Conference October 1-2, 2021!

The conference committee invites papers on the theme of Eruption/Disruption/Interruption. As we continue to process the impact of COVID-19 on global and local societies, the jury is still out on whether the eruption of a global pandemic, and the subsequent disruptions and interruptions to contemporary routines, are a ‘game-changer’ or an inconvenience.

At the heart of our theme is the concept of a rupture. This can refer to something that has broken, burst, or been destroyed. It can imply that either outside forces are too great for the structure in question and have destroyed it functionally, or that something within that which has ruptured was too volatile or incompatible to remain contained, controlled, or unified. Over the past 18 months, we have been witness to both of these types of rupture, as outside forces have challenged the very foundations of our society, while at the same time, internal tensions have broken forth and resulted in historic movements for democracy, equality, environmental awareness, and corporate accountability and transparency.

Global society is at a turning point of multiple ruptured points, and the 2021 AEMA conference aims to reflect on this tension in an early medieval context.

· Eruptions can be understood in many different ways, as they can describe both natural phenomena and human activity, including the sudden appearance of new movements, of groups of people, or of ideas.

· Were eruptions revolutionary? Or were they merely a disruption to the longue durée?

· Does hindsight make it easier to identify ruptures as epoch-altering events and ideas? Or does the passage of time, and attendant loss of witnesses, memories, and evidence muddy the waters too much?

· Why and in what ways did eruptions change things? And why and in what ways did they merely disrupt.

· When and how does an interruption become a disruption?

· What did the idea of a ‘new normal’ mean in the early medieval world? How quickly do societies adapt to internal and external pressures?

· And when societies change as a result of these pressures, are they still the same society?

This conference calls for papers that relate to this theme. Or, in the spirit of the theme, those that do not.

In 2021, AEMA intends to hold a hybrid conference, with both a physical location (or locations) as well as an online option. At this stage, the main physical location is likely to be in Victoria, with the potential for additional ‘hubs’ to be held in other Australian and/or International locations, depending on interest and availability.

Submissions may be in the form of individual papers of 20 minutes duration, themed panels of three 20-minute papers, or Round Tables of up to six shorter papers (total of one hour).

All sessions will include time for questions and general discussion. Please send proposals (150–200 words per paper), along with author’s name, paper/panel/RT title, and academic affiliation (if any) to conference@aema.net.au by 31 July 2021. Please also direct all other enquiries about the conference to this address, as well as any nominations for potentially hosting an in-person hub.

2021 ASKHISTORIANS DIGITAL CONFERENCE: “[DELETED] & MISSING HISTORY: RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST, CONFRONTING DISTORTIONS”
19–21 October 2021
AskHistorians Public History Forum

Whether it’s swords and sandals, corsets and wigs, or statues still standing, the past and its possible meanings resonate with twenty-first century audiences. Historical television series, public history projects, and books of popular history might claim to depict the past “as it really was,” but nevertheless illuminate the ways in which we as a society continue to bring the past into dialogue with contemporary popular culture. In so doing, these narratives often reveal more about what we think about the past—and ourselves—than about the past itself. Today, shifting interpretations of the past reveal a growing interest in the inclusion of marginalized voices as well as in questions about the human condition, the relationship between race and national identity, and issues relating to the
construction of sexuality, gender, and equality. Indeed, representations of the historical past have been used as lenses through which contemporary society has grappled with very modern examples of brutality, oppression, and the general uncertainty of life.

We therefore welcome proposals from individuals whose research explores representations of the past in any form. As the scope and influence of our topic is broad and far-reaching, we encourage proposals from a wide range of scholarly disciplines on the themes of gender, identity (both personal and national), propaganda, culture, society, accuracy, and authenticity (among others) as these pertain to the ways in which historical narratives have been constructed, represented, or misrepresented.

Applicants are asked to please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short biography of no more than 100 words to conference@askhistorians.com by 11:59 PM EDT on 1 June 2021.

For more information, including suggested topics and a guide for submissions, see the attached document.

Join us online for the University of Kent’s seventh annual MEMS Summer Festival. This two-day event celebrates Medieval and Early Modern history, 400 – 1800, and encourages a wide range of interdisciplinary topics, including but not limited to politics, religion, economics, art, drama, literature, and domestic culture. MEMS Fest aims to be an informal space in which postgraduate students, early career researchers, and academics can share ideas and foster conversations, whilst building a greater sense of community. Undergraduate students in their final year of study are also welcome at the conference.

We invite abstracts of up to 250 words for individual research papers of 20 minutes in length on ANY subject relating to the Medieval and Early Modern periods. The research can be in its earliest stages or a more developed piece.

We also encourage 700-word abstracts proposing a three-person panel, presenting on a specific subject or theme in Medieval or Early Modern studies. If you have an idea and would like us to advertise for it, please contact us at memsfestival@gmail.com.

Deadline for all Paper and Panel Proposals is Friday 30th April 2021. All applications must be sent to memsfestival@gmail.com with ‘MEMS Fest 2021 Abstract’ as the subject of the email.

Join the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship at the MLA Convention in Washington, DC, January 6-9, 2022 | PROPOSALS DUE March 15, 2021

1. Magic and Gender in Medieval Literature
Magic was omnipresent in the Middle Ages: theorized by natural philosophers, debated by theologians, written about in a wide variety of practical texts and literary genres, and undertaken by a wide range of practitioners, including what Richard Kieckhefer has described as “a clerical underworld.” Unlike the early modern obsession with witches, most medieval magical instruction books limit the knowledge they hold to learned men. Yet in literature, gender seemingly is no barrier for who can cast spells, create potions, or divine the future. While the “authority” of magic is recorded in books understood as the parvenu of men and in particular, of clerics, the practice of magic throughout the medieval period is undertaken by male and female, alike. In fact, more often women, particularly women of the fey and euhemerized goddesses, are wielders of powerful magic. This panel investigates the gendered slipperiness surrounding depictions of magic in medieval literature.

Submit 300-word abstracts and a brief bio for 15-20-minute papers to Melissa Ridley Elmes (MElmes@lindenwood.edu) and Kersti Francis (kersti.francis@gmail.com) by March 15, 2021.

2. Gendered Violence in Old English Literature
The Old English MLA forum and the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship are proposing a jointly-sponsored session on gendered violence in Old English literature. The last decades have witnessed an increased interest in research on the relationship between gender and violence in the Middle Ages, with new studies exploring the construction of gender through violence and women as its victims. Gender theory and feminist studies have done much to refine methodologies used in this research, especially in the late Middle Ages. Still, there is a great deal of work to be done in the area of gendered violence, in particular in the literature of the early English era.

Submit 300-word abstracts and a brief bio to Melissa Ridley-Elmes (MElmes@lindenwood.edu) or David F. Johnson (djohnson@fsu.edu) by March 15, 2021

Panel co-sponsored by the Old English Forum and the Society for Medieval Feminist Studies. This panel is not guaranteed.

For more information and suggested topics please see the PDF below.