Monthly Archives: May 2017

Prof. Constant J Mews, The University of Melbourne Medieval Round Table Talk

The University of Melbourne: Medieval Round Table

“Abelard, Heloise and the Cistercians on Love: Vauluisant and the Paraclete Between History and Legend”, Prof. Constant J Mews (Director, Centre for Religious Studies, Monash University)

Date: 5 June, 2017
Time: 6:15 pm
Venue: North Theatre, first floor, Old Arts, The University of Melbourne

The Medieval Round Table is an informal discussion group open to interested students, academics and independent scholars. The Round Table meets monthly, usually on the first Monday of the month for presentations of papers, discussions of participants’ work in progress, discussions of readings etc.

Abelard, Heloise and Bernard of Clairvaux are three of the most well-known personalities of the twelfth century, identified with three of the most important developments of their age: scholasticism, love and monastic renewal. The persistant antagonism between conflict between Abelard and Bernard tends to mean that Heloise is marginalized as a figure, imagined as someone imprisoned within religious life rather, rather than as the innovative abbess of a religious community. I argue that there were close connections between the Paraclete under Heloise and the nearby Cistercian abbey of Vauluisant, founded in 1127, just two years before Abelard transferred control of the Paraclete to Heloise. While Heloise is often imagined as loyal to the memory of Peter Abelard, she combined certain of his ideas with those of the Cistercians, bringing together at the Paraclete two distinction visions of religious renewal. The fact that the love letters which Heloise and Abelard exchanged at the time of their affair should be preserved in the library of Clairvaux may not be as surprising as it first seems.

University of Oxford: Departmental Lecturer in English – Call For Applications

University of Oxford – Faculty of English Language and Literature
Departmental Lecturer in English Literature

Location: Oxford
Salary: £39,324 p.a.
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

The Faculty of English Langauge and Literature, in association with Lincoln College, is seeking to appoint a Departmental Lecturer. This is a 12-month fixed-term research and teaching appointment in English Literature, with a core focus on the early modern period. The purpose of the post is to cover both the College and Faculty teaching and associated duties of Professor Peter McCullough, who will be taking up a BA/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship. It is anticipated that the appointee will take up the post on 1 October 2017.

The postholder will be expected to provide 8 hours of undergraduate tutorial teaching per week for Lincoln College, and up to 16 hours of Faculty lectures or classes per year. The main focus of the Departmental Lecturer’s Faculty teaching responsibilities will be undergraduate lecturing on early modern literature, providing teaching for the MSt course (1550-1700 strand), and class teaching for FHS Paper 6 (Special Options). They will also undertake dissertation supervision, examining, and the normal duties of a college tutor, including admissions. The postholder will also undertake advanced study and research in early modern English literature.

The successful candidate should have a strong research and publication record in early modern English Literature, and must possess a doctorate in an appropriate area. S/he must also have experience of undergraduate teaching.

Further particulars (which all applicants must consult) are available below.

Applications, which should include a CV and supporting statement, should be made online by 12.00 noon on Friday 16 June, 2017. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be asked to submit a sample of written work in advance of the interviews, and will be requested to give a short presentation as part of the assessment process. Two references will be sought for shortlisted candidates.

For full information and to apply, please visit: https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=128862.

Devotion, Gender and the Body in the Religious Cultures of Europe 1100-1800: PATS and Symposium – Call For Applications

Religious History Association
“Devotion, Gender and the Body in the Religious Cultures of Europe 1100-1800”
A Postgraduate Advanced Training Seminar (PATS) and Symposium

  • Friday 18 August 2017 at Monash University (Clayton Campus): 11am-5pm
  • Saturday 19 August 2017 at Pilgrim Theological College, College Crescent, Parkville: 9:30am-4:30pm

The Religious History Association is keen to promote the study of religious history across a wide range of chronological periods and religious traditions. To this end, it is hosting a postgraduate advanced training seminar (PATS) and symposium, held on Friday 18 August under the auspices of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Monash University, at its Clayton Campus, and on Saturday 19 August at Pilgrim Theological College (part of the University of Divinity), College Crescent, Parkville.

Religious devotion has always been profoundly shaped by broader assumptions in society about gender and the body, involving access to the divine through the senses, the emotions and materiality. While the practice of theology and preaching has often been perceived as an exercise dominated by men, devotional practices have often been pursued by both men and women, providing a possibility to examine the impact of both gender and materiality in shaping religious culture. In many different religious traditions, the body provides a frequently contested site for competing ideas about gender and sexuality to be considered as well as ideals of religious devotion. This PATS and symposium provides an opportunity for postgraduates and early career researchers to share their research in any aspect of religious history in the medieval, early modern or modern periods, that touches on devotion, gender and the body, whether in Jewish, Christian or Islamic contexts between the medieval and modern periods.

The PATS (which begins with a presentation by Prof Clare Waters on Friday at 11.00 am-12.00 noon) will provide an opportunity in the afternoon for student focused workshop sessions, where graduates can discuss their research with established scholars. On the Saturday, there will be speaker presentations and round table discussion about the theme of devotion, gender and the body in the medieval and early modern periods.

Invited Speakers

  • Dr Lisa Beaven (Centre for the History of the Emotions, University of Melbourne)
  • Assoc. Professor Erin Griffey (Dept of Art History, University of Auckland)
  • Dr Claire Walker (Dept of History, University of Adelaide)
  • Prof. Claire Waters (Dept of English, University of California at Davis)
  • Prof. Constant Mews (Centre for Religious Studies, Monash University)

Submissions

Interested postgraduate students are invited to apply for a place at the PATS by end of Wednesday 7 June 2017, addressed to The Secretary, Religious History Association, katharine.massam@ctm.uca.edu.au.

  1. Name, affiliation, research degree and title of research project
  2. A statement (up to 500 words) detailing the benefit of the PATS to your research
  3. One academic reference, normally from your research supervisor. This can be brief (up to 500 words), and should be included in your application.

The PATS is intended primarily for postgraduate students, but applications from early career researchers (within two years of completion of a doctoral degree) will also be considered.

A limited number of bursaries are available from the Religious History Association to postgraduates wishing to participate in this PATS and symposium, to assist in covering travel and overnight accommodation costs. See: http://ctm.uca.edu.au/support-services/accommodation.

Applications for these bursaries can be submitted with your application for the PATS, and should include a copy of a quotation for travel to and from the PATS, and for accommodation expenses.

Professor Constant Mews, President, Religious History Association: Constant.Mews@monash.edu

The University of Western Australia: Forrest Research Fellowships – Call For Applications

Forrest Research Fellowships at The University of Western Australia

Forrest Research Fellowships are open to outstanding early career researchers to undertake high quality research at any of the five universities in Western Australia

Forrest Fellows are outstanding researchers of exceptional ability and resourcefulness, having the highest calibre of academic achievements and with the potential to make a difference in the world. Forrest Fellows will help drive research and innovation capacity in Western Australia.

Forrest Fellows will reside in Forrest Hall and provide valuable mentoring Forrest Scholars and provide leadership to the Forrest Research Foundation.

Applications for the inaugural Forrest Fellowships open 10 April, 2017 and close midnight 30 June, 2017.

More info: http://www.forrestresearch.org.au/apply/forrest-fellows

Natures and Spaces of Enlightenment – Call For Papers

Natures and Spaces of Enlightenment
The Sixteenth David Nichol Smith Seminar in Eighteenth-Century Studies
Griffith University and the University of Queensland, Brisbane
13-15 December, 2017

The Australian and New Zealand Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies is pleased to announce that the sixteenth David Nichol Smith Seminar, Natures and Spaces of Enlightenment, will be held in Brisbane, Australia, at Griffith University and the University of Queensland on the 13th to 15th December 2017.

The following keynote speakers will be presenting at the conference:

  • Deidre Lynch (Harvard University)
  • Jan Golinski (University of New Hampshire)
  • Georgia Cowart (Case Western Reserve University)
  • Sujit Sivasundaram (University of Cambridge)

We welcome proposals for papers or panels on the theme ‘Natures and Spaces of Enlightenment’, broadly conceived as referring to the plurality of Enlightenments as well as the ideas and uses of nature which they endorsed, and the spaces in which they developed. In the inclusive spirit of the David Nichol Smith Seminar, proposals may address any aspect of the long eighteenth century. Especially relevant topics include:

  • Enlightenment and religion or science
  • Enlightenment and empire or gender
  • Popular, moderate and radical enlightenments
  • Regional, national and global enlightenments
  • Climate, the environment and the Anthropocene
  • Emotion, sentimentalism and feeling
  • Theories of human nature and civil society
  • Trade, commerce and improvement
  • Travel, exploration and discovery
  • Philanthropy and the culture of reform
  • Spaces of sociability
  • Urban and rural spaces
  • Ideas of landscape and forms of land use
  • Nature in art, literature and music
  • Natural history, natural philosophy, natural law
  • Nature in economic and political writing
  • Medicine, sexuality and the body
  • Botany, geology and geography
  • Representations and uses of animals
  • Work, leisure, technology and industrialisation

We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers and panels comprising 3 x papers. Please submit an abstract of 250 words (maximum) and a 2-page CV via email as a pdf attachment to dnsconferenceqld@gmail.com

Deadline for submissions as been extended until: 1 September, 2017.

Website: https://anzsecs.com/conference/dnsxvi.

Email: dnsconferenceqld@gmail.com

The University of Nottingham: Assistant Professor in Seventeenth-Century Literature and Drama – Call For Applications

The University of Nottingham
Assistant Professor in Seventeenth-Century Literature and Drama

Job Type: Research & Teaching
Department: English
Salary: £34956 to £46924 per annum, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

The School of English is seeking to appoint an Assistant Professor in Seventeenth-Century Literature and Drama. The successful candidate appointed will teach across the fields of early modern literature and drama within the School of English and will contribute more widely to the School’s teaching and research activities on both its UK and international campuses.

The person appointed will contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching on core and optional team-taught first, second, and final-year modules. These modules may include ‘Studying Literature’ and ‘Drama, Theatre, Performance’ for first-year students, second-year modules on early modern literature and drama, and the third-year module ‘Reformation and Revolution: 1550-1688’. Postgraduate teaching responsibilities will include contributions to live and distance-learning MA programmes. They will also be expected to participate fully in the research culture of the School through high-quality publications, research income generation, outreach activities and the recruitment of postgraduate research students. Candidates should have a PhD (or equivalent) in early modern literature or drama.

This is a full time permanent post from 1 September 2017 based in the School of English, Trent Building, University Park.

Long-listed candidates will be asked to provide items of research if available for consideration by the School. The interview process will include a presentation of teaching, research and a formal interview.

For full information and to apply, please visit: http://nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/ARTS151917.

Closing Date: Thursday, 15 June, 2017.

Renaissance Border Crossings: Documented and Undocumented – Call For Papers

Renaissance Border Crossings: Documented and Undocumented
Pacific Northwest Renaissance Society Conference
Portland, Oregon
October 19-22, 2017

Plenary speakers:

  • Fran Dolan, Distinguished Professor of English, UC Davis
  • Daniel Vitkus, Professor of Literature, UC San Diego

In an era of rising nationalism manifested in contentious plans to ban immigration and erect walls, it is fitting that the Pacific Northwest Renaissance Society, which spans a region encompassing two countries and is devoted to a historical period of always-contested boundaries, should devote a conference to the theme of border crossings.

This year’s meeting, hosted by Portland State University and co-sponsored by Marylhurst University, invites papers that engage borders – disciplinary, ideological, formal, national/ethnic, textual, etc. – and that consider, in the broadest sense, how we encounter the in-between spaces of contact, conflict, and possibility in the Renaissance. Some possible topics could be (but are not limited to):

  • Historicizing the categories of “East” and “West”
  • Nationality before the nation state
  • Migrants, nomads, vagrants, refugees
  • Borders, crossings, and early modern space/place
  • Xenophobia amidst globalization
  • Hospitality and the stranger
  • Periodization and queer temporalities
  • Genre crossings
  • Global Shakespeares, “Ethnic” Shakespeares
  • Intertextual Crossings
  • Corporeal boundaries, gender crossings, trans studies
  • Interdisciplinarity, intersectionality
  • Empathy and intersubjectivity
  • Reputation, rumor, censorship, “fake news”
  • Allegiance and alliance across difference

The PNRS treats “Renaissance” more generously than merely British Literary Studies 1500-1660 and seeks to work actively with all Northwest scholars of European and transatlantic culture and society from 1300-1700, including art historians, economists, historians, scholars of religion, historians and practitioners of the performing arts, scholars in the history of science and medicine, political scientists, and comparatists.

Deadline for submission of abstracts, session, and roundtable proposals: June 1, 2017.

Please send proposals via email to: Eliza Greenstadt, Associate Professor of Theater + Film, Portland State University, at greens@pdx.edu, Subject line: PNRS Submission, Word Count: 250 words.

Please be sure to include: Name, professional affiliation, address, phone number, and e-mail address with each abstract, whether submitted individually or as part of a session/roundtable proposal.

Papers must be kept to a twenty-minute reading time, including any technical and electronic support. All papers are to be essentially new and never before presented in public.

Oceanic Memory: Islands, Ecologies, Peoples – Call For Papers

Oceanic Memory: Islands, Ecologies, Peoples
Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
30 November – 2 December, 2017

Hosted by the University of Canterbury College of Arts and the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies in conjunction with Memory Research in Aotearoa Network

Keynote Speakers: Ross Gibson (University of Canberra), Elizabeth Deloughrey (University of California, Los Angeles), Sudesh Mishra (University of the South Pacific), Steven Ratuva (Macmillan Brown Centre, University of Canterbury), Sacha McMeeking (Aotahi Maori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury)

The conference also includes a Postgraduate Workshop DAY, 29 November, as well as performances, readings and screenings (tba)

Memories are complex, selective and evolve over time. Some memories are hegemonic and powerful and some are subordinate and marginalized. The dominant stories of the Pacific are usually told by foreign historians, anthropologists, development economists, political scientists, journalists and travel writers, who often define Pacific societies using very narrow disciplinary and cultural prisms that cast the Pacific in deficit terms. These narratives are often at odds with how Pacific peoples see themselves, live their lives and frame their collective and individual meanings.

This conference seeks to address the complex politics of cultural memory in the Pacific, attending to the range of contexts that shape memory and its articulation.  On the one hand, the threat of climate change is the most recent escalation of a long process of environmental destruction and economic exploitation that includes the effects of colonisation, war, nuclear testing and global tourism.  On the other hand, Pacific societies and cultures display strength, resilience and agency in facing the challenges of the new millennium and developing new visions of the future.  Memory plays a vital role in these processes of survival and transformation.

Questions of memory have been taken up by a wide range of disciplines, including literary, film and media studies, art history and theory, cultural studies, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, history, law and psychology, and are always inflected by the historical, political and intellectual contexts in which they are posed. This conference asks how can a focus on memory be brought into dialogue with the wider issues facing the region? How might our history and cultural location in the Pacific inform how memory is articulated in both research and in public discourse? How might memory in the Pacific, including the politics, the poetics or aesthetics, the practices, and the technologies of memory, contribute to understandings and interventions that address cultural, social, geopolitical, ecological, and other concerns for the region?

Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • Indigenous cultures of memory
  • Colonial and postcolonial formations of memory
  • Memory, place, landscape, environment
  • Pacific diasporas and globalisation
  • Te Ao Maori and the Pacific
  • Modernity, memory and the Pacific
  • Migration, navigation, exploration, exile
  • Natural history, climate change, and ecological disaster
  • Testimony and catastrophe
  • Species memory, extinction and extermination
  • Remembering nuclear testing
  • War in the Pacific
  • Military bases, Prisons, and Refugee Camps
  • Pacific Time: Alternative Temporalities
  • Cultural amnesia and other forms of memory loss
  • The Arts of memory: literature, film, music, digital media and the visual arts
  • Curating memory: Museum, archive, gallery

Organising Committee: Chris Prentice (University of Otago), Allen Meek (Massey University), Alan Wright (University of Canterbury), Steven Ratuva (University of Canterbury), Paul Millar (University of Canterbury).

ABSTRACTS

Please send a 300 word abstract with short bio to alan.wright@canterbury.ac.nz by 1 June, 2017.

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin: Assistant Professor in Early Modern Literature – Call For Applications

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Assistant Professor in Early Modern Literature

Location: Dublin
Salary: €33,540 to €47,615
£28,807.51 to £40,896.52 converted salary* per annum
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent

The School seeks a scholar with a PhD and a strong research background in any area of Early Modern Literature. A research interest in postcolonial /transnational perspectives may be an advantage. The successful candidate will be expected to teach at undergraduate and postgraduate level; to supervise PhD candidates; and to contribute to the research culture of the School of English.

Applications close 9 June, 2017.

For full information and to apply, please visit: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BBL446/assistant-professor-in-early-modern-literature.

University of York: Lecturer in Renaissance and Early Modern Literature – Call For Applications

University of York
Lecturer in Renaissance and Early Modern Literature

Hours of work: Full-time
Contract status: Open
Salary: £38,183 a year

The Department of English and Related Literature seeks to appoint a Lecturer in Renaissance and Early Modern Literature (within the range c. 1530-1680). Within this broad field, we have no methodological or geographical preference: our primary criteria are excellence in teaching and research, and a willingness to contribute to the University of York’s leading interdisciplinary profile.

You will have a strong commitment to teaching excellence; leading lectures, seminars, tutorials and other forms of graduate and postgraduate teaching. You will contribute to, or otherwise complement, our existing research strengths in this area, which include early modern literature and religion, history of the book, classical reception, Renaissance drama, early modern natural philosophy, and the history of emotions. You will also be developing an outstanding research record by undertaking high-quality, innovative research and seeking to publish in leading venues.

A PhD in English (any period) or related area is essential, together with an appropriate academic teaching qualification or a willingness to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. You must have extensive knowledge of a research field and be able to use a range of teaching techniques and methodologies. Evidence of a research profile and publishing of articles and papers in academic journals is required.

The post is full-time and available from 1 September 2017.

For full information and to apply, please visit: https://jobs.york.ac.uk/wd/plsql/wd_portal.show_job?p_web_site_id=3885&p_web_page_id=315013.

Applications close on 14 June, 2017.