The Marco Institute’s 17th annual (virtual) symposium will explore apocalyptic themes. During the course of three days, eleven leading scholars will discuss medieval and Renaissance responses to the Book of Revelation written by John of Patmos and the end-times he predicted. During the virtual sessions, scholars working in the disciplines of art history, history, literary studies, and religious studies will present their current research on the celestial visions and the millennial fears of pre-modern times.
The “Visions of the End” Symposium is hosted by the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Additional support comes from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the UT Office of Research SARIF Scholarly Projects Fund.
Registration Information:
The Symposium is free and open to the public. The 2021 Symposium will be hosted online and will require advance registration. To register click here.
Please email our Program Coordinator, Dr. Katie Hodges-Kluck, at marco@utk.edu, with questions.
Conference Programme
Day 1: Friday, 5 March 2021
12:30-12:35 EST | 17:30-17:35 GMT – Welcome
Jay Rubenstein, University of Southern California and Gregor Kalas, University of Tennessee
12:35-2:15 EST | 17:35-19:15 GMT – Prophecy & Pilgrimage
Moderator: Tina Shepardson, University of Tennessee
Stephen Shoemaker (University of Oregon) Constantine and the Birth of Medieval Apocalypticism: Imperial Eschatology in Eusebius, Lactantius, Ephrem, Aphrahat, and the Tiburtine Sybil
Kathryn Beebe (University of North Texas) Gender of the Apocalypse in the Late-Medieval Pilgrimage Works of Felix Fabri
2:15-2:30 EST | 19:15-19:30 GMT – Break
2:30-4:00 EST | 19:30-21:00 GMT – Images of the Beginning & The End
Moderator: Katie Hodges-Kluck, University of Tennessee
Jennifer Feltman (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa) Ecclesiology and Typology in the Apocalypse Sculptures of Reims Cathedral
Roger Wieck (Morgan Library and Museum) Visions of the Beginning: The Parliament of Heaven
Day 2: Saturday, 6 March 2021
11:00-12:30 EST | 16:00-17:30 GMT – Navigating the Apocalypse
Moderator: Jay Rubenstein, University of Southern California
Benjamin Saltzman (University of Chicago) Enigmas Near the End
Jennifer Jahner (California Institute of Technology) Apocalypse Unfurled: End-Times Management from Codex to Roll
12:30-12:45 | 17:30-17:45 – Reenvisioning The End
Moderator: Gregor Kalas, University of Tennessee
Jason Stubblefield (University of Tennessee) Visions of the End: From Museum to Virtual Exhibition
12:45-1:45 EST | 17:45-18:45 GMT – Lunch Dinner
1:45-3:30 EST | 18:45-20:30 GMT – Visions of the End in Augsburg
Moderator: Gina Di Salvo, University of Tennessee
Laura Ackerman Smoller (University of Rochester) Reading the End in Late Medieval Augsburg: Wolfgang Aytinger’s Commentary on the Revelations of Pseudo-Methodius
Robert Bast (University of Tennessee) Prophecy as Policy: Maximilian I as Last World Emperor in Theory and Practice
3:30-4:00 EST | 20:30-21:00 GMT – Break
4:00-5:15 EST | 21:00-22:15 GMT – Keynote Lecture
Welcome: Theresa Lee, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, University of Tennessee
Introduction: Tom Heffernan, University of Tennessee
Richard Emmerson (Florida State University) The Apocalypse of the Duc de Berry and the Apocalyptic Great Schism
Day 3: Sunday, 7 March 2021
11:00-12:30 EST | 16:00-17:30 GMT – Cosmos & Communication
Moderator: Anne-Hélène Miller, University of Tennessee
Brett Whalen (University of North Carolina) The End Times and the Medieval Cosmos
Mayte Green-Mercado (Rutgers University, Newark) Prophecy as Diplomacy in the Fifteenth-Century Mediterranean
12:30-12:45 EST | 17:30-17:45 GMT – Break
12:45-1:30 EST | 17:45-18:30 GMT Conclusions & Reflections
Jay Rubenstein – University of Southern California
About the annual Marco Symposium
The Marco Symposium is held every year in March or April. The Symposium brings leading experts in their field to the University of Tennessee for two days of talks on that year’s theme. A round-table discussion by all the participants concludes the weekend.
The Symposium is Marco’s signature event of the year, and typically attracts members of the larger Knoxville community in addition to students and faculty at UT and scholars from across the region. The theme of the Symposium changes each year. Faculty who are interested in submitting a proposal should contact marco@utk.edu
Medieval Art Research 