Proposals are invited for the 40th Medieval and Renaissance Forum: Listening and Learning in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which will take place on 12 and 13 April, 2019 at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire.
We welcome abstracts (one page or less) or panel proposals that discuss music and other aural experiences in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Papers and sessions, however, need not be confined to this theme but may cover other aspects of medieval and Renaissance life, literature, languages, art, philosophy, theology, history, and music.
This year’s keynote speaker is Margot Fassler, Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Fassler is a music historian who gives the liturgy and its performance primary emphasis in her scholarly publications and her teaching. Her scholarship profoundly elucidates the connections between texts and music. Her 2014 book, Music in the Medieval West and its accompanying anthology (Norton) are now standard introductions to medieval music. Fassler’s many books, edited volumes, and articles focus on the Latin Middle Ages from around 800-1300, but she also has strong interests in contemporary sacred music and ritual, and in American song, singers, and song collections. She is currently writing a book on Hildegard of Bingen. Fassler is also a documentary filmmaker focusing on communities of song. She recently finished (with Christian Jara) the short documentary Where the Hudson Meets the Nile: Coptic Chant in Jersey City.
Students, faculty, and independent scholars are welcome. Please indicate your status (undergraduate, graduate, or faculty), affiliation (if relevant), and full contact information, including email address on your proposal.
We welcome undergraduate sessions, but ask that students obtain a faculty member’s approval and sponsorship.
Please submit abstracts, audio/visual needs, and full contact information to Dr. Robert G. Sullivan, Assistant Forum Director at sullivan@german.umass.edu.
Abstract deadline: 15 January, 2019
Presenters and early registration from 15 March, 2019.
