The Allure of Collecting Arms and Armor, March 26th

Thursday, March 26, 6:00 pm39.121a-n Henri I three-quarter front_DP256971_400px
Public Lecture and Reception

The Allure of Collecting Arms and Armor

Donald J. LaRocca, Curator, Department of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

From dynastic armories and curiosity cabinets to Gothic Revival castles, private collections, and modern museums, armor and weapons have been methodically collected, studied, and preserved for their artistic and historical importance, beginning in the sixteenth century and continuing to the present day. This lecture will survey that legacy, particularly as it relates to the genesis of the major collections of arms and armor in leading European and American museums today, concluding with the growth and development of the Department of Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art over the past century.

Arts of War: Artistry in Weapons across Cultures, an exhibition at the adjacent Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, will be open following the lecture until 9:00 pm.

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Call for Papers – Emotional and Affective Narratives in pre-Modern Europe/ Late-Medieval and Renaissance France

In contemporary thought, the field of emotion studies represents a very potent framework that allows anthropologists, historians, neuroscientists and philosophers to think of the possible ways in which subjects engage with their own sensory experience and with larger practices that enable them to articulate such experiences in in meaningful ways. Nevertheless, “How do I feel?” is a question that was equally quintessential in the pre-modern Western system of thought even if the contemporary significations of the word “emotion ” did not become concrete until the 17th century.  In their attempt to capture pre-modern emotional modes and systems of feelings, contemporary medievalists, especially under the influence of poststructuralism, considered emotions primarily as discursive entities that shape collective and individual subjectivities. Barbara Rosenwein’s influential notion of “emotional communities,” which inaugurates this trajectory in medieval studies, turns away from the Cartesian split between mind and body and, instead, presents emotions as discursive regimes consisting of strategies, tactics and the conscious ways in which subjects engage with these.  However, while emotions are indeed discursive cultural constructs producing collective subjectivities they also possess a sensorial aspect that simultaneously escapes being captured by the social while being constitutive of it. This was the special contribution of the affective “turn” in contemporary theory: the epistemological need to distinguish between emotions as discursive constructs, and affects as flashes of sensory experience and feelings.

This volume aims at complicating Rosenwein’s existing notion of emotion as discursive practice and, at the same time, investigating how medieval subjects talked about their somatic, sensorial and affective practices. If emotions belong to the complexities of social dynamics, we ask how are they incorporated in textual artifacts and cultural productions stemming from often conflicting social events, groups and discourses? How do they act as facilitators between the author and its audience, between the period and its meaning, between the genre and its writing? The emotional and affective dimension of a text cannot be rationalized as either its objective or its point of origin. It is more a textual and factual paradigm around which the author develops her intellectual environment, creating the cultural and political dimension for the text. However, it is within this territory of the text, as a socio-cultural entity orchestrated by the auctorial persona, that a whole archive of emotions and affects is disseminated.

We are interested in essays that investigate the constituency of such “archives of feelings” (Cvetkovich) through the study of the affectivity and emotionality of both literary and non-literary texts, such as political and theological treatises, mystical texts, medical works, scientific tracts and pamphlets, hagiographies and encyclopedic compendiums. While we welcome submissions of articles dealing with such topics in different geographic areas, we are particularly interested in late-medieval and Renaissance French texts.

Articles may examine, but are not limited to questions related to:

  • discourses and practices of emotions and affect
  • the somatization of the emotional act
  • affect and emotions in poetry
  • emotions, affect and gender
  • queer emotions and affects
  • emotions, affect and race
  • psychogeographies of emotions and affect
  • rhetorics of affect or emotions
  • emotional rewritings of historical events

Please send 300-word abstracts in English, as well as a short biography with university affiliation and email address, to Andreea Marculescu (marculescu.andreea@gmail.com or amarcule@uci.edu) and Charles-Louis Morand Métivier (cmorandm@uvm.edu) before June 1st . Selected abstracts will be notified on July 1st, and the complete papers will be due on November 1st.

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A Symposium at Bates College: 9-10 July 2015

https://learnedclerk.bates.edu/

The Learned Clerk Symposium brings together leading scholars in the fields of medieval literature and history, editing and manuscript studies, and digital humanities, whose research variously engages the forms and modes of late medieval textual culture.  The years just before the advent of print, and immediately afterwards, witnessed a burgeoning of secular learned manuscript production in England.  Through a focus on these texts, the symposium’s series of presentations will explore two interlacing threads — neglected sources and new perspectives.

Papers will be grouped according to a number of themes highlighted in the most recent research:

  • Recovering the sources and the scope for digital renewal;
  • The learned clerk: contexts and outlooks;
  • Authorities;
  • Humanist gestures;
  • Publication & transmission;
  • Coteries & networks;
  • Modus compilandi libellos: modern editorial approaches to late medieval authorial practice.
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Call for Papers – Representation and Reality in the Medieval Church

Representation and Reality in the Medieval Church
Rowan University’s Second Annual Symposium on Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Sponsored by Rowan University and the University of Kent

From historical accounts to literary satire, the medieval Church has ever been a subject of discussion and controversy.  This symposium will explore the ways in which the Church presented itself, the extent to which these representations corresponded with reality, and how the commentaries of contemporaries, both lay and clerical, impacted the Church at large, locally and internationally.

These fascinating complexities of the Church in the Middle Ages will be the subject of the Second Annual Symposium on Medieval & Early Modern Studies, co-sponsored by Rowan University and the University of Kent.  As an interdisciplinary conference, papers from all subjects and perspectives are welcome.  This year’s symposium will be held on Friday and Saturday, 31 July — 1 August 2015, at Rowan’s main campus in Glassboro, NJ.

Keynote presentations will be given by Dr. Barbara Bombi and Dr. Sarah James, both of the University of Kent.

Abstracts of 200 words are invited from both professional scholars and postgraduate researchers.  Papers are to be approximately 20 minutes in length; proposals for three papers in themed sessions are also welcome.  In addition, there will be one undergraduate session of  15 to 20-minute papers; interested undergraduate students of any discipline are encouraged to submit their 200-word abstracts, as well.  To submit a proposal, please email rowanmedievalsymposium@gmail.com; for any questions or further information, please email the conference organizer, Jon-Mark Grussenmeyer, at jg482@kent.ac.uk.  The deadline for abstract submissions is 1 May 2015.

For more information, visit our website at http://rumedievalsymposium.wix.com/medieval-symposium.

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Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies Visiting Research Fellowships-Call for applications

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce a new initiative, the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) Visiting Research Fellowship program. Guided by the vision of its founders, Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, SIMS aims to bring manusript culture, modern technology, and people together to provide access to and understanding of our shared intellectual heritage. Part of the Penn Libraries, SIMS oversees an extensive collection of pre-modern manuscripts from around the world, with a special focus on the history of philosophy and science, and creates open-access digital content to support the study of its collections.  SIMS also hosts the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts and the annual Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, now in its eighth year.

The SIMS Visiting Research Fellowships have been established to encourage research relating to the pre-modern manuscript collections at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, including the Schoenberg Collection.  Affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, located near other manuscript-rich research collections (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and the Rosenbach Museum and Library, among many others), and linked to the local and international scholarly communities, SIMS offers fellows a network of resources and opportunities for collaboration. Fellows will be encouraged to interact with SIMS staff, Penn faculty, and other medieval and early modern scholars in the Philadelphia area. Fellows will also be expected to present their research at Penn Libraries either during the term of the fellowship or on a selected date following the completion of the term.

Applicants can apply to spend 1, 2, or 3 months at SIMS. Project proposals should demonstrate that the Libraries’ pre-modern manuscript resources are integral to proposed research topics. Recipients will be expected to work on-site at Penn Libraries for the duration of their fellowship, excluding possible short research trips in support of the proposed project to nearby institutions. Proposals with a digital component are encouraged though not required. A total of $15,000 per year will be divided among up to 3 fellows in increments of $5,000 per month. Awards must be used between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.

Applications are due May 15, 2015. For more information on eligibility and the application process, go to: http://schoenberginstitute.org/visiting-research-fellowships.

For more information on SIMS, go to http://schoenberginstitute.org/. For more information on the Schoenberg Collection of Manuscripts, go to http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/schoenberg. On Penn’s pre-modern manuscript holdings in general, go to:http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren.

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MAA’s Annual Meeting Registration

It’s the last day to register online at bit.ly/1wb8ssP for the Medieval Academy meeting at Notre Dame. Walk-ins will pay an additional $40. You can register by phone, too: 574-631-6691.

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Medieval Media Revolutions – April 18, 2015

Medieval Media Revolutions 

Saturday, 18 April 2015

Center for Advanced Study * 912 W. Illinois Street * Urbana, Illinois

As in the early years of the internet, the development of writing in a given culture initially tends to facilitate certain kinds of transactions among certain specific users. But media revolutions – now and in the past – occur because new recording technologies and communication networks encourage and facilitate innovative, unforeseen forms of activity. This symposium invites three distinguished visiting scholars to focus on movements that might be regarded as “medieval media revolutions.” Responses to each paper will be offered by Illinois medievalists working in analogous fields, with ample time for questions and discussion.

The symposium is free, but space is limited. Please contact Carol Symes if you plan to attend: symes@illinois.edu.

Invited speakers:

Warren Brown (CalTech), author of several books on conflict resolution and co-editor of Documentary Culture and the Laity in the Early Middle Ages (2013);

Christian de Pee (University of Michigan), author of The Writing of Weddings in Middle-Period China: Text and Ritual Practice in the Eighth through Fourteenth Centuries (2007);

Jessica Goldberg (UCLA), author of Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Geniza Merchants and their Business World (2013).

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Harvard Medieval Material Cultures Lecture and Workshop, March 9 and 11

Margaret Mullett (Director of Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks) will deliver the 2015 Harvard Medieval Material Cultures Lecture. Her talk, Byzantium On the Move: Mobile Empire, Traveling Textiles, will take its cue from some middle Byzantine tent poems and then address two questions: first the implications for Byzantine ceremony and administration of the importance of tents in Byzantium, and then secondly the problem of arriving at a clear view of what Byzantine tents looked like.

The lecture will take place on Monday, March 9 at 5:30 pm in Barker Center 110 (the Thompson Room), 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge. A reception precedes the lecture at 4:30 pm.

Interwoven: Textiles from the Medieval Mediterranean, the 2015 Harvard Medieval Material Cultures Workshop, will explore the production, uses, and meanings of textiles in the Byzantine, Islamic, and Latin Mediterranean basin, drawing upon the rich collections of the Harvard Art Museums. Presenters: Gudrun Bühl, Katherine Eremin, Eurydice Georganteli, Brandie Ratliff, Georgina Rayner, and Elizabeth Williams.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday, March 11 from 10:30 am–1:00 pm. Space for the workshop is limited; to reserve a place, please contact Dana Ciccotello (dana_ciccotello@harvard.edu) at the Harvard Art Museums by Monday, March 9.

The events are co-sponsored by the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, the Harvard Art Museums, the Harvard University Standing Committee on Medieval Studies, and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross.​

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Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Marco Institute for Medieval & Renaissance Studies

Click here for the full posting. 

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW. The Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, invites applications for the 2015-2016 Jimmy and Dee Haslam Postdoctoral Fellowship, a one-year fellowship to be held August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016 and renewable for one year. The Haslam Fellowship is open to untenured scholars in any field of late antique or early medieval studies in the period 300-1100 C.E. The Institute hopes to attract a scholar of outstanding potential with an innovative research plan, who will participate fully in the intellectual life of the Marco community throughout the academic year. During the course of the year, the Fellow will teach one graduate seminar in his or her field of expertise. The seminar will preferably use primary source materials. The Fellow receives a $1,750 travel stipend and is eligible to apply for additional travel and research funding through the Institute.Salary is $40,000 and includes full benefits.

Qualifications
The Haslam Fellowship is open to untenured scholars in any field of late antique or early medieval studies in the period 300-1100 C.E. Online application form,curriculum vitae, detailed research plan (2 single-spaced pages), and two letters of reference must be submitted by April 1, 2015. Please complete the online application after creating a user account which also provides you with opportunity to upload your CV and Research Plan.

Please ask referees to send recommendations under separate cover by email attachment (Word or pdf preferred) to Thomas E. Burman, Riggsby Director, Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, at marco@utk.edu. Recommendations should also be received by April 1, 2015.

Information on the Marco Institute is available at http://marco.utk.edu

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Session Proposals Invited for Sponsored Panel at BSC 2015

As part of its ongoing commitment to Byzantine studies, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 41st Annual Byzantine Studies Conference to be held in New York City, October 22–25, 2015. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.

Session proposals must be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website site (http://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/41st-annual-byzantine-studies-conference/). The deadline for submission is March 20, 2015. Proposals should include:

•Proposed session title
•CV of session organizer
•300-word session summary, which includes a summary of the overall topic, the format for the panel (such as a debate, papers followed by a discussion, or a traditional session of papers), and the reasons for covering the topic as a prearranged, whole session
•Session chair and academic affiliation
•Information about the four papers to be presented in the session. For each paper: name of presenter and academic affiliation, proposed paper title, and 500-word abstract. Please note: Presenters must be members of BSANA in good standing.

Session organizers may present a paper in the session. Session chairs cannot present a paper in the session.

Applicants will be notified by March 25, 2015 if their proposal has been selected. The session organizer is responsible for submitting the session to the BSC by April 1, 2015. Instructions for submitting the panel proposal are included in the BSC Call for Papers (http://www.bsana.net/conference/CFP_2015.pdf).

If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse session participants (presenters and chair, if the proposed chair is selected by the BSC program committee) up to $500 maximum for US residents and up to $1000 maximum for those coming from abroad. Funding is through reimbursement only; advance funding cannot be provided. Eligible expenses include conference registration, transportation, and food and lodging. Receipts are required for reimbursement.

Please contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.​

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