Medieval Art Research

Call for Papers: Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages

Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages, 5-7 June 2014

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages 2014, an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the University of St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies (SAIMS). Entering into its sixth year, this conference welcomes participation from postgraduate, postdoctoral and early career researchers interested in one or both of our focal themes of gender studies or more general ideas of transgression in the mediaeval period.

This year’s conference will have a keynote lecture by Dr Dion Smythe of the Queen’s University Belfast as well as an optional workshop focused on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Mediaeval Transgression.

We invite proposals for papers of approximately 20 minutes that engage with the themes of gender and/or transgression from various disciplinary standpoints, such as historical, linguistic, literary, archaeological, art historical, or others. Possible topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

– Legal studies: men, women and the law, court cases, law-breaking, marriage

– Byzantine studies

– Masculinity and/or femininity in the Middle Ages: ideas of gender norms and their application within current historiography

– Ambiguous genders: eunuchs, transvestites, transgender

– Homosexuality and sexual deviancy

– Orthodoxy and Heresy: transgressing orthodox thought, portrayals of religious ‘outsiders’, monasticism, lay religion, mysticism

– Social outcasts

There will be three set strands of Medieval Law and Literature, Transgression in Byzantium, and Masculinity in the Middle Ages. In addition to these, there will be several other sessions within the broader conference theme.

Those wishing to participate should please submit an abstract of approximately 250 words to genderandtransgression@st-andrews.ac.uk by 10 February 2014. Please attach your abstract to your email as a Microsoft Word or PDF file and include you name, home institution and stage of your postgraduate or postdoctoral career. Registration for the conference will be £15, which will cover tea, coffee and lunch on two days and two wine receptions. All delegates are also warmly invited to the conference meal on Friday 6 June. Further details can be found on the website.

Conference: Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean

Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean
Saturday 12th – Sunday 13th April 2014, Naxos Chora

Background
The Norwegian Institute at Athens has carried out field work on Naxos at the 7th century Byzantine urban fortress of Kastro Apalirou in collaboration with The 2nd Ephoria of Byzantine Antiquities since 2010. The project has recently been widened to include the Universities of Edinburgh and Newcastle. A conference is being arranged to bring together scholars who have worked on Naxos and other Byzantine sites in the Aegean

Focus
The conference focus will be Byzantine research on Naxos, though some aspects of Late Antique settlement will be included. Research from other insular sites with relevance to Naxos will also be presented. The following research areas will be covered: Archaeology, History, Landscape History, Ecclesiastical History, and Iconographic and Architectural development.

Location
The meeting will be held at the Ursuline School, Chora, Naxos Island, on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th April with an optional excursion on the 14th. A preliminary programme will be published shortly.

Language
English

Participation
The following speakers have agreed to speak and will present papers on their work:
Vasso Penna, University of the Peloponnese
Ben Slot, University of Leiden
Haralambos Pennas, Athens
Thanassis Vionis, University of Cyprus
Natalia Poula- Papadimitriou, University of Thessaloniki
Vassilis Lambrinoudakis, University of Athens
Maria Xenaki, French School at Athens
Stavros Baltogiannis, Athens
Agathoniki Tsilipakou, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki
Georgios Mastoropoulos, Athens and Naxos
Georgios Deligiannakis, Open University, Cyprus
Klimis Aslanidis, University of Patras
Ian Begg, Trent University
David Hill, University of Oslo
Knut Ødegård University of Oslo
Håkon Ingvaldsen, University of Oslo
James Crow, University of Edinburgh
Sam Turner University of Newcastle

We welcome other potential speakers who have relevant work to contact the organizers with an abstract of their proposed communication.

Contact
For academic program: jim.crow@ed.ac.uk
For organizational matters: david.hill@khm.uio.no
For matters concerning arrangements on Naxos: sophiakaravias@yahoo.co.uk

Call for Proposals: Innovation and its Contestants

INNOVATION AND ITS CONTESTANTS

5th Annual Emerging Scholars Conference
McGill University Department of Art History and Communications Studies
18 April 2014

Keynote Speaker: Keith Moxey, Barbara Novak Professor of Art History
and Department Chair at Barnard College (Columbia University)

Deadline for Submissions: 24 January 2014

The concept of innovation buttresses a paradigmatically modern Western
belief in the possibility of infinite economic growth and technological
progress. It is in fact a buzzword with remarkable contemporary
currency, one that is instrumentalized as a constant search for new
technologies, means of production, market adaptations, scientific
discoveries and social changes. As a fundamental tenet in Western
systems of thought, it is also – and has long been – inscribed within
the West’s very view of itself as more successful and more
‘progressive’ than other societies. Note, for example, G.W.F. Hegel’s
famous juxtaposition of Europe’s ever- changing art against the
allegedly stagnant visual culture of India: the first modality
accounted for the privileged position of the West as the locus of the
emanation of universal Geist; while the latter stipulated an
essentially ‘un-progressive’ timelessness in India.

The Western valuation and definition of innovation has thereby been
mobilized as a justification for diverse colonial, post-colonial and
now neoliberal enterprises. It operates as a smoke screen to preserve
dominant power regimes both within the West and globally, concealing
simultaneously the biased valuation of cultural production, and the
unequal distribution of technological and scientific headway among
diverse social strata. This is the case even as the current global
financial crisis challenges the West’s ability to regenerate
perpetually. In fact, the stakes involved in the Western impetus to
innovate seem to intensify even as recent projections of economic
acceleration in several non-Western countries rouse fears that the West
is losing ground as innovation’s main stimulant.

The innovation paradigm is moreover implicit within the bulk of
humanistic academic production. As a case in point, the Greenbergian
approach to art history, which dominated much of the twentieth century,
revolves indisputably around a teleology of formal innovation.
Meanwhile, within a number of current academic discussions – for
instance those concerning experimentation and invention in the history
of science (Galison); global art history (Elkins); visual culture
studies (Moxey); history of ideas (Godin); the philosophy of
mondialisation (Nancy); media archaeology (Parikka); technological
obsolescence (Kittler); and the aesthetics of failure (Halberstam) –
innovation is tacitly treated with caution, if not skepticism.

Given this tangle of collusions and complexities, how are we to
approach and define innovation in academic discourse? Is the paradigm
purely a means of disarming social pressure for an all-inclusive
equalized prosperity; or might it be recuperated to provide a stimulus
for sustainable growth? Can we understand innovation in a broader
global spectrum without falling into the trap of cultural essentialism;
or does this concept perpetuate Western-centric views and mores? Can
the concept of innovation be used for the analysis of historical
periods; or does it figure too easily in teleological narratives?

With these questions in mind, we are opening an enquiry into the
concept of innovation. We invite paper proposals addressing a broad
range of academic disciplines and historical periods. Papers might
address, but are by no means restricted to, the following questions:
• Socio-economic implications of innovation. How do societies and
specific agents adapt to new conditions once their old ways of life
have been destroyed?
• The politics of innovation. Does innovation bring betterment or
deprivation?
• What are the criteria of innovation?
• Challenging the Western canon of art built on the notions of style,
progress, and originality
• Technological progress
• Patents
• Is Western-centrism pervasive in the concept of innovation?
• How does innovation affect personal identities (video games,
Facebook, etc.)?
• How is innovation different from change?
• The contestations of innovation; the discursive counterpoints to
innovation
• Centre vs. periphery; milieus of innovation
• Instances of anachronism masked as innovation in culture from the
Middle Ages to the present day. Recurring regimes: the old in the new,
the new in the old
• Does materiality matter in innovation?
• Temporality and innovation
• Commodity culture and innovation

We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations. Please send your
submission in the form of a 300-word abstract and a brief CV to
ahcsconference@gmail.com. All candidates will be contacted by the first
week of February.

For more information, please visit the website.

Call for papers: Miracles and Wonders in Antiquity and Byzantium

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: Miracles and Wonders in Antiquity and Byzantium University of Cyprus, 16-18 October 2014

Tales of miracle and wonder decorate both ancient and Byzantine literature and seem
to have had a great impact upon ancient and Byzantine thought. A strong interest in
the wondrous is already apparent in the works of Homer and Hesiod. However, a
more organized recording of marvels is detected much later, in Herodotus’s time,
when marvelous stories and travel accounts of exotic places and peoples are
increasingly produced. From the era of Alexander and onwards such stories are
recruited by historians and rhetors in an attempt to apotheose the ideal ruler. Between
the third century BC and the third century AD, the genre of paradoxography,
collections of stories relating strange events and phenomena, achieves great
popularity, and influences another new genre, the Hellenistic novel. At about the same
time, a number of stories circulate that relate the miraculous healings of suffering
people who practice incubation in Asclepian temples. Later the practice of incubation
is taken over by Christian pilgrims who are cured by saints. Miraculous healings and
other types of miracles that are associated with a particular Christian shrine become
the material of a new genre, the miracle collection which is cultivated throughout the
Byzantine era. Miracle stories are included in all Byzantine hagiographical genres,
since they constitute the strongest sign of holiness. Miracles and wonders are also
found in profane Byzantine genres, such as chronicles and romances. Despite the fact
that marvel literature enjoyed such a high popularity in antiquity and Byzantium, it
has been mostly dismissed by modern scholars as debased, boring and even
unintelligible, an attitude that has condemned this literature to obscurity.

The conference’s main aims are to bring to light miracle and wonder literature and to
open up new avenues of approach. Topics of exploration may include:
• Literary Theoretical Approaches
• Cultural Studies
• Psychological Approaches
• Comparative Literary Studies
• Linguistics

Specialists are invited to submit a thirty-minute paper in English on a relevant topic.
Due to budgetary constraints, the organizers cannot cover the speakers’ travel and
hotel costs. There is no registration fee for participation or attendance. Prospective
speakers are asked to submit by 30 April 2014 a title and a 400-word abstract to
Stavroula Constantinou (konstans@ucy.ac.cy) and Maria Gerolemou
(mariagerolemou@live.de).

Call for Papers: Military History of the Mediterranean

Fati̇h Üni̇versi̇tesi̇ – Tari̇h Bölümü will present the International Conference on the Military History of the Mediterranean Sea, to be held 26-28 June 2015 at Buyukcekmece, Istanbul.

With an uninterrupted history of nearly 1,500 years, Istanbul has been the centre of the world and the capital of two great Empires. The confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, and the Golden Horn, at the heart of present-day Istanbul, along with its striking Theodosian walls have deterred attacking forces for thousands of years and still remain a prominent feature of the city’s landscape.
Fatih University and the staff of the Department of History are delighted to invite session and paper proposals for its first international conference on military history to be held June 26-28, 2015. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of the military history of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, from the fall of Rome to the nineteenth century.

We especially encourage papers that focus on the conference’s theme of military elites. Points of discussion could potentially, but not exclusively, include:
▪   Military elites and change of power
▪   Economic power and the social status of military elites
▪   Social and cultural interactions – hated, despised or admired?
▪   Recruitment policies
▪   Military tactics and technological innovations

Fee:
The conference fee of 50 Euros will include transportation to the University campus and complimentary lunch, coffee etc.

Deadlines:
The deadline for proposals is 1pm (Istanbul time, +2GMT) on May 30, 2014; late requests cannot be accommodated. Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and a brief CV to the conference organiser: Dr. Georgios Theotokis (georgios.theotokis@fatih.edu.tr). For further information visit the web page.

Conference: Romanesque Art: Patrons and Processes, British Archaeological Association Conference, Barcelona (7-9 April 2014)

7-9 April 2014, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

Following earlier conferences on Romanesque and the Past (London, 2010), and Romanesque and the Mediterranean (Palermo, 2012), the British Archaeological Association is collaborating with the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and the Research project Magistri Cataloniae to stage the third in a biennial series of international conferences concerned with Romanesque art and architecture. This conference, Romanesque: Patrons and Processes, is concerned with patronage – and agency – in their broadest senses during the Romanesque period. Thus, in addition to more traditional prosopographical approaches, and examinations of individual patrons, there will be papers on various forms of institutional patronage. The conference will also address the processes involved in commissioning buildings or works of art – the mechanics of design – authorship – intermediaries and agents – and the extent to which patrons are designers. Are there limits to patronal influence?

Speakers include: Claude Andrault-Schmitt (Centre d’Etudes supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale CNRS/Université de Poitiers), Maria Bonet (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona), Eduardo Carrero (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Manuel Castiñeiras (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – Magistri Cataloniae), Hugh Doherty (Jesus College, Oxford), Eric Fernie (Courtauld Institute of Art), Alexandra Gajewski and Stephanie Seeberg

The conference will open at 9:30 on Monday, 7 April with lectures at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Parc de Montjuïc, 08038 Barcelona). Teas, coffees and lunch will be provided on all three days, in addition to dinners on two evenings and a drinks reception on the third. The conference will also include a late afternoon visit to the Romanesque collections at Museu Nacional, and a visit to the complex of early medieval and Romanesque churches at Terrassa. More information will be provided on the website.

Forthcoming Exhibition: Sacred Song: Chanting the Bible in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Sacred Song: Chanting the Bible in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

January 24 to February 21, 2014, Les Enluminures, New York

Beginning January 24, Sacred Song: Chant in the Middle Ages and Renaissance on view at Les Enluminures Gallery NY explores the history and mystery of Gregorian chant. The exhibition features over 30 extraordinary examples of these early music manuscripts and their many varied forms, including a monumental set of complete Antiphonals from Germany c. 1570 (no other known surviving codices exist that document this practice), and a one-of a kind Gradual, Italy, Lombardy c 1430. by one of the leading masters of the fabled Olivetan Benedictine order known as the Olivetan Master.

Representing the earliest substantial body of music preserved in written form, Gregorian chant has continued as a living tradition throughout the medieval age and well into the modern era. Featured in the liturgical services of the Roman Catholic Church, this sacred chant owes its origin to the legend of a dove – or the Holy Spirit – singing directly into the ear of Pope Gregory the Great (Reigned from 590-604 AD). Reflecting the inseparability between music and liturgy throughout the Middle Ages, the chant consists of a vocal, monophonic music composed in Latin using sacred texts from the Old and New Testaments. Often referred to as a “sung Bible,” it did not appear in written form until the ninth century.

Divided into three thematic groups, ‘Sacred Song’ begins with “In the Church: in the Choir,” featuring monumental manuscripts that were used to present the music for the Mass and the Divine Office. Choirs sang from these large books (mostly Graduals and Antiphonals), the colorful initials of which signaled the beginnings of each feast. Both monks and nuns, not only chanted within the walls of the medieval church, but outside on foot as well. Thus, “Outside the Church: in the Cloister, in the Cemetery, and in the City and Countryside” features portable music manuscripts called Processionals; some illuminated and often personalized that were used during outdoor liturgical processions. A final group of manuscripts: “Apart from the Church: in the Classroom, in the Chapter House, and in the Congregation” presents those forms of chant that were often preserved in non- liturgical contexts.

Call for Articles: Muslims and Islam in the Early Modern Italian and Mediterranean Worlds

I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance is pleased to announce a call for articles that explore the presence of “Muslims and Islam in the Early Modern Italian and Mediterranean Worlds.” Articles should address the transmission and circulation of ideas, objects, and people during the Renaissance, into and beyond the Italian peninsula. We are especially interested in essays that challenge current disciplinary boundaries while providing new interpretations of and evidence for cross-cultural interactions between Muslims and other religious and ethnic groups. Essays should be between 7000-9000 words, including footnotes.

The deadline for submission is January 31, 2014; selected essays will appear in the May 2015 issue of I Tatti Studies. For author information and for online submission, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/its.html. For other inquiries, please email Prof. Jane Tylus at jane.tylus@nyu.edu

A Truthful Record: The Byzantine Institute Films

The Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives (ICFA) at Dumbarton Oaks presents a new online exhibit entitled A Truthful Record: The Byzantine Institute Films. This exhibit aims to reveal the context of the films created by the Byzantine Institute between the 1930s and 1940s by combining them with archival records from the collection The Byzantine Institute and Dumbarton Oaks Fieldwork Records and Papers.

A Truthful Record features thirteen motion picture films from the Byzantine Institute, which are stored and preserved at ICFA: one of the Red Sea Monasteries in Egypt, eleven of the Hagia Sophia, and one of the Kariye Camii, both in Istanbul, Turkey. The color films created by the Byzantine Institute’s photographer Pierre Iskender provide significant testimony of the mosaics at Hagia Sophia and Kariye Camii and the techniques employed to uncover and conserve them. When combined with notebook entries written by Byzantine Institute fieldworkers such as Ernest Hawkins and the brothers Richard and William Gregory, the history of the films’ creation truly comes alive. Thomas Whittemore, who founded the Byzantine Institute in 1930, made wide use of the moving images, screening them for donors and patrons (such as Robert Woods and Mildred Bliss), the Byzantine scholarly community, and an interested general audience in the United States and Europe. The exhibit is divided into three sections that investigate how the films were made and how they were received by contemporary audiences: Style and Content,Technique, and Purpose and Reception. You can also explore the archival materials chronologically using a detailed Timeline.

Call for Papers: The Face of Battle in Medieval History and Literature

In recent years there has been a revolution in the study of medieval warfare. Traditional paradigms that emphasised pitched battles and the charge of heavily armed mounted knights have given way to a focus upon sieges and raids, as well as a more nuanced understanding of medieval generalship and of the place of war within medieval society. Yet much remains to be discovered about the place of battles in medieval warfare, and about their representation in contemporary historical and literary texts.

The Face of Battle in Medieval History and Literature will be a one-day conference held by Swansea University’s Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research (MEMO) on Friday 20 June 2014 to discuss the significance of the medieval battle. The year 2014 includes significant anniversaries for two epoch-making medieval encounters: the 800th anniversary of the French royal victory over Imperial, Flemish and English forces at Bouvines (27 July 1214), and the 700th anniversary of the Scottish victory over the English at Bannockburn (24 June 1314). Plenary papers will be given by Professor Matthew Strickland (Glasgow) concerning Bouvines and Dr Michael Brown (St Andrews) concerning Bannockburn. The Symposium will be held in honour of Professor John France, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Swansea University, to celebrate his many contributions to the history of warfare.

Proposals for papers should be submitted to the Director of MEMO, Professor Daniel Power (d.j.power@swansea.ac.uk) by Friday 31 January 2014. MEMO is an interdisciplinary research centre, and the organisers welcome contributors who take literary or archaeological as well as historical approaches to the study of medieval warfare.