Encounters and Reimaginings: Medieval Scandinavia and the World – Call For Papers

Encounters and Reimaginings: Medieval Scandinavia and the World
2017 Berkeley Graduate Student Symposium
University of California, Berkeley
March 3-4, 2017

ScandGrads, the graduate organization affiliated with Department of Scandinavian at the University of California, Berkeley, is proud to announce the interdisciplinary Graduate Student Symposium in Berkeley, California to be held March 3-4, 2017.

From the shores of Vínland to the halls of Byzantium, the Norse traveled widely and encountered many cultures—which in turn influenced Norse society at home. Traces of these journeys can be found in the archaeological record, saga narratives, and modern interpretations thereof. Moreover, continental ideas and literary forms—from romances to saints’ lives—informed Scandinavian intellectual and everyday life. The organizing committee welcomes papers exploring encounters and reimaginings across the Old Norse world, as well as echoes and influences of medieval Scandinavia in modern contexts.

We are happy to announce our two plenary speakers for the conference:

  • Professor Marianne Kalinke (Emerita, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
  • Professor Jonas Wellendorf (University of California, Berkeley)

Both Professor Kalinke and Professor Wellendorf have written extensively on cultural and literary interactions between the Old Norse-Icelandic sphere and continental medieval Europe. We are very excited to welcome both of them in March!

Any student or early career researcher is welcome to submit a proposal related to the conference theme in areas of study including but not limited to: literary studies, material culture, migration, law, politics, religious studies, reception studies, linguistics, and textual studies.

All interested applicants are encouraged to submit an abstract of 200 words to the organizing committee at scandgrads@gmail.com by August 31, 2016.