundaries between wild and civilized. We seek proposals that go beyond animal figuration and instead focus on literal and metaphorical interactions between humans and other animals. Papers might consider texts on husbandry, falconry, hunting, companion animals, warfare, bestiaries, fables, encyclopedias, heraldry, visual arts, narrative, philosophy, and theology, and analyses informed by current critical animal theory are especially welcomed. Please submit one-page abstracts and c.v. to Conference Organizer, Laurie Postlewate (lpostlew@barnard.edu) by June 1, 2010.

International BOCCACCIO CONFERENCE

April 30 and May 1, 2010. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This conference is intended to bring Boccaccio scholars together from various disciplines and approaches for the benefit of all the participants...Proposals for a paper or panel on any aspect of BoccaccioÕs life and work (in English or Italian) should be sent by February 12, 2010 to Prof. Elsa Filosa, the ABA secretary, at elsa.filosa@vanderbilt.edu. Abstracts should be approximately 500 words and accompanied by a brief CV." See the handsome Web site for more information.

BYZANTINE AND OTTOMAN CIVILIZATIONS IN WORLD HISTORY

21-24 October 2010. Istanbul, Turkey. "Istanbul Sehir University and the World History Association proudly announce a symposium focusing on the world-historical significance of Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations, 330-1922. The symposium wil consist of 30 papers plus a keynote address and several other plenary sessions. The official languages of the symposium will be English and Turkish. Proposals were due no later than 1 October 2009 to the World History Association's dedicated web page, which will be up by 15 July 2009. Delivery time for each paper must not exceed 20 minutes. Questions and inquiries should be directed to A. J. Andrea at (aandrea@uvm.edu), Hayrettin Yucesoy at (yucesoyh@slu.edu), or Nurullah Ardic at (nurullahardic@sehir.edu.tr).

BYZANTINE STUDIES CONFERENCE

2010 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Web site to be updated--or the site is defective.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES : CONFERENCES ON LATE ANTIQUITY

Information on the Graduate Student Conference on Late Antiquity, and on the International Conference on Late Antiquity.

THE CAROLINGIANS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS

13-16 May 2010. Special session sponsored by the Midwest Medieval History Conference, International Medieval Congress, Western Michigan University. "We invite papers focusing on interactions between the Carolingian ruling family (ca 750-950) and the wider world. Abstracts were due to Amy Bosworth as (Bosworth@muskingum.edu) by 15 September 2009.

 Annette Parks, PhD
Department of History 
Olmsted Hall 341
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Ave
Evansville, In 47722
812.488.1070

BYZANTIUM WITHOUT BORDERS

22-27 August 2011. Sofia, Bulgaria (a wonderful place) Organized by the Bulgarian Association of Byzantinists and Medievists, a collective member of the Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines. See the Web site for more information.

CELTIC COLLOQUIUM

Held 9-11 October 2009. Twenty-Ninth Annual Harvard Celtic Colloquium, Harvard University.

CENTER FOR MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES, BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY INTERDISCIPILINARY CONFERENCE

24 April 2010. Theme: "Underpinnings: The Evolution of Underwear from the Middle Ages through Early Modernity." YOU MUST ATTEND THIS.

CENTRE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Huge program. Check Conferences page for information.

COMITATUS: PURDUE MEDIEVAL STUDIES STUDENT ASSOCIATION

5-6 February 2010. 8th Annual Conference on Medieval Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. "The theme of this year's conference is "Medieval Urban Life: New Ideas and New Contexts," and it will feature a keynote address from Lawrence Clopper, Professor Emeritus at Indiana University and author of Drama, Play, and Game: English Festive Culture in the Medieval and Early Modern Period. We invite submissions of abstracts for papers on any area of medieval urban culture and history...Abstracts were due to (jctompki@purdue.edu) by November 1st, 2009.

• Chad Judkins
• Comitatus Vice-President
• Doctoral Student
• Purdue University
• judkinsc@gmail.com

CONSUMING THE WORD: THE SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF THE EUCHARIST IN THE MEDIEVAL WEST

13-16 May 2010. International Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo. "Recent scholarship on perception in the Middle Ages problematizes the medieval understanding of the senses, with approaches grounded in biology and psychology operating alongside (and often in opposition to) the social construction of sensory experience. This panel seeks to explore the sensory aspect of medieval life in the context of the celebration of the Eucharist. This ritual was arguably the central moment of Christian devotional practice in western Europe during the medieval period. The theology, iconography and liturgy of the Eucharist, however, were not static phenomena. Changes in the interpretation, depiction and celebration of the sacrament affected the devotional lives not just of clerics but of the laity as well. We therefore invite papers which explore the experience of the Eucharist throughout the medieval period (broadly construed, ca. 500-1500), specifically those which highlight the importance of the role played by sensory perception for those who participated in the Eucharistic celebration. Abstracts were due 1 September 2009 to Thomas A. Greene (tgreen3@luc.edu).

Thomas A. Greene
tgreen3@luc.edu
Loyola University, Chicago
Dept. of History
6525 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL  60626

Carey E. Fee
cef07d@fsu.edu
Florida State University
Dept. of Art History
530 W Call St
Tallahassee, FL  32306

CONVIVIUM : CONFERENCE AT SIENA COLLEGE

Held 7-8 October 2005. They seem to have lots of conferences but they NEVER update their Web sites--unless it's too late!

COSTUME IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

13-16 MAY 2010 International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI. "Any examination of medieval literary costume is welcome, including, but not limited to, fabrics used, color, dyestuffs, ornamentation, etc. As with Laura Hodges' previous sessions, papers dealing with costume in Chaucer's works are welcome, although this session, as with the past two, will be open to any medieval literatures in English or other languages. Abstracts were due September 15, 2009 to Kimberly Jack at either kimberly_jack@hotmail.com or ksj0004@auburn.edu.

DAWN OF THE MODERN ERA: HUMANISM AND EARLY RENAISSANCE IN NORTHERN EUROPE

13-16 MAY 2010 Part of the Fifteenth-Century Studies (Session) at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI. "Abstracts to: Prof. Edward L. Risden, Department of English, St. Norbert College, 100 Grant St., Boyle Hall 330, De Pere, WI 54115-2099 (USA). Phone: 920-403-3938; Fax: 920-403-4086. (E-mail: edward.risden@snc.edu).Abstracts were due September 5. Those inquiring about publication should contact Matthew Z. Heinzelmann (e-mail: mheinzelma@csbsju.edu), Barbara I. Gusick (email: bgtsud@aol.com), or Martin W. Walsh (email: narenlob@umich.edu).

EXPLORING THE MONSTROUS

no dates given. 2010 International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK. Sponsored by MEARCSTAPA. "We invite papers dealing with travel to monstrous lands and travel accounts describing interactions with monsters and monstrous peoples, as well as those dealing more abstractly with medieval explorations of the monstrous. We welcome papers in any discipline, dealing with any aspect of monstrosity in the Middle Ages. Depending on the submissions, we will propose between one and four full sessions to the selection committee at Leeds. Possibility exists for the collective publication of the papers, following the Congress. Abstracts to Asa Simon Mittman (asmittman@csuchico.edu) were due September 23.

FEMINIST APPROACHES TO MEDIEVAL ART: Islam, Byzantium, and the West

13-16 May, 2010. 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Sponsored by the Medieval Feminist Art History Project. "Feminist scholarship has had relatively little impact on Byzantine art history, and has yet to become visible in work on medieval Islamic art or on cross-cultural encounters. This session seeks to expand feminist discourses on medieval visual culture by extending their geographic, religious, and cultural parameters. We welcome papers that investigate feminist approaches to art of the Byzantine or Islamic traditions, as well as investigations that engage with the cross-cultural exchanges evident in material from across the medieval world. Abstracts to Marian Bleeke at m.bleeke@csuohio.edu were due September 15, 2009."

FUN AND GAMES IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE

7-11 April 2010. Medieval French Panel at the 41st Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, Montreal, Canada. "We are seeking to answer the following questions: Who had fun in medieval France? How? How was this fun later concretized and/or embellished in such media as the lyric poem, the lay, the romance, the historical chronicle, or the illumination? Two notes: (1.) divertissements related to courtly love and chivalric pursuits are specifically excluded, and (2.) papers in French or English are welcome. Abstracts were due Sept. 30, 2009. More details and a complete list of the subjects of the 350 panels can be found at: http://www.nemla.org/convention/2010/cfp.html

Paul Creamer
East Stroudsburg University (Pennsylvania)
phone: (570) 422-3318
fax: (570) 422-3650
pcreamer@po-box.esu.edu

GENDER AND MEDIEVAL STUDIES CONFERENCE

Held 7-10 January 2010. University of Birmingham Theme: "Gender and the Family." [The conference] is geared as much towards postgraduate students as established scholars. Deadline for proposals was 30 September 2009. For more information please see the Web site.

GENDER AND TRANSGRESSION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

23-24 April 2010. St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Scotland. "Now in its third year, the conference aims to create a lively and welcoming forum for postgraduate students and academic staff to build contacts, present research and participate in creative discussion on the topics of gender and transgression in the Middle Ages. We are especially keen to explore the ways in which these topics, frequently studied in reference to points of rupture or breakdown, may also be discussed in their relation to growth and change in the past...Please send abstracts for papers of approximately 300 words to: (genderandtransgression@st-andrews.ac.uk). The deadline for submission is 14th February 2010. Please see the Website ("Conferences") for more information.

GLOBALIZING THE MIDDLE AGES?

7-10 May 2010 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "The Scholarly Community for the Globalization of the Middle Ages' mission statement indicates that it 'seeks to re-conceive the field of Medieval Studies not in terms of Europe alone but also in relation to Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, and Asia.' Proposals were due 15 September 2009.

Gabriel Gryffyn
University of Minnesota
207 Lind Hall
207 Church St
Minneapolis, MN 55455
E-mail: ggryffyn.cms@gmail.com

HANDWRITING RECOGNITION AND COLLABORATIVE EDITING

7-10 May 2010 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "The Digital Medievalist Community of Practice (http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/) is sponsoring two sessions at Kalamazoo. Please send inquiries and abstracts for 20-minute presentations to Peter Robinson at (p.m.robinson@bham.ac.uk). Abstracts were due September 15, 2009.

"Paper session [1]: The state of the art in handwriting recognition and analysis for medieval documents. Much work has been done towards automated analysis of handwritten documents, with a focus on handwriting recognition, in the last years, and some of the developments seen in OCR and layout recognition systems may be applicable to medieval studies. Further, the increasing interest in sophisticated linkages of text and image might be enhanced by developments in handwriting recognition and analysis.

"[2] Paper session: Collaborative tools and environments for medieval scholarship.Many groups around the world are working to develop a new generation of collaborative tools and research environments, with potential wide applicability to medieval studies.

CHARLES HOMER HASKINS SOCIETY

Held 6-8 November 2009. Boston College, USA. "The Society welcomes all paper proposals in fields and periods of medieval history to which Charles Homer Haskins contributed, including but not limited to: Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman, and Angevin history as well as early and high medieval cultural history. The deadline for receipt of proposals was June 1, 2009. ...Papers by graduate students, untenured faculty and independent scholars are eligible for the Denis Bethell Prize. [See the Web site for details]

HOSTAGES AND CAPTIVES IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

13-16 May, 2010. 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "Although hostages and captives appear to be fundamental to many aspects of medieval society, it has only been more recently that scholars have begun to explore their roles thoroughly. Proposals to Colleen Slater at: (ces55@cornell.edu) were due September 15th.

ILLINOIS MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION

18-20 February, 2010. Dominican University, River Forest. Proposals due 10 January 2010. See Web site for more information.

IMAGES OF CORPORAL MORTIFICATION AND CORRUPTION, MARTYRDOM AND MERCY: 1250-1550

15-17 April 2010. Association of Art Historians Annual Conference, University of Glasgow, Scotland. "This session will explore images which illustrate the mortification of the flesh, bodily corruption, disfigurement, disease, decay, physical degradation and death. Such images have been used to convey messages of strength, the triumph of faith over fear and pain, the incorruptibility of the spirit, salvation, celebration and optimism. Images of suffering are often coupled with those of compassion and protection. Issues surrounding the role of gender within images of martyrdom and mercy will be investigated. Papers are invited which engage with related imagery (e.g. depictions of justice, punishment, vengeance, restraint and clemency) from both religious and secular contexts and which explore the relationship between text and image. We encourage submissions illustrating examples from a wide range of media (panel and wall painting, manuscript illumination, sculpture, architectural structures and contexts, decorated household, religious and civic objects and textiles) and originating from a variety of geographical locations. Session convenors: Emily Jane Anderson (University of Glasgow) and Robert Gibbs (University of Glasgow).
E.Anderson.1@research.gla.ac.uk
R.Gibbs@arthist.arts.gla.ac.uk
Abstracts were due 10 November 2009.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY MEDIEVAL STUDIES SYMPOSIUM

26-27 March 2010. Annual. Indiana University, Bloomington. Theme: The Foreign, The Familiar, and the Fantastic in the Middle Ages. Abstracts were due 2 February 2010.

INTERNATIONAL JOAN OF ARC SOCIETY

13-16 May, 2010. 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "Two Sessions: (1) The Trial to Nullify Joan of Arc's Condemnation, and (2) Joan of Arc and Place: Frontier, Periphery and Center. (For details, please see the Web site.) A paper proposal comprises an abstract of no more than 300 words and a completed "Participant Information Form", which is available on the Congress Web site: (http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#Paper) Proposals and Participant Information Form to: Jane Marie Pinzino at (jpinzino@mail.usf.edu) were due September 5, 2009.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL CONGRESS: LEEDS

July 12-15, 2010. University of Leeds, UK. "Session proposals and inquiries were due Sept. 15, 2009 to the Chair of the Programs Committee: Kirk Ambrose, Department of Art & Art History, 318 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0318, e-mail: (kirk.ambrose@colorado.edu). See the Web site for more details.

INTERVISUALITY IN MEDIEVAL ART

15-17 April 2010. Association of Art Historians Conference, Glasgow, Scotland. "Of current interest in the critical analysis of medieval art, intervisuality or interpictoriality has been conceived as the visual counterpart to intertextuality. Simply defined as pictorial references to other pictures, studies by Michael Camille, Madeline Caviness, Cynthia Hahn, and Mitchell Merback, among others, have shown that the process or concept itself is anything but simple, that it can generate multiple and often complex meanings that serve particular contemporary cultural agendas. We can speak of intervisuality, among other ways, in relation to the redeployment of earlier iconographical formulae in new contexts, to pictorial references across different artistic media, to visual correspondences across visual genres (such as from dramatic performance to static works of art, or vice versa). This session invites papers that address any aspect of intervisuality with a focus on one or more works of medieval art, one or more iconographical themes, or that compare and/or contrast the processes of intervisuality to those of intertextuality. 250-word abstracts for 30-minute papers to Debra Strickland (D.Strickland@arts.gla.ac.uk). were due 10 November 2009.

LIVES ON THE MOVE: MEDIEVAL SEASCAPES AND PELAGIC METHODOLOGIES

6-9 January 2011. Los Angeles, CA. The Comparative Studies in Medieval Literature session at MLA 2011. "Papers on medieval seas, archipelagos, islands, coasts, especially work utilizing cultural geography, Mediterranean studies or other comparatist methodologies. 250-word abstracts by 15 March 2010 to Matthew Boyd Goldie, Rider University (mgoldie@rider.edu) and Steven Kruger, CUNY (skruger@GC.cuny.edu).

[MANUSCRIPTS] MARCO AT KALAMAZOO: PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS IN ONGOING MANUSCFIPT STUDIES

13-16 May 2010. International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "The Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is soliciting abstracts for a session focused on manuscript study and featuring research in progress. Pproposals to the Marco Institute were due September 15th. [NO ADDRESS LISTED]

[MANUSCRIPTS] LAWRENCE J. SCHOENBERG SYMPOSIUM ON MANUSCRIPT STUDIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Held 30-31 October 2009. For more information, please see the Web site.

LOUISIANA CONSORTIUM OF MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE SCHOLARS

Held 26-28 October 2007. Web site is remarkably silent on the subject of future conferences.

MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION OF THE PACIFIC

5-6 March 2010. University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington. Abstracts and organized session proposals were due 15 October 2009. Please see the Web site for more information.

THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN

14-16 April 2011. Tempe, Arizona. Offered as part of the meeting of the Medieval Academy of America. "Papers all welcome on a wide range of topics, including: religious, social, political, economic, institutional, cultural, and literary history as well as the history of art, science, and philosophy. Successful proposals will focus on "history of" rather than "history in" the Mediterranean, which is to say, they will focus on region-wide phenomena, on movement, acculturation, conflict, inter-ethnic or inter-confessional relations, take a comparative approach, or address the nature of the Mediterranean as region across either a broad chronological or geographical sweep.

"Please submit a 250-word proposal, short CV (3 pages) maximum, and a request for AV/computing equipment (if necessary). Papers should be no longer than 20 minutes in length and must be delivered in person. Proposals should be submitted by e-mail no later than May 1, 2010. Send inquiries and proposals to (mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org), with the subject line ÒMAA 2011.Ó

MEARCSTAPA (Monsters: The Experimental Association for the Research of Cryptozoology through Scholarly Theory and Practical Application)

13-16 May 2010. International Medieval Congress, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. Abstracts were due in early September; check the link for details. (I will bet that these sessions will have the best illustrations of all.)

MID-AMERICA MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION

27-28 February 2010. Conception Abbey, Missouri, located in NW Missouri near Maryville. "The theme of the conference will be "Monastic and Religious Life". More later about deadlines for papers, etc." [SIC]

MIDWEST MEDIEVAL HISTORY CONFERENCE

25-26 September 2009. About the same time every year. University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Note admitted preference for historians: "Not that we don't enjoy the company of theologians, philologists, art historians, or literary critics..." I guess if you go, plan either to be very entertaining or very invisible.

NEW COLLEGE CONFERENCE ON MEDIEVAL-RENAISSANCE STUDIES

11-13 March 2010. Biennial. Areas: "The program committee invites one-page abstracts of proposed twenty-minute papers on topics in European and Mediterranean history, literature, art, and religion from the fourth to the seventeenth centuries. Interdisciplinary work is particularly appropriate to the conferenceÍs broad historical and disciplinary scope. Planned sessions are welcome. The deadline for abstracts was October 1, 2009. [N. B.: An excellent conference! Highly recommended by the editor!] For more information see the Website and contact:

• Nova Myhill (nmyhill[at]ncf.edu)
• Division of Humanities
• New College of Florida
• 5800 Bay Shore Road
• Sarasota FL 34243

NEW ENGLAND MEDIEVAL STUDIES CONSORTIUM GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE

Held 4 April 2009. The 26th Annual Conference held at Yale University.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS MEDIEVAL GRADUATE STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

Held 4-5 February 2010. "This year's theme is Language and Communication in the Middle Ages. While we will entertain papers from any discipline of Medieval Studies and on any topic, we particularly welcome those that engage the multiple languages and forms of communication in the Middle Ages to include the visual, the lyrical, the liturgical, the legal, the dramatic, the kinetic, the spatial, as well issues of translation, lingua Franca, and literacy. We encourage submission of papers that have been submitted and/or delivered elsewhere. The deadline for submission was November 1st, 2009. [note change of conference date] Contact:

• Abel@unt.edu or
• Dr. Mickey Abel
• Assistant Professor, Art History
• University of North Texas
• 1155 Union Station #305100
• Denton, TX 76203-5017

PATRISTIC, MEDIEVAL, AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES CONFERENCE

16-18 October 2009. Villanova University. Please visit *the Web site* for more details.

PATRONAGE AND THE SACRED BOOK IN THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN

18-19 October 2010. Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. "Sacred books (including Jewish Bibles, Christian Bibles, Qur«ans, prayer books, psalters, haggadot, translations of and commentaries on Scripture, etc.) were at the center of book production for Jews, Christians and Muslims throughout the Middle Ages. This conference will investigate issues in the patronage, production, circulation and consumption of sacred books in the Western Mediterranean during the High and Late Middle Ages (roughly 10th-15th Century).

"In what ways did the demands of patronage nurture, determine, or constrain areas of intellectual and artistic engagement? How did patronage in the royal court differ from patronage in other contexts (the Church, religious orders, the madrasa, the university, the circles of learned elites, non-institutional settings)? What role did women play in the patronage, production or circulation of books? The interest of this conference is twofold: the patronage of sacred texts in comparative contexts and the role of inter-religious elements in the production of sacred texts. Topics for papers might include the adoption of book-making techniques across religious boundaries, Jewish/Christian/Muslim collaborative translations or art/text productions, interest in reading, producing, or interpreting the sacred texts of other religious traditions, or other related questions. "Abstracts to Jonathan Decter (decter@brandeis.edu) and Esperanza Alfonso (esperanza.alfonso@cchs.csic.es) were due before February 10, 2010.

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES CONFERENCE

Held 28 March 2009. Theme: "SAILING THE WESTERN SEA: THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN A MEDIEVAL PERSPECTIVE." For more information see the Web site.

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA GRADUATE CONFERENCE IN MEDIEVAL STUDIES

Held 6-7 February 2009. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Annual? No sign of it on the Web: 24 August 2009.

PICTURING CRUSADE: REMBRANCE AND NEGOTIATION

13-16 May 2010. International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "The task that confronted the earliest crusaders to the Holy Land was the formation of a new kingdom and, by extension, the establishment of that kingdom's character. Conventional pictorial expressions of identity were insufficient for the unique geographical, political, religious, and cultural context that defined the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, subject as it was to the historical exigencies of the eastern Mediterranean and the shifting demographics of its component principalities. Arguably, the success of the synthetic "crusader art" that emerged in response to these needs may be gauged by its persistent influence on the imagination of the West, long after the definitive loss of Latin holdings in the Levant. DEADLINE FOR PAPER PROPOSALS was September 15, 2009.

Abstracts and enquiries should be directed to:
Richard Leson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
(leson@uwm.edu)

Lisa Mahoney, Northwestern University
(l-mahoney@northwestern.edu)

PICTURING THE MEDIEVAL AND PRE-MODERN JEWISH WOMAN

13-16 May 2010. International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "This panel seeks papers that examine visualizations of non-biblical Jewish women in European Art from the Middle Ages into the Pre-Modern period. The aims of this session are twofold. First, a goal is to locate visual parallels to or points of inspiration for ShakespeareÕs character of Jessica in the Merchant of Venice. A second aim is to answer the question of whether images of Jewish women were loaded with the same antisemitism so clearly articulated in images of Jewish men. Contact: Carlee A. Bradbury, Assistant Professor, Art Department, Radford University. E-mail: (carlee_bradbury@hotmail.com) No due date for abstracts, but assume early September, 2009.) Paper or faxed submissions are welcome, but electronic submissions by e-mail are preferred. For electronic submissions or any other questions, please contact Teresa Hooper at . Paper submissions should be addressed to:

Teresa M. Hooper
Univ. of TennesseeÐKnoxville
301 McClung Tower
Knoxville, TN 37996-0430
Phone: 865-974-1859
Fax: 865-974-6926

ROMANESQUE AND THE PAST: RETROSPECTION IN THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF ROMANESQUE EUROPE

9th April-11th April 2010. London, UK, sponsored by the British Archaeological Association. "The conference aims to examine how and why a concern for the past manifested itself in the art and architecture of the Latin Church during the Romanesque period. This took many forms, from the casual, even careless, reuse of Antique material, to a specific desire to re-present or emulate earlier objects or buildings. The manner and reasons whereby particular forms are selected can throw light on how a local sense of Romanitas intersects with a sense of Romanitas elsewhere... A limited number of scholarships for students are available to cover the cost of the conference. Proposals were due 31 October 2009. Contact: John McNeill (jsmcneill@btinternet.com) or (name not listed) rplant62@hotmail.com (.)

SCULPTURE AND THE MEDIEVAL CITY

13-16 May 2010. Session to be held at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan. "This session aims to explore the role, meaning, function, and even dysfunction of sculpture in the medieval city. From the ontological value of their being objects occupying space, sculpture has always been part of an environment. This session invites papers that ask how the use and re-use of sculpture shaped the medieval city's definition of itself, how sculpture illuminated medieval daily life, and how meaning was generated through the performance of sculpture, its interaction with its site, and its adaptation of pictorial themes resonant to local populations. Church facades, governmental buildings, antique monuments, fountains, and even wellheads are all suitable topics for this session. DEADLINE FOR PAPER PROPOSALS was 15 September 2009.

• Mark Rosen
• Arts and Humanities
• University of Texas at Dallas
• Mailing Station JO 31
• 800 W. Campbell Road
• Richardson, TX 75080

SEWANEE MEDIEVAL COLLOQUIUM 2009

Held 3-4 April 2009. "The City in Medieval Life and Culture" is the theme of the 36th annual Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, to be held at the University of the South. Call for papers: proposals are invited for papers or sessions relating to any aspect of the theme. Abstracts were due no later than 1 October 2008. For further information on the conference and on the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium Prize please see: (the Web site, not updated from the 2008 conference!!). Contact: Susan J. Ridyard, Dept. of History, Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, Univ. of the South, 735 University Ave., Sewanee TN 37383.
WEB SITE APPEARS TO BE DOWN 24 AUGUST 2009

SOCIETY FOR LATE ANTIQUITY

13-16 May 2010. Will sponsor three sessions at the International Medieval Studies Congress at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. "As in the past, topics are open. One-page abstracts for 15-minute papers are invited relating to the history, literature, religion, art, archaeology, culture, and society of Late Antiquity (that is, the European, North African, and Western Asian world ca. 250-750). Attention should be given to how the paper relates to Late Antiquity as a discrete period with its own individual characteristics. Abstracts may be forwarded, preferably by e-mail, to Ralph Mathisen at ralphwm@illinois.edu.and ruricius@msn.com. Deadline for receipt of abstracts is September 15, 2010. Please note that with the exception of a few awards (information available from conference organizers at http://www.wmich.edu/ medieval/congress) there is no travel funding available for participants, and that the submission of an abstract carries with it a commitment to attend the conference should the abstract be accepted. Thank you, and with apologies for cross-posting, Ralph W. Mathisen Professor, History, Classics, and Medieval Studies Department of History, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 USA. Editor, Journal of Late Antiquity and Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity; Director, Biographical Database for Late Antiquity; Administrator: LTANTIQ, NUMISM-L, PROSOP-L. Phone: 217-244-5249 FAX: 217-333-2297

SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF THE CRUSADES

Held 7-10 May 2009. Part of the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Check back for details on next year's conference.

SOUTHEASTERN MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION

Held 15-17 October 2009. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Abstracts were due: July 1, 2009.

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT UNIVERSITY MEDIEVAL CONFERENCE

Held 8 November 2008. Please see the Web site for more information. Appears to be dead: 7 February 2010.

SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF THE CRUSADES AND THE LATIN EAST

Held 28-31 August 2008, Avignon, France. Held every four years. Web site has links to other conferences and sites of interest.

TERRA INCOGNITA? MAKING SPACE FOR MEDIEVAL GEOGRAPHIES

1-3 September 2010. London, Royal Geographical Society. " Historical geographers appear to be increasingly occupied with the modern or post-Enlightenment world, with 'medieval geographies' becoming, for many in the field, a terra incognita. Yet over the past century the Latin, Byzantine and Arabic worlds of the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500 CE) have been a key focus for geographical study. Whether in charting geography's medieval history and historiography, or in reconstructing spatial histories of medieval landscapes, territories and societies, geographers have thus recognized the importance of geographies before the modern age. However, during the past three decades these geographies 'in' and 'of' the Middle Ages have noticeably shifted further to the margins of Anglophone historical geography at a time when, paradoxically, the geographical and spatial are growing concerns among medievalists, for example in art and literary history and in architecture and archaeology.

"In the context of these shifting disciplinary terrains, this session seeks to make space for medieval geographies by providing a forum for recent and ongoing studies that encompass both geographies in and of the Middle Ages. Papers of an empirical or theoretical nature are sought, particularly those engaging in critical ways with medieval geographies and which encourage further cross-disciplinary exchange with medievalists in cognate areas. Far from being a terra incognita, the session will expose some of the contemporary resonances of medieval geographies and one of its intended outcomes is to entice historical geographers to consider the spatial and temporal continuities, discontinuities and connections that run between the 'medieval' and the 'modern'. Proposals and abstracts to Dr Keith Lilley (k.lilley@qub.ac.uk) by January 31 2010.

SPANISH INTERPRETATIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE: EXEGIS, TEXT, AND IMAGE

13-16 May 2010. Session sponsored by the Ibero-Medieval Association of North America 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University. "How do Spanish interpretations of the Apocalypse in theological, exegetical, literary, and iconographical works distinctively respond to Iberian historical contexts? Do Spanish interpretations of the Apocalypse differ from those of other regions of Europe? These questions suggest the exploration of themes such as (but not limited to) the relationships between texts and apocalyptic iconography, popular and orthodox appropriations of apocalyptic prophecies and/ or images, the image of the Antichrist in the evolution of anti-heretical discourse in the context of the Reconquest, the didactic and/ or propagandistic aspirations in literary and/ or iconographic treatments of eschatological sources. Proposals to Patricia Timmons at ptimm@tamu.edu were due 15 September 2009.

Patricia Timmons 
Department of Hispanic Studies 
Texas A&M University

TEXAS MEDIEVAL CONFERENCE

Held 23-24 October 2009. The University of Texas, Austin, Texas "Papers are welcomed on all aspects of medieval history and culture, including medieval art, languages, literature, medievalism, music. Early submissions are greatly welcomed, but please try to send in all session proposals and paper abstracts (150-300 words) no later than September 1."

"TRAVELING OBJECTS": FROM TEXT TO THING AND BACK AGAIN, 1000-1200

12-15 July 2010. International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK. "We are planning a series of interdisciplinary sessions on the object in the Romanesque Period for IMC 2010Õs theme ÒTravel and ExplorationÓ. The proposed sessions will investigate in an interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary way the ways in which the object was presented, treated, described, and received by a medieval audience. Each session will consider a single object, or object type, using different varieties of literary and visual sources, such as Old French epic, courtly romance, etc., and actual objects, or things. More particularly, speakers shall consider how the biography of things real, faked, or forged, was built up in the 11th and 12th centuries, studying their transfer from one media into the other. The papers should consider two kinds of objects: first, the ones that were called into existence after having been created textually, such as RolandÕs or CharlemagneÕs horn, in what may be called a concretion, or precipitation; and second, the ones that were singled out among others thanks to a network of written texts, and which gave in turn an impulse for further stories, such as Saint MartinÕs vase in Saint-Maurice Abbey treasure. We are planning up to five sessions. Paper proposals to Prof. Alain Corbellari (University of Lausanne) and Prof. Pierre Alain Mariaux (University of Neuchatel) at either Alain.Corbellari@unil.ch or Pierre-Alain.Mariaux@unine.ch were due 10 September 2009.

VAGANTES

11-13 March 2010. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. "Abstracts for twenty-minute papers are invited from graduate students working on any medieval topic. A brief curriculum vita and abstract of no more than 300 words due 9 October 2009 to:

Marisa Sikes
msikes@unm.edu
Department of English Language and Literature
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE AT WISE MEDIEVAL-RENAISSANCE CONFERENCE XX

Held 24-26 September 2009. Wise, Virginia. "For more information, please visit the website. PLEASE MAKE A STABLE WEB SITE

VISUAL CULTURE IN THE MEDIEVAL MIDDLE EAST: ISLAMIC ART HISTORY NOW

15-17 April 2010. AAH Conference, University of Glasgow. "In showcasing current research being conducted on the visual culture of the medieval Islamic world, this session aims to survey the present state of the discipline, whilst also opening up the field to self-analysis. The discipline itself has been going through dramatic changes for several decades, both in its methods and its fields of enquiry. The very use of the terms "Islamic" and "art" to describe the parameters of the field have been exposed as persistently problematic, misleadingly equating visual culture with religion whilst promoting a western hierarchy of artistic production that cannot accurately reflect the cultural activity of the enormous geographical area under discussion. To study the visual culture of the medieval Islamic world at present involves straddling findings and approaches from art and architectural histories, archaeology, cultural studies and area studies. While this makes our discipline both exhilarating and exhausting, we must consider whether these are the best approaches to the material. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS was 9th November 2009. Session convenors:

Dr Moya Carey
Middle East, Asian Department
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
m.carey@vam.ac.uk

and

Margaret Graves
Room 4.16, Minto House,
History of Art, University of Edinburgh
20 Chambers Street
Edinburgh EH1 1JZ
margaretgraves_36@hotmail.com

Women In/And/On Books

13-16 May 2010. Special session sponsored by the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, International Medieval Congress. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. "We invite papers considering the relationship of women to books during any era or region in the Middle Ages. Possible papers might consider ways in which women have participated in the production and dissemination of books, whether as authors, scribes, patrons, or owners. Alternatively, papers might consider commentaries on women reading (both good and bad), the ways in which women are represented in books, or how the culture of the book helped to shape women's lived experience. We are particularly interested in developing an inter- or multi-disciplinary session. Abstracts were due 15 September 2009. Queries and letters of interest welcomed.

• Virginia Blanton
• Associate Chair, Department of English
• Associate Professor, English & Religious Studies
• University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Kansas City, MO 64110 Voice: 816-235-2766
• Fax: 816-235-1308
• BlantonV@umkc.edu

OPPORTUNITIES

SUMMER INSTITUTE ON CONDUCTING ARCHIVAL RESEARCH

7-11 June 2010. George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "Ph.D. students from any discipline working on dissertations involving archival research (particularly in relatively newly accessible archives) are invited to apply to participate in the 8th annual Summer Institute on Conducting Archival Research (SICAR)... The deadline for applications is February 25, 2010." Please see the Web site for more information.

SO, YOU TEACH MEDIEVAL ART HISTORY?: INCORPORATING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MULTI-MEDIAS INTO UNDERGRADUATE ART HISTORY CLASSROOMS AND BEYOND
The Student Committee of the International Center for Medieval Art aims to give a voice to all students interested in medieval art and architectural history. For our session at the Leeds 2010 International Medieval Congress we invite papers that address incorporating new technologies and multi-media into undergraduate art history classrooms and beyond. We seek presenters who explore, for example: the technological resources available to students and teachers; the transition from previous technologies (microfilm, slides, etc.) to digital formats (Powerpoint, MDID, etc.); the benefits and perhaps limitations of new media in the classroom; and the ways new technologies impact both the study and the teaching of art and architecture. We also welcome participants who consider issues interdisciplinary in nature, such as: the incorporation of technologies from other disciplines in art history classes; and the extent to which new technologies associated with art history may be applied in the classrooms of related disciplines. To apply, please submit a brief CV and an abstract of no more than 300 words to Melanie Hackney (melaniehackney@gmail.com) by September 27th 2009.

Publication Possibilities

Hope to have some new opportunities soon...

Above: Barna da Siena, The predella (lower) panel of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, circa 1340.