The Medieval Academy Blog

Call for Papers: Beyond the Western Mediterranean: Trade and Exchange of Materials, Techniques and Artistic Production, 650–1500 • 20 April 2013 • Courtauld Institute of Art,

The notion of a shared Mediterranean culture has become a central tenet in the study of medieval art history. Growing out of the Roman mare nostrum, the Mediterranean as a conduit of communication, dissemination, and transmission throughout the Middle Ages is shaping the scope of our discipline. Yet the investigation into the Mediterranean remains unbalanced, and while the northern and eastern edges of the basin are well investigated, historiographical and political considerations have limited the study of the sea’s southern shores, not to mention the exchanges across that other sea – the sea of sand – that lies beyond those territories’ southern borders.

This one-day workshop at the Courtauld Institute of Art Research Forum takes as its topic the broader sphere of influence of the Western Mediterranean. Focusing primarily on inter-connections in the Western Mediterranean basin, from the Maghreb to Italy, from Ifrīqiya to Iberia, we will also investigate how this north-south axis extended well beyond the littoral regions to encompass sub-Saharan kingdoms, the Atlantic Ocean, and even the British Isles. The day’s proceedings are primarily intended to implicate art historians in this discussion about a global middle ages, and we will draw from interdisciplinary discoveries in recent years, especially the wealth of archaeological work accomplished by colleagues around London. The material culture of these regions, including such luxurious materials as ivory, gold, ceramics, pigments and textiles, augments the limited offerings of historical texts in delineating the complex interactions across geographical boundaries. In this way we hope to probe the foundations of a world artistic culture not only through shared materials and techniques, but also through the yearnings and desires such interactions engendered.

We seek papers that address evidence touching on connections between at least two regions, for example the transfer of technologies from one region to another, the trade in raw materials, or the emulation of artistic forms.

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words to sarah.guerin@courtauld.ac.uk or m.rosserowen@vam.ac.uk by 3rd September 2012.

Organised by Sarah Guerin (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Mariam Rosser Owen (Victoria and Albert Museum)
The Courtauld Institute of Art,
Somerset House, Strand,
London WC2R 0RN
tel +44 207 848 2785/2909
web http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/index.shtml

 “Secularization, Mysticism and Religious Hybridities in the Mediterranean”
7–9 February 2013
University of Malta, Valletta Campus

The aim of this International Conference, sponsored by the Mediterranean Institutes of the University of Malta and Busan University, is to bring leading international experts from diverse humanistic and social sciences to discuss both the historical and the contemporary aspects of religion in the Mediterranean. The theme of Secularization, Mysticism and Hybridities will be explored through the continuous interplay and/or influence that exists between Religion and Society in Mediterranean Cultures.

The conference organisers invite academics and other experts who would like to act as panel convenors to submit proposals for panels for consideration by the organizing committee. Panels should be composed of 3–5 contributors with each contribution not exceeding 30 minutes in length. Panel convenors should identify the topic and the contributors and will be responsible for the organization of the panels. Furthermore, the panel convenors will be invited to act as reviewers in the call for contributions from individual academics and researchers who would like to participate in this conference.

The panels will discuss themes ranging from Inter-religious Dialogue and Extremism (Fundamentalism), Pilgrimages and Places of Worship, Secularization versus Religious Hybridities, Mysticism and Popular Religion, Conflict and Gender Identities within Religions.

The panels will be expected to focus on specific aspects since the subjects per se are vast.  More often than not, contemporary dialogue forgets the origins of secularism, which comes from the dichotomy or differences within religion itself; separating the priest (secular) from the religious (monk and/or friar). This form of separation has taken the word secularism to a further extreme, meaning the separation between the lay and the religious. Religious is here understood as meaning both secular and regular clergy as well as all type of believers. By mysticism we understand popular religion, pilgrimages, while hybridities comprise places of worship, gender and conflict.

Those who are interested in acting as panel convenors are invited to fill in the online proposal form by not later than 31 August 2012.

For queries regarding the academic programme contact:
Dr Simon Mercieca
Director Mediterranean Institute 
University of Malta
Msida MSD 2080
MALTA

Tel: (00356) 2340 2097, (00356) 2340 2985
Email: simon.mercieca@um.edu.mt
Conference Website:
www.um.edu.mt/events/smrim2013

Call for Papers: 6th Annual International Conference on Mediterranean Studies, 26-29 March 2013, Athens, Greece

The Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) organizes its 6th Annual International Conference on Mediterranean Studies, 26-29 March 2013, Athens, Greece. The conference website is: www.atiner.gr/mediterranean.htm.

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars, researchers and students from all areas of Mediterranean Studies, such as history, arts, archaeology, philosophy, culture, sociology, politics, international relations, economics, business, sports, etc.

The registration fee is €300 (euro), covering access to all sessions, two lunches, the official dinner of the conference (Greek Night), coffee breaks and conference material. Special arrangements will be made with a local luxury hotel for a limited number of rooms at a special conference rate. In addition, a number of social events will be organized: A Greek night of entertainment with dinner (the official dinner of the conference), an archaeological tour (urban walk) of Athens, a special one-day cruise in the Greek islands, and a one-day visit to Delphi. Details of the social program are available at http://www.atiner.gr/2013/SOC-MDT.htm

Please submit an abstract (email only) to: atiner@atiner.gr, using the abstract submission form available at http://www.atiner.gr/2013/FORM-MDT.doc by the 30 September 2012 to: Dr. Gregory A. Katsas, Academic Member of ATINER and Associate Professor, The American College of Greece-Deree College, Greece. Abstracts should include the following: Title of Paper, Full Name (s), Affiliation, Current Position, an email address, and at least 3 keywords that best describe the subject of your submission. Decisions are reached within 4 weeks.
If you want to participate without presenting a paper, i.e. organize a panel (session, mini conference), chair a session, review papers to be included in the conference proceedings or books, contribute to the editing of a book, or any other contribution, please send an email to Dr. Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER (gtp@atiner.gr).

The Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) was established in 1995 as an independent academic association with the mission to become a forum, where academics and researchers – from all over the world – could meet in Athens and exchange ideas on their research and discuss the future developments of their discipline. Since 1995, ATINER has organized about 200 international conferences and events. It has also published about 150 books. Academically, the Institute consists of four research divisions and twenty research units. Each research unit organizes at least an annual conference and undertakes various small and large research projects. Academics and researchers are more than welcome to become members and contribute to ATINER’s objectives. Members can undertake a number of academic activities.

April 4-6, 2013

Featuring Plenary Speaker

Dr. Richard North,
Professor of Old English Literature, University of London

The conference is slated to be held on our beautiful campus in Huntsville, Texas.

Deadline to propose a Special Session: July 15, 2012
Deadline for abstracts: October 15, 2012
Notification of acceptance: December 15, 2012

You are invited to send your 250-300-word abstract to Dr. Darci Hill, Conference Coordinator, on any topic dealing with Medieval and/or Renaissance thought.  If you would like to propose a special session, you are welcome to do that as well.  We welcome papers, posters, and performances on any aspect of this time period.  Papers dealing with language and linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, history, art, music, and theatre are all equally welcome.

Please send all inquiries and abstracts electronically to:

Dr. Darci Hill,
Eng_dnh@shsu.edu
Conference Coordinator,
Department of English
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas 77340
Phone: 936-294-1473

ICMA Panel @ 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 9-12, 2013 at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Organizers: Anne Harris and Nancy Sevcenko

How did the use of natural materials affect the meaning of medieval works of art? How did the act of representing nature construct the concept of the natural?  What do medieval works of art reveal about the interaction of natural forces and human agents? Ecocriticism explores conceptualizations of nature, both in its material presence and in its abstract representations.  It invites a study of medieval art with a keen interest in the “stuff” of nature used in the fabrication of art (wood, stone, glass, gem, metal, vellum, and ivory) as well as in the “image” of nature produced by visual representations (in the form of landscapes, gardens, animals, stones, trees, flowers, the human body, the cosmos).  Personified as the “Child of God and Mother of things” by Alain of Lille, Nature transmitted a divine agency into the material world. In Christian Materiality, Caroline Walker Bynum argues for devotional objects as “disclosures of the sacred through material substance.”  How can we investigate medieval art objects at their point of intersection with natural matter and human experience?

This panel seeks to reassert and explore the agency of natural matter upon its human “interactors” through both devotional and secular works of art. We invite papers that explore the materiality of works of art as it relates to the natural world, that analyze the representation of nature as it conceptualizes nature, and/or that localize works of art within cultural constructions of the natural.  Beyond being curious about the ability of works of art to “reflect” attitudes to nature, this panel asks how works of art in the European, Byzantine and Islamic Middle Ages shaped conceptions of the natural, made nature present within a devotional or secular context, and evoked the divine agency of nature through its materiality.

Please send paper proposals consisting of a one-page abstract and a complete Participant Information Form (available on the Congress website) by September 15 to either one of the organizers:

Anne Harris: aharris@depauw.edu
Nancy Sevcenko: nsevcenko8@gmail.com