The Medieval Academy Blog

The FIRB research project Beyond the Holy War is inviting scholars to submit papers for a three-session international workshop titled “Christian-Islamic Interactions: Mobility, Connection, Transformation (1450-1800)”, which will take place at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (Italy), on 10-11 February 2014.

The workshop is devoted to the topic of interactions. In particular, our aim is to shed further light on Christian-Islamic relationship in the early modern world, in order to better understand how, in a situation of contained conflict, Christians and Muslims crossed political and religious borders, experiencing social contacts, cultural exchanges, and transformations. We are also concerned with the role of other religious groups (Jews, Hindus, Eastern Christians) as brokers and go-betweens. The workshop encourages a global comparative approach, linking the Mediterranean area, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Proposals from Ph.D. and post-doc students are particularly welcome. The languages of the workshop are English, Italian and Spanish.

We are interested in the following key questions:
1. To what extent did individual experience of interaction affect the group (or community) of belonging?
2. Are there specific social conditions of historical agents, which help scholars to better focus on communication between Christians and Muslims?
3. How can we explore the reciprocal awareness of the meaning of relations across Christian and Islamic worlds?

Beside classical topics such as corsair war and redemption, conversion and mission, cultural dialogue and disputation, we particularly invite contributions related to one or more of the following areas:
a) Mobility: circulation of people (in particular, travellers, diplomats, merchants, slaves), objects and goods whose use was reconfigured (including art objects, books, sacred objects, relics), and ideas (techniques, scientific knowledge, religious beliefs, prophecies, political views); their cultural, religious, economic motivations; their different geographical directions and typologies.
b) Connection: interactions among entangled and simultaneous phenomena across Christian and Islamic worlds, both in cultural sphere (representation, iconography, ideology, travel description, sexuality) and in the legal-institutional one (commercial structures, policies of reception of strangers, fraternities).

The Medieval Studies Course Union of the University of Victoria invites submissions for a student conference: Medieval Secrets and Mysteries, to be held at the University of Victoria on February 28 – March 1, 2014. We invite graduate and undergraduate students to submit proposals about medieval mysteries and secrets of any kind: esotericism, symbology, almanacs, bestiaries, revelations, confidences, adulteries, magic, divination, gossip, intrigues, crimes and murders, cryptology, secret orders and cults, conspiracies, witchcraft, hidden identities, impostors, gender and sexual identities, heretics and atheists, censorship, etc.

Topics for presentations include but are not limited to:

• Religions and Institutions
• The Many Faces of Magic
• Double Lives and Identity
• Courtly Love and Secrecy
• The Discovery of Privacy
• Modern Medieval Mysteries
• Legends about the Middle Ages
• Conspiracy-Busting
• Making the Middle Ages Accessible
• Speaking Medieval

We also invite student performances of medieval crafts, music, and dramatic or martial arts to submit proposals for short performances and shows (up to 30 minutes).

Please submit your abstract of no more than 300 words by November 30, 2013.
Include your name and affiliation. Submissions should be emailed to dirmedi@uvic.ca

Presentations of papers will be 15-20 minutes in length, and performances no more than 30 minutes.

For more information, please contact dirmedi@uvic.ca

31st Annual New England Medieval Studies Consortium Graduate Student Conference
“Islands of the Medieval World: Stories of Isolation and Connectivity”
Saturday, March 15th, 2014

The 31st Annual New England Medieval Studies Consortium Graduate Student Conference is requesting submissions for its annual conference that will take place at Brown University on Saturday, March 15th, 2014. In the spirit of connectivity, the conference encourages dialogue across and between disciplines by bringing together scholars with widely varying interests.

The keynote address, “Island Hopping: Trade, Ethnography, and Religion in the Indian
Ocean World of Late Antiquity” will be presented by Joel Walker, the Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor of History at the University of Washington. His lecture will explore the intertwined ethnographic and mercantile traditions of the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean from the Hellenistic era into the medieval Islamic world.

This year’s conference will engage with issues of isolation and connectivity, both real and
imagined, from Late Antiquity through the late Middle Ages. Contributors are encouraged to interpret this theme broadly. We encourage papers from a variety of disciplines, including:

Anthropology – Archaeology – Art History – Byzantine Studies – Classical Studies –
Comparative Literature – History – History of Science – Islamic Studies – Language Studies – Literary Studies – Musicology – Philosophy – Religious Studies – Syriac Studies – Theology – Urban Studies – Women’s and Gender Studies

Potential topics may include but are not limited to:
* Culture, society, economy, religion and other aspects of life on actual islands in the
Middle Ages (Crete, Cyprus, Sicily, Prince’s Islands, Aegean Islands, Britain, etc.)
* Physical and social isolation: pockets of sub-cultures, minorities
* Religious isolation: holy mountains, asceticism, monastic “islands” and desertum
* Islands of languages, such as particular dialects that emerge and are used only in specific
contexts
* Reaching the isolated: medieval missionaries, travelers’ accounts
* Connectivity: social networks, trade/shipping networks and routes
* Urban islands in feudal seas: town and the countryside
* Legal isolation: laws enforced on various social groups
* Literary depictions and descriptions of isolation
* Archaeological approaches to isolation: GIS-based studies, topographical surveys

Abstracts of no more than 300 words for 15-20 minute papers should be e-mailed to Alexis Jackson at nemsc2014@gmail.com. In addition to the abstract, please include a Curriculum Vitae with full contact information. Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, November 20th, 2013.

Participants will be notified by December 10th.

For more information, please contact Alexis Jackson at nemsc2014@gmail.com.

The 20th Annual ACMRS Conference

February 6–8, 2014

CATASTROPHES and the APOCALYPTIC
in the middle Ages and Renaissance

Call for Papers

ACMRS invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference to be held February 6–8, 2014 in Scottsdale, Arizona. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and especially those that focus on this year’s theme of catastrophes and the apocalyptic.

Conference Publication:
Selected papers related to the conference theme will be considered for publication in the conference volume of Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a series published by Brepols Publishers (Belgium).

Keynote Speaker:

Professor Jaime Lara, Research Professor, ACMRS and the Hispanic Research Center (HRC), Arizona State University (beginning Fall 2013). Professor Lara’s research interests include art, architecture, liturgics, and anthropology. His studies have focused on early Christianity, the Spanish Middle Ages, medieval theater, and the colonial era of Latin America.

Pre-Conference Workshop:
Before the conference, ACMRS will host a workshop on manuscript studies led by Professor Timothy Graham, Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of New Mexico. The workshop will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, February 6, and participation will be limited to the first 25 individuals to register. Email acmrs@acmrs.org with “Pre-Conference Workshop” in the subject line to be added to the list. The cost of the workshop is $30 and is in addition to the regular conference registration fee. Because this popular workshop fills quickly, early registration is recommended.

Deadlines:
The deadline for proposals is 9:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on November 21, 2013. Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a brief CV to ACMRSconference@asu.edu. Proposals must include audio/visual requirements and any other special requests; late requests cannot be accommodated. Visit our web page at www.acmrs.org/conferences/annual-acmrs-conference for further details and updates.

Questions? Call 480-965-5900 or email acmrs@acmrs.org  

Please visit our website: www.acmrs.org/conferences/annual-acmrs-conference

Call for Papers

2014 Graduate Student Conference on Byzantine Studies

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Chair of Byzantine Studies at Hellenic College invite proposals for the 2014 Graduate Student Conference on Byzantine Studies, which will be held at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA on February 27–March 1, 2014. Brookline is located just outside Boston and is easily reached from any metropolitan location.

We welcome graduate student proposals for papers in all subjects, disciplines, and methodologies related to Byzantine studies broadly conceived. We invite proposals in two different categories: 20-minute conference papers and dissertation reports. Dissertation reports of about 5–7 pages will be delivered in a seminar setting; conference participants will have a chance to read the reports ahead of time to encourage dialogue.

Fr. Justin Sinaites, the Librarian of the Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai, will deliver the keynote address, “The Sinai Palimpsest Project: Piercing the Mists of Time.”

Proposals for either type of paper should be emailed to Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture (mjcbac@hchc.edu) by November 15, 2013. Please see submission instructions below. Notifications will be given by December 16, 2013. An accepted paper represents a commitment from the contributor to present his or her paper in person at the conference.

The registration portal for the conference is accessed through the Mary Jaharis Center website (www.maryjahariscenter.org). Registration will open November 5, 2013 and close January 27, 2014. The registration fee for the conference is $25. Partial financial aid for students outside the Boston area who could not otherwise attend is available. Please indicate your request for financial aid on your registration form and the Mary Jaharis Center will contact you directly. Lodging information will be available on the Center’s website beginning November 5.

Submission Instructions

Submissions for either paper format should be emailed by November 15, 2013 to Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture (mjcbac@hchc.edu). Submissions should include two files submitted in .doc and in .pdf formats (for a total of four files).

File 1: A cover sheet with name, address, academic affiliation, email address for correspondence, paper title, paper type (20-minute paper or dissertation report), and any special equipment needed for your presentation.

File 2: An abstract of no more than 500 words that does not include the author’s name or other identification. Please use a Unicode font for non-Roman characters.

Organizing Committee: Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, Hellenic College Holy Cross, and Dr. James C. Skedros, Interim Dean and Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies and Professor of Early Christianity, Hellenic College Holy Cross

Support comes from The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Chair of Byzantine Studies.