Medieval Art Research

CFP: Topics in the History of Nobility, Knighthood, and Heraldica: A Session in Honor of D’Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, University of Notre Dame, Medieval Institute Sponsored Session at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018

Call for Papers: “Topics in the History of Nobility, Knighthood, and Heraldica: A Session in Honor of D’Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton” University of Notre Dame, Medieval Institute Sponsored Session at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018
Deadline: 15 September 2017

As many may be aware, Professor Jonathan Boulton recently retired from teaching at the University of Notre Dame. In celebration of his achievements, and to honor his rich service to the community of students and scholars at the University of Notre Dame, the graduate students in the Medieval Institute are sponsoring a session of papers for next year’s ICMS in grateful recognition of Professor Boulton’s deep contributions to the study of heraldry and medieval knighthood as well as of his legacy and passion as a teacher in these fields.

The theme most appropriate to this occasion is “Topics in the History of Nobility, Knighthood, and Heraldica,” which encompasses both the early and later middle ages and allows for inquiry in a diversity of potential subjects, including the development of martial/courtly ethos, the visual and literary rhetoric of heraldry across multiple media, legal practices governing armigery and display of arms, the political and sociological dimensions of knightly orders, and the atavistic or nostalgic appropriation of heraldric symbols and discources in later centuries.

This broad and inclusive theme is especially fitting, given Professor Boulton’s lifetime dedication as a teacher and a scholar to illuminating the critical role played by evolving concepts of knighthood and nobility in a range of historical developments throughout the middle ages.

We welcome submissions from scholars in all disciplines and fields of inquiry. Please send abstracts for the seession to Christopher Scheirer (cscheire@nd.edu)

CFP: Pictor/Miniator: Working across media, 1250–1500, 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018

Call for Papers: Pictor/Miniator: Working across media, 1250–1500, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies Sponsored Session at the 53^rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018

Deadline: 20 September 2017

The multimedia fluidity of artists and artisans in the later Middle Ages is an area ripe for investigation. Across diverse regions in Europe and beyond, many illuminators, both named and anonymous, engaged in forms of art-making in addition to the decoration of manuscript books. Some painted frescoes, panels, and ephemera, while others provided designs and supervised the production of stained glass, enamels, tapestries, and other objects. With some frequency, those who specialized in other media were in turn called upon to illuminate books. While modern studies have focused on individual examples of such multi-media talent, the broader implications of this intermedial fluency remain obscure: within the wider art-historical canon, manuscript illumination as an art form is largely seen as derivative or prone to influence from large-scale media.

This session seeks to re-examine the relationship between manuscript illumination and other fields of artistic endeavor in the later Middle Ages. How did artists themselves consider the differing characteristics and ontologies of these varied supports? How did painters adapt their style and working method when engaging with other media and other categories of object? Did the presence of local guild regulations curtail or encourage multi-media practice, and how did this compare region-to-region or to contexts outside of Western Europe? Beyond evident differences in scale, pricing, and technique, interesting issues arise regarding patronage and audience: how different was the clientele for manuscripts compared to that for painting, for example? How did the relative accessibility and visibility of differing art forms affect the visual solutions achieved? Is a book-bound image “freer” or more experimental than a publically visible one?

The session asks these and other questions relevant to those studying the social contexts of art production, the dynamics of reception, materiality, and the technical characteristics of objects. It seeks to be open-minded in terms of methodological approach, and aims to bring together scholars working on diverse material, in order to initiate a larger conversation that can impact the discipline of art history as a whole.

Please send proposals with a one-page abstract and a completed Participant Information Form (http://www.wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to Nicholas Herman (hermanni@upenn.edu) by 20 September 2017.

Last conference places: Renaissance College: Corpus Christi College in Context, c.1450-1650

Conference: Renaissance College: Corpus Christi College in Context, c.1450-1650, residential conference at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 6-9 September 2017
Register by 3 September

Corpus Christi College, Oxford was founded on humanistic principles in 1517. Its fellows included specially-appointed lecturers in Latin literature, Greek and Theology and its new trilingual library featured works in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Throughout the long sixteenth century, Corpus was a major centre of learning and religion: it played host to the Spanish humanist, Juan Luis Vives and the German astronomer and mathematician, Nicholas Kratzer; its fellows included the Catholic reformer Reginald Pole and the Protestant thinkers John Jewel and Richard Hooker; it played a prominent part in the production of the King James Bible. In the College’s 500^th anniversary year, we are holding a conference to discuss the wider context and implications of this remarkable foundation, exploring the inter-connected worlds of learning and education, prelacy and public service, charity and communal life, religion, literature and the arts, in Oxford and beyond, during a two hundred-year period of Renaissance and Reformation.

The programme includes papers from Susan Brigden, Clive Burgess, Jeremy Catto, Paul Cavill, Alexandra Gajda, Anthony Grafton, Lucy Kaufman, Nicholas Hardy, Pamela King, Julian Reid, Richard Rex, Miri Rubin, David Rundle, Christopher Stray, Joanna Weinberg, Magnus Williamson, and William Whyte. A round table of Mordechai Feingold, Felicity Heal and Diarmaid MacCulloch, chaired by Keith Thomas, will bring proceedings to a close.

Details are available here: Conference Programme.

Booking is now open: please click here Renaissance College Conference.

If you have any questions about your booking, please feel free to contact kerry.atkinson@ccc.ox.ac.uk. For any queries about the content of the conference, please contact john.watts@ccc.ox.ac.uk.

CFP: ‘Regionalism in Medieval Art and Architecture’ (ICMA Student Committee Session), International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo (10-13 May, 2018), deadline 10 September 2017

Sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) Student Committee
Organized by Mark H. Summers (University of Wisconsin, Madison) and Andrew Sears (University of California, Berkeley/University of Bern)

In 2001, Eva Hoffman introduced the concept of portability, suggesting a style that transcended traditional geographic, cultural, and religious boundaries. Since then, studies of traveling objects, trade networks, and pluralistic communities have created a veritable new field of the “Global Middle Ages,” which has helped us to better understand the interconnected medieval past as well as its role in shaping our sense of place today.

Our panel seeks to consider how local identity was shaped by such global networks. Potential questions include: Are artistic or architectural styles connected to specific places for specific reasons? Were medieval artists conscious about their own regional styles and the social, political, and religious impact they had? How was art positioned to both create communities and delineate boundaries? What about the rise of the “International Gothic” towards the end of the Middle Ages? Our concerns are also temporal, such as how the use of historicizing motifs and spolia helped medieval artists to communicate something about the here and now.

We welcome submissions for 20-minute papers from graduate student ICMA members. To propose a paper, please send a title, abstract of 300 words, CV, and completed Congress Information form to Mark H. Summers (mhsummers@wisc.edu) and Andrew Sears (asears@berkeley.edu) by 10 September 2017.

The Student Committee of the International Center for Medieval Art involves and advocates for all members of the ICMA with student status and facilitates communication and mentorship between student and non-student members.

CFP: Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session, 25th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2–5, 2018

Call for For Session Proposals, Mary Jaharis Center’s sponsored session, 25th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2–5, 2018

Deadline: September 1, 2017

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture seeks proposals for a Mary Jaharis Center sponsored session at the 25th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2–5, 2018. We invite session proposals on any topic relevant to Byzantine studies.

The thematic strand for the 2018 IMC is “Memory.” See the IMC Call for Papers (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2018_call.html) for additional information about the theme and suggested areas of discussion.

Session proposals should be submitted through the Mary Jaharis Center website (https://maryjahariscenter.org/sponsored-sessions/25th-imc). The deadline for submission is September 1, 2017. Proposals should include:

**Title

**100-word session abstract

**Session moderator and academic affiliation

**Information about the three papers to be presented in the session. For each paper: name of presenter and academic affiliation, proposed paper title, and 100-word abstract

**CV

Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September if their proposal has been selected for submission to the International Medieval Congress. The Mary Jaharis Center will submit the session proposal to the International Medieval Congress and will keep the potential organizer informed about the status of the proposal.

If the proposed session is approved, the Mary Jaharis Center will reimburse session participants (presenters and moderator) up to $600 maximum for European residents and up to $1200 maximum for those coming from outside Europe. 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.

The session organizer may act as the moderator or present a paper. Participants may only present papers in one session.

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

CFP: Medieval Monks, Nuns and Monastic Life (15-20 July 2018, Bristol), deadline 30 September 2017

Call for Papers: Medieval Monks, Nuns and Monastic Life, 21st Biennial Symposium of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society (IMSSS), 15-20 July 2018, Bristol

Organizer: Professor Carolyn Muessig, Head of the University of Bristol’s Department of Religion and Theology and Co-Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies

Keynote Speakers include Claudia Rapp (Austria) and Brian Patrick Mcguire (Denmark)

The 2018 IMSSS symposium will explore the breadth and depth of sermon literature and preaching activity relating to monks, nuns, and monastic life, and serve as a microcosm of the religious and cultural landscape of the Middle Ages.

The symposium will be based in the beautiful grounds of the University of Bristol’s Wills Hall, and will include a workshop at historic Downside Abbey, with its medieval manuscripts, incunables, and Centre for Monastic Heritage.

We will also visit Wells Cathedral, as well as the medieval sites of Bristol.

Celebrate 2018—the first-ever European Year of Cultural Heritage—by delivering a paper or presenting a poster dealing with an aspect of one of the bedrocks of European culture: monasticism

Topics for posters and papers may include:

the form or content that could distinguish a monastic sermon from others
monks, nuns, and monasticism in Byzantine or other forms of medieval Eastern and African Christianity
the Rule of Benedict and preaching
preaching in monastic churches and chapter houses
monastic figures preaching in public forums (churches, crusades)
monastic preaching in or regarding schools and universities
preaching by and about nuns
de sanctis sermons on holy monks and nuns
monasticism as treated in sermons
sermons and the reformed monastic life (e.g., Camaldolese, Carthusian, Celestinian, Cistercian, Cluniac,et alii)
preaching by and about hermits
monastic rules in and about preaching
monastic communities in conflict or in harmony
monastic rejection/appropriation of mendicant sermons/preaching/identity
monks as characters in sermons, exempla and religious literature
gender in monastic preaching
monks/nuns in ad status sermon literature
monastic preaching in art
monks, nuns, and monasticism in pre-modern sermons of religious traditions other than Christianity (e.g., Islam, Buddhism, Taoism)
the influence of Christian monks, nuns, & monastic sermons on preaching in other religions

How to apply: send your abstracts for papers and posters (150 words) before 30 September 2017 (and any queries) to: imsss-2018@bristol.ac.uk

CFP: Byzantine Heritage in the History and Spiritual Culture of Ukraine, 19 – 22 October 2017, Monastery of St Theodore Studites, Rome, Italy

Call for Papers: Byzantine Heritage in the History and Spiritual

Culture of Ukraine, October 19 – 22, 2017, Monastery of St Theodore Studites,

Rome, Italy.

Deadline: 25th August 2017.

The International Conference Byzantine heritage in the history and spiritual culture of

Ukraine aims to become a platform for the sharing of knowledge. The conference will

involve the systematic discussion and promotion of the following themes:

Byzantine spiritual heritage in the history of Ukraine-Rus’ and Eastern churches of the Kievan tradition
the role and influence of the Byzantine Empire in the formation of Ukrainian national identity
spiritual culture
publishing and literature
art
theological and philosophical thought
religious traditions

and more.

CFP: Medievalism and the Rediscovery of Medieval Art (International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018)

mermaid Call for papers: Medievalism and the Rediscovery of Medieval Art (International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 10-13, 2018)

Deadline: September 15

Required: 300-word abstract and CV

From archaeology to the archive, medieval studies can be traced through various discoveries – from the physical uncovering of artifacts and collections that shift the canon, to periods of concentrated, sometimes unprecedented, attention received by an artist, medium, region or particular artifact. Parallel to these physical and theoretical discoveries, the reuse and display of medieval styles, motifs and objects has brought scholarly discovery into contemporary discourse, and the reception of medieval objects into areas beyond academia. Each generation has their own vision of the Middle Ages, from Horace Walpole to William Morris, from J.R.R. Tolkien to George R.R. Martin. Through the imitation and inspiration of the past, figures interested in medieval art have added their own preoccupations into how the period is understood, from the sixteenth century up to the present day. The same is true of scholars and collectors, who have promoted particular geographical or political agendas in their study and favouring of particular schools, regions, countries, and empires.

At a time when facts seem flexible and the consensus seems fragmented, a considerationof the agendas behind the presentation of medieval studies seems timely. We are interested in the phenomenon of discovery as event, narrative, academic and artistic moment, in how discoveries alter how we understand history and shift disciplines. Discoveries often teach us as much about the society doing the discovering as the objects being discovered, in both the field of medieval studies and the broader picture of medieval art reception. As such, it seems appropriate to consider academic discovery and popular discovery side by side. How might one affect the other? What parallels can be drawn between different kinds of discoveries?

This session seeks papers about how such discoveries can be and are engendered, and how contemporary concerns affect the presentation or process of scholarly and popular discovery. Possible topics might include the re-use of medieval or medievalising motifs in subsequent centuries and contemporary culture, medievalising restorations, particular medieval collectors or collections, the appropriation of medieval aesthetics, old objects in new settings, case studies of particular discoveries or rediscoveries, the changing display of medieval artifacts, and how political and geographical agendas affect the reception of medieval art.

Please send 300-word abstracts, together with a CV, to thalia.allington-wood@ucl.ac.uk and imogen.tedbury@courtauld.ac.uk by September 15.

Call for Applications: French Summer School Of Byzantine Studies, 30 August-5 September 2017, Bucharest – DEADLINE TODAY

Call for Applications: FRENCH SUMMER SCHOOL OF BYZANTINE STUDIES. STUDYING THE BYZANTINE WORLD. METHODOLOGIES AND INTERPRETATIONS, 30 August-5 September 2017, Bucharest

Deadline: 9 August

The Faculty of History of the University of Bucharest, the Centre Régional Francophone de Recherches Avancées en Sciences Humaines et Sociales de Bucarest (CEREFREA–Villa Noël), and the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, with the financial support of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and the scientific coordination of Professor Paolo Odorico (CéSor, EHESS, Paris), have organized a summer school of Byzantine studies on the topic STUDYING THE BYZANTINE WORLD. METHODOLOGIES AND INTERPRETATIONS to be held in Bucharest, from the 30th of August to the 5th of September 2017.

Those eligible: students enrolled in a master’s program, doctoral students,

postdocs and students enrolling in master’s or doctoral programs in 2017. The students must understand the two languages of the summer school (French / English). At the end of the course, certificates of participation will be issued to students, equivalent to 12 ECTS. To enable students to participate in the courses, the organizers launch a call for applications, providing:

•Free participation in the course and dinners (for maximum 30 students)

•Free accommodation in the CEREFREA–Villa Noël (for maximum 8

students)

•AUF offered a grant covering the travel expenses and accommodation for some foreign PhD students established in the countries of Central and Oriental Europe.

The selection of the students who benefit of these supports will be made on scientific and academic criteria.

How to apply:

• Covering letter

•Curriculum studiorum indicating clearly studies already completed, research activity and field of research

• Other documents the candidate considers useful in support of his application.

Email to be sent by applicants to byzantinologie@yahoo.com in the subject line: bourse d’études–Université d’été–Bucarest or Fellowship for Summer University in Bucharest.

The selected candidates will receive a notification on the 14th of August.

CFP: ‘Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance,’ 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Call for Papers: ‘Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance,’ 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Deadline: 15 September 2017

The Interdisciplinary Graduate Medieval Colloquium at the University of Virginia invites graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars to submit papers for a session entitled “Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance” at the 53nd International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 10-13, 2018) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Abstracts of up to 250 words for a 15-20-minute paper should be submitted on or before September 15, 2017 via Google Forms (visit http://bit.ly/liturgyform). All entries will undergo blinded peer review. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions via email by Friday, September 22.

Medieval Liturgy: Text and Performance

This panel turns on a rather simple (or simplistic) question: is liturgy a text or a performance? The howls of dissent rise up – Who would ask such a thing? The answer is both, of course! In response, this panel invites graduate students, affiliated faculty, and independent scholars to respond to the dichotomy of text/performance even as they replace it with their own set of questions to guide the future study of liturgy as text, music, and/or drama. Among other concerns, how are the textual and bodily experiences of liturgy coeval, or even co-constitutive, in the Middle Ages? In what ways do liturgical texts both organize and find their roots in ritual reenactments that involve procession, genuflection, and acts of proskynesis? What episodes and anecdotes from the Middle Ages reveal how liturgical text is entangled with the environment in which it is read, sung, translated, or performed?

The panel aims to create a conversation that goes beyond the traditional practice of liturgical exegesis to a more active, embodied study of the liturgy in Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish traditions. Since unpacking the meaning of a somatic study of liturgy is the prime goal of the session, participants may use movement, travel, and the kineticism of objects as organizing principles for their work or ask how scholars actually perform or participate in the liturgies they study. Interesting avenues include discussions of the materiality of liturgy, from enduring forms to ephemera, via a close look at manuscripts, printed books, sacred instruments, vestments, relics, urban layouts, decorations for processions, and the architecture of churches, chapels, and tombs. We particularly invite work that pushes the boundary of what is currently considered the purview of “liturgy and ritual studies,” explores some aspect of space and sound, and pertains to the smell, touch, and taste of the liturgy in North Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Russia, and the Byzantine world.

Session co-chairs:
Justin Greenlee (jgg3mb@virginia.edu) and DeVan Ard (dda8xx@virginia.edu)