The editors of Parergon, in conjunction with our Early Career Committee members, are hosting an inaugural Next Generation Plenary Panel at the upcoming ANZAMEMS conference, 8-11 February 2024.

This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the work of new scholars in early modern and medieval studies, and selection to present on the panel will be a prestigious addition to any graduate student or early career researcher’s curriculum vitae.

We are soliciting abstracts from scholars who are developing new methodologies, researching new materials and looking at traditional issues in new ways.

Next Gen Plenary papers will be selected via an anonymous screening process following submission through the conference portal: https://www.anzamems2024.co.nz.

Please indicate at the end of your abstract that you would like to be considered for the Next Gen Plenary Panel. If you have already submitted an abstract, please contact Marina Gerzic to inform her that you would like it to be considered for this panel (info@anzamems.org).

Abstracts will be anonymised by the conference organisers and assessed by a panel made up of the editors of Parergon and a representative from the Parergon ECC committee. The George Yule Prize winner may be invited to be part of the panel.

Next Gen plenary speakers must be either graduate students undertaking a PhD, or scholars who have received their PhD in the last 10 years. All panellists must be current members of ANZAMEMS.

Submissions are due September 15, 2023.

The Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interactions (FEEGI) invites paper proposals for its fifteenth biennial conference, to be held April 19-20, 2024 at the John Carter Brown Library, Providence, RI. This conference marks the 30^th anniversary of FEEGI, which we will celebrate by returning to the JCB, where the founding meeting took place.

FEEGI conferences investigate the histories of places and people touched directly and indirectly, advantageously or catastrophically, by the process of enhanced global interactions that commenced in the fifteenth century. Our conferences provide an opportunity for exchanges about the circumstances, causes, and consequences of increased global interaction in the early modern period (roughly 1450 to 1850). We welcome proposals exploring political, economic, and socio-cultural interactions from a variety of fields and perspectives. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches.

One hallmark of FEEGI conferences is the creation of a space for comparative thinking and intellectual exchange among scholars across traditional temporal, geographic, and imperial boundaries. To promote such dialogue the Program Committee configures panels to make deep thematic connections, and all our sessions are plenary.

FEEGI members may submit proposals for individual papers no later than 30 September 2023 on http://www.feegi.org/conferences. (Details on membership can be found on http://feegi.org/membership.html ). Submissions should include a 200-400 word abstract as well as a brief (1-2 page) CV. We welcome submissions from advanced graduate students. 

Graduate students papers accepted for the program will be eligible for consideration for the FEEGI prize for best presentation by a graduate student. Additionally, in collaboration with Itinerario: Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions, FEEGI offers the FEEGI/Itinerario article prize. The paper awarded this prize receives a “fast-track” to publication in Itinerario. For further details, including the timeline, please contact FEEGI’s Vice-President.

For more information, please visit the FEEGI website (www.feegi.org) or contact Ernesto Bassi, FEEGI Vice-President & 2024 Program Chair, at feegi2024@gmail.com.

FEEGI 2024 Program Committee:
Danna Agmon, Virginia Tech
Alejandra Dubcovsky, University of California Riverside
Kristie Flannery, Australian Catholic University
Faisal Husain, Penn State
Tessa Murphy, Syracuse University
Ernesto Bassi, Cornell University

Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group 2023 Annual Conference
FATE AND FORTUNE
UWA, Saturday 21 October 2023

Renaissance thinkers were interested in moral philosophy, and they found inspiration in both ancient and medieval sources. How should one conduct themselves to be happy and useful within society? What will the future bring for us in a time of deep transformation?

An image of a new world to be discovered; changed perspectives in astronomy and medicine; Renaissance humanity wondered whether they were able to influence their path in life, whether their decisions were dependent on a free will—as Pico della Mirandola stated in his Oration on the Dignity of Man—or were but the choice of an omnipotent God, as Catholics, and even more strongly Protestants, each emphasised. The role of Providence would become prevalent across European culture, from visual art to Shakespeare’s plays, gradually replacing the capricious Wheel of Fate which was equally central to medieval thought.

This conference will broadly discuss themes concerning human destiny and the possibility of executing our own will, placed within the attempt to acquiesce to, to acquire, or to enforce a vision of peace and harmony within the constant social and political metamorphosis of the Renaissance, and of the world today.

Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group Incorporated welcomes abstracts which address the theme of ‘Fate and Fortune’ in the medieval and Renaissance periods including:

● Representations of Providence, of destiny, or of doom in literature and literary works.
● Paintings and sculpture relating to fate, divine or otherwise.
● Philosophical works or analyses of Fate and Fortune, or those relating to ethics and utopias.
● Astrology, which enjoyed a blooming during the Renaissance much as it has today, with people turning to psychics, magic, and the stars to search for answers to important questions.
● Political writings depicting the perfect ruler, a utopian vision, or condemning contemporary tyranny.
● Social ideals that valorised the reception of an ancient wisdom, from the Stoics, Plato, Aristotle, or others.
● Educational ideas inspired by Renaissance or classical philosophy, such as liberal and postcritical education.

We welcome abstracts for twenty-minute papers. We particularly welcome submissions from undergraduate, honours, and postgraduate students, even if beyond the scope of the conference theme.

The conference will take place in hybrid form. Please specify in your submission whether you would attend in-person or online.

Please send abstracts of 150–200 words with your affiliation and a short (up to 50 words) biography to the conference subcommittee at pmrg.committee@gmail.com by 21 August 2023.

For further details, please see https://conference.pmrg.org.au/