Newsletter

  • CFP: An extraordinary substance, a history of blood and demons across time

    An extraordinary substance, a history of blood and demons across time
    Online Conference
    3 October 2026

    The history of demonic possession in various cultures and religions since antiquity seems to suggest a deep physiological connection that humans and demons share with blood. The relationship between blood and demons is a complex topic for scholars to approach for a number of reasons. One such reason is because the study of demons in any field often requires an interdisciplinary approach. Demonic figures appear in myth, religion, literature, medical texts, manuscripts, art, archaeology, and iconography. The other challenge for scholars is how to best sift through the various theoretical approaches to demons.  

    This conference focuses on demonic realism, which takes the view that nonhuman malevolent demons were perceived by humans as real physical (both material and immaterial) entities, and not just as metaphors for evil. Such a perspective is particularly useful for studying these ideas as they exist in various cultural systems of knowledge. The idea that demons may have existed in the human mind as tangible, real, and understood as being capable of intermingling with humans on a physiological and biological level, suggests the need for a revision of our assumptions as to the importance of demons and blood. 

    The conference convenors are now calling for paper proposals. Further details can be found on the conference website where abstracts can also be submitted. The submission deadline is 3 August 2026.

    Saint James and the Magician Hermogenes published 1565 by Arist Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder

  • ANZAMEMS Seminar Proposals for 2026 and 2027

    ANZAMEMS is currently welcoming proposals for ANZAMEMS Seminars in 2026 and 2027. 

    ANZAMEMS Seminars are offered to support the academic development of HDRs and ECRs. They take the form of masterclasses including seminars and workshops led by senior academic staff and practitioners in medieval and early modern studies. They may provide advanced technical or analytical skills in particular source materials or themes and/or provide professional development for students seeking an academic or related career in medieval and early modern studies. 

    ANZAMEMS provides up to $7,500 funding for each Seminar to a total of $15,000 annually. Proposals will be assessed by a sub-committee of the ANZAMEMS Committee

    To propose a seminar, please carefully read the criteria and complete the form found in this document. Any queries can be directed to Marina Gerzic at info@anzamems.org, and completed proposals should also be send to this email address as well.

    The deadline for proposals is 5:00pm (AWST) on 1 June 2026. Outcomes are expected to be announced in mid-June 2026.

    ANZAMEMS logo

  • Funded Joint CNRS (France) – University of Melbourne PhD Opportunities

    Sarah Corrigan (University of Melbourne) and Franck Cinato (CNRS) are seeking applications to two fully-funded PhD projects:

    1. with Franck Cinato as the primary supervisor and the CNRS as the home institute: Biblical Vocabulary and Classical Latin Side by Side: Expending Semantic Knowledge 
    1. with Sarah Corrigan as the primary supervisor and the University of Melbourne as the home institute:  Brittany to Auxerre: Networks of Knowledge along the Loire and Beyond 

    The successful candidates will begin the projects in December 2026 (CNRS/Université Paris Cité) or February 2027 (UniMelb). Both candidates will spend time in both locations and will receive scholarship packages that includes tuition fee waiver, living allowance, health insurance, and relocation support.

    For further details, please contact Sarah or Franck.

  • ANZAMEMS Seminar Report

    Cross-Disciplinary Approaches in Medieval and Early Modern Studies

    On Thursday 19 and Friday 20 February, the Australian National University (ANU) Centre for Early Modern Studies (CEMS) hosted this HDR/ECR seminar at the National Library of Australia (NLA), supported by ANZAMEMS seminar funding and the ANU Research School of Humanities and the Arts. Convened by Professor Rosalind Smith assisted by CEMS administrative Dr Christina Clarke, the seminar drew upon the groundbreaking cross-disciplinary work in early modern studies by Lorna Hutson, Merton Professor of English at the University of Oxford, who was a visitor at ANU CEMS in February. Over two days, sixteen Australian and New Zealand postgraduate students and early career researchers networked and shared cross-disciplinary research with peers and senior scholars in the field and enhanced their skills in cross-disciplinary research through three workshops delivered by leading scholars.

    The seminar began with a viewing of items in the NLA’s medieval and early modern collections and included a public talk by Professor Hutson attended by 250 people in person and online, four panels of papers by the seminar participants and three hands-on skills development workshops. Professor Hutson’s workshop examined different varieties of cross-disciplinarity and demonstrated how maps can contribute to literary research. Professor Megan Cassidy-Welch’s workshop (Dean of Research Strategy, University of Divinity) explored drawing on lived experience in the present to interpret the past and Dr Una McIlvenna (ARC Future Fellow and Senior Lecturer in English, ANU) demonstrated how songs can be sources for early modern research. Informal feedback from participants indicated that the seminar was a resounding success, especially in its combination of building capacity and sharing research, and has established strong new networks for the upcoming generation of cross-disciplinary scholars.

    HDR and ECR Presenters:

    Yannic Bietz (Adelaide University), Studying Tudor Queens Consort through their Heraldry

    Meg Challis (University of Melbourne), Sweet-Bitter Sappho: The Poetic Reception of Sappho in Early Modern England

    Christina Clarke (Australian National University), Craft and Archaeology in the Art Historical Archive: Technical Practices of Louis XIV’s Royal Goldsmiths

    Clare Davidson (Australian Catholic University), Love as a Cause in Late Medieval England

    Kristie Flannery (Australian Catholic University), The Miracle of the Crab and the Conquest of the Sea​

    Alexandra Forsyth (Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland), ‘Without issue of the royal house of France’: Death of Margaret of Scotland (1424-1445), a Childless Dauphine

    Ruby Lowe (University of Melbourne), Who was Margery Mar-Prelate?

    Katherine Mair (University of Newcastle), Evil Eye Lore and the Existential Bodyguards in Pictures of the King’s Children

    MacKenzie McCowan (University of Sydney), The Bard and the Bot: Can Artificial Intelligence Research Julius Caesar?

    Victoria Munn (Victoria University of Wellington), ‘These counterfeit flames’: Saffron and the Science of Beauty in Early Modern Europe

    Elizabeth Newton-Jackson (University of Auckland), ‘I did musie my selfe’: Practising Experimental History through Wool Processing

    Suzi Nolan (University of Notre Dame Australia), Devotion in conflict: Andrea Vanni’s Catherine and her Devotee in the Lived Religious Experiences of her Followers during Times of War

    Steve Rohan-Jones (University of Queensland), The Sword of Justice – The Just Rule of Henry IV?

    Madeline Sargeant (Australian National University), Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Study of the Supernatural and the Miraculous in Early Modern Ireland​

    Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan (Australian National University), Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Religious Change in Premodern Indonesia

    Christopher White (University of Queensland), The Meanings of Monsters: Using Interdisciplinary Approaches to Better Understand Medieval Wonder

  • 2026 Joseph Burke Lecture in Art History

    Medieval Art of the Eastern Mediterranean: Global Networks in a Pre-Global World?

    Trinity College, University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Art History, invites you to the Joseph Burke Lecture in Art History. 

    Returning in the anniversary year of the founding of the Herald Chair of Fine Arts and the beginning of university teaching in art history at the University of Melbourne, the 2026 Joseph Burke Lecture will be delivered by Alicia Walker, Professor at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania.

    Date: Thursday 30 April 2026

    Time: 6.30pm

    Venue: Craig Auditorium, Gateway Building, Trinity College, 100 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052

    RSVP: By Friday 24 April, 2026

    Tickets: Free, but bookings essential

    Enquiries: Linda Purves | events@trinity.unimelb.edu.au

    Professor Walker will explore the medieval art and architecture of the eastern Mediterranean, questioning common assumptions that the Middle Ages were a time of isolation and cultural retrenchment. Instead, vibrant intercultural encounters and fluidity characterised artistic production in this region, especially between Byzantium and the Islamic world. Even in the midst of political friction and military confrontation, trade, pilgrimage, and diplomatic exchange forged channels of communication and networks of circulation. Should these phenomena be seen as evidence of “globalism” in the pre-modern world? Or is such framing anachronistic, imposing presentist values and structures on a medieval past that should be understood on its own terms?

  • European Arthurs, Medieval to Modern, Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Training Network

    Applications are invited for 11 full-time Doctoral Candidate posts as part of the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Network EUARTHURS: European Arthurs, Medieval to Modern Ref: 101226326 (2026–30).

    These posts form part of a major EU-funded international programme involving partners in Wales, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the SERI (Swiss government)-funded partner in Switzerland. The network will appoint 11 Doctoral Candidates across six universities, beginning in Autumn 2026. Each project is pre-defined and contributes to one of the network’s methodological strands:

    • materiality (manuscripts, early printed books, monumental art).
    • mediality (post‑medieval scholarship, editorial history, critical theory, music and theatre).

    Please see the position advertisement for further details.

    Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Training Network

  • Health and the Environment in the Preindustrial World: Multidisciplinary Approaches

    Registration has opened for the conference Health and the Environment in the Preindustrial World: Multidisciplinary Approaches that will take place on 23-24 July 2026 in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance at Monash University, Caulfield Campus in Victoria, Australia.  

    This international and interdisciplinary conference brings to a close the activities of the grant team “Pursuing Public Health in the Preindustrial World, 1100-1800.” Beyond the team itself, it involves a dozen scholars working across health history, history of science and technology, religion, archaeology and landscape in areas covering Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and East and Southeast Asia.

    Convener
    Guy Geltner, Monash University
     
    Keynote Speaker
    Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University

    For further details of the conference see their website or program. 

    Both remote and in-person attendance is free. To register, please click the following link (note: if you responded to the pre-registration form, you do need to fill out this registration form to confirm your attendance): https://forms.gle/osAuopLawo9a3e5U6 

    Please direct any questions to Lucy Moloney (lucy.moloney1@monash.edu).

    Monash University logo

  • National Library of Australia Scholarships

    Applications are now open for 2027 Scholarships offered by the National Library of Australia. PhD students who require access to the Library’s collections to assist their postgraduate research are encouraged to apply for eight philanthropically funded Scholarships offered by the Library in 2027.

    Successful applicants will each receive $10,000 to support four weeks of on-site research at the National Library in Canberra, as well as supported access to the Library’s collections, increased borrowing privileges, a dedicated desk in the Library’s Petherick Reading Room, and an allowance for high resolution digital copies of collection materials.

    Learn more about the National Library of Australia Scholarships here, including information on eligibility, information on previous projects and online application forms.

    Applications for National Library of Australia Scholarships will close on Friday 1 May 2026 at 5pm AEST.

    National Library of Australia logo

  • Registration Open: 5th Triennial Early Modern British and Irish Catholicism Conference

    The Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University and the University of Notre Dame are delighted to announce that registration is now open for the 5th Triennial Early Modern British and Irish Catholicism Conference (EMBIC V) 

    An International Conference: 29 June – 1 July 2026, in person, London, UK.

    The conference will concentrate on the relationship between British and Irish Catholicism and the devotional life.

    Confirmed speakers include:

    Liam Chambers (Mary Immaculate College)
    Freddy Domínguez (University of Arkansas)
    Jaime Goodrich (Wayne State University)
    John McCafferty (University College Dublin)
    Susannah Monta (University of Notre Dame)

    Registration
    Standard conference package: £200. Reduced rate for students: £160.
    Prices include a conference fee, refreshments, 3 lunches, and a drinks reception.
    The conference will be held at The University of Notre Dame’s London Global Gateway, 1-4 Suffolk Street, London, SW1Y 4HG. 

    For more information, including a draft programme and to register please visit The Fifth Early Modern British and Irish Catholicism Conference – EMBIC V- Durham University

    The Deadline for registration is 31 May 2026. 

  • EOI: Co-editor, Journal of Religious History

    The Journal of Religious History, published by Wiley, is currently seeking a new co-editor. See the call for EOIs below. 

    The position of co-editor is voluntary and would suit a mid-career academic with expertise in any area of religious history. The journal is a truly global operation with current editors based in the UK and Ireland and the Religious History Association, which owns the journal, mostly based in Australia. As such, EOIs are welcome from anywhere in the world. 

    EOIs are due to Megan Cassidy-Welch by May 1.

    Editor Call for Expressions InterestDownload

  • ANZAMEMS Postgraduate Peer Support Group

    The next ANZAMEMS Peer Support Group will begin on Tuesday 31 March. 

    The Peer Support Group is a writing and discussion space for postgraduate members of ANZAMEMS. The group will run online, via Zoom, and is open to postgraduate members at any stage from honours to PhD. Attendance across all sessions is not mandatory. This is an informal support group, and we welcome drop-ins as much as regular attendance. See our website for further information.

    If you would like to participate or have any questions, please contact ANZAMEMS Postgraduate Representative (AUS) Jenny Davis Barnett at j.barnett@uq.edu.au.

  • ANZAMEMS Reading Group

    The first session of the 2026 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 24 March at 2-3pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on Medieval Elephants, based around an article from the recent special issue of Parergon. See schedule below.

    All those interested in joining the group are asked to email either of the convenors Emily
    Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au, or Elizabeth Newton-Jackson (University of Auckland), enew505@aucklanduni.ac.nz.

    The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

    Reading Group Schedule S1 2026Download

Editors

This newsletter is edited by ANZAMEMS Communications Officer Dr Elizabeth Burrell. Please contact the Editor with any notices to be posted in the Newsletter. ANZAMEMS reserves the right to edit the content of all notices. Unless noted, ANZAMEMS does not endorse any event, product or service advertised in this newsletter.

Submissions

We regularly post call for papers, conference announcements, job postings, prize announcements, workshops, and other listings that may be of interest to our members. All postings to the newsletter also are published on our Twitter page. Please email submissions as a word document or in plain text to the Editor.

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