Call for Papers: The Animal in Medieval Romance, at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies (2018)

The ‘animal turn’ is one of the newest and most exciting developments in medieval scholarship. Researchers are increasingly interrogating the role of animals in society and culture, the interaction between human and beast, and the formation of human and non-human identities.

The Medieval Romance Society is hosting two inter-related sessions on the role of animals in romances at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies 2018, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. We welcome papers which draw on a broad range of methodologies and address a variety of themes relating to animals.

Session I: The Animal in Medieval Romance I: The Animal as Friend
This session invites papers examining the co-dependent relationships between animals and humans in romances. We encourage a broad interpretation of this theme, including cross-species friendships, sexual and romantic couplings, domestication and farmyard animals, and animals as parental surrogates.

Session II: The Animal in Medieval Romance II: The Animal as Product
This session welcomes papers which examine how animal bodies are exploited in medieval romances. Even after death, animals continue to exert their presence in romance narrative through their earthly remains. The genre’s commodification of bestial bodies also extends beyond texts to the physical product of vellum upon which they are transmitted. Papers might explore themes of butchery, the wearing of skins and furs, the use of bone and ivory, and the production of parchment and manuscript-binding.

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words to Tim Wingard at tw659@york.ac.uk by 15th September 2017. For more information, visit: medievalromanceanimal.wordpress.com/

Material Processes of Medieval Art and Architecture
CAA 106^th Annual Conference
Los Angeles, February 21–24, 2018

Chairs: Kristine Tanton (kristanton@gmail.com) and Meredith Cohen (mcohen@humnet.ucla.edu)

This session will explore the material processes of medieval objects and monuments. Art and architectural historians focus most often on the finished product, but there is much to be gained by considering the processes of making as a site of constant negotiation and conflict. Amendments to objects and structures present distinct moments that may be defined beyond Marxist approaches. For example, what are the phenomenological experiences related to making? How do the inherent temporalities in artistic production shed light on decisions and workflow, as well as temporary, transitory, and intermediate solutions? How do changes in materials, such as the addition of gold leaf to manuscripts or gems to a reliquary, serve as signs of problem solving or problem making? New technologies such as digital reconstructions, laser scans, X-ray fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopies provide us with the opportunity to understand the conceptual processes of art making in the Middle Ages as never before through reverse engineering. We invite presenters to analyze medieval objects and structures in relation to the inherent temporalities in working procedures involving ephemerality, instantaneity, or memory to explore what it means to make in the Middle Ages.

DEADLINE FOR PAPER PROPOSALS: August 14, 2017

Proposals should be sent directly to the session chairs. Each proposal should include the following items:

1. Completed session participation proposal form (located at the end of the 2018 Call for Participation, which is available for download at http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/call-for-participation.pdf)

– Make sure your name appears exactly as you would like it listed in the conference program and conference website.

– Make sure your affiliation appears as the official, recognized name of your institution (do not list multiple affiliations)

– Make sure to include an active CAA Member ID (all participants must be current members through February 24, 2018; inactive or lapsed members will be pulled from participation on August 28, 2017.

2. Paper/project abstract: maximum 250 works, in the form of a single paragraph.
3. Email or letter explaining your interest in the session, expertise in the topic, and availability during the conference.
4. A shortened CV

“Medieval Borders and Frontiers”
The Thirty-third Annual Conference of the Medieval Association of the Midwest
October 19–21, 2017
The University of Kansas, Lawrence

The Medieval Association of the Midwest invites papers and complete sessions on any aspect of the 2017 conference theme: “Medieval Borders and Frontiers.”

The organizers view frontiers and borders as starting points for the exploration of the cultural fluidity in the medieval world. We encourage submission of papers from a range of disciplines: archeology; art history; history, literature, music; material artifacts; religion, politics, and law. Especially welcomed are topics discussing phenomena such as migration in the Middle Ages, multilingualism, and the volatility of cultures. Organizers will also welcome paper and session proposals on any topic related to medieval and early modern history, literature, language, and culture.

Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words (media requests included) and a one-page CV to lcc@ku.edu by August 15, 2017.

Charlemagne’s Ghost: Legacies, Leftovers, and Legends of the Carolingian Empire 

44^th Annual New England Medieval Conference
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Saturday, October 7, 2017

Keynote Speaker:
Simon MacLean, University of St. Andrews, “What Was Post-Carolingian about Post-Carolingian Europe?”

It is well known that the Frankish emperor Charlemagne (768-814) and his dynasty – the Carolingians – played an important role in the formation of Europe.  Yet scholars still debate the long-term consequences of the collapse of the Carolingian empire in 888 and the diverse ways in which Charlemagne’s family shaped subsequent medieval civilization.  This conference invites medievalists of all disciplines and specializations to investigate the legacies, leftovers, and legends of the Carolingian empire in the central and later Middle Ages.  We welcome papers that consider a wide array of Carolingian legacies in the realms of kingship and political culture, literature and art, manuscripts and material artifacts, the Church and monasticism, as well as Europe’s relations with the wider world.  We urge participants to reflect on the ways in which later medieval rulers, writers, artists, and communities remembered Charlemagne and the Frankish empire and adapted Carolingian inheritances to fit new circumstances.  In short, this conference will explore the ways in which Charlemagne’s ghost haunted the medieval world.

Please send an abstract of 250 words and a CV to Eric Goldberg (egoldber@mit.edu) via email attachment. On your abstract please provide your name, institution, the title of your proposal, and email address.  Abstracts are due July 1, 2017.