Conferences

San Apollinaris in Classe, Ravenna
(Photograph: Andrew Stephenson)

Ceræ Inaugural (Online) Conference

26–27 April 2024

A little over ten years ago, in 2013, a group of postgraduate students largely based in Perth, Western Australia, came together to meet a need within the Australasian publishing market: while there were a number of high-quality postgraduate journals, none were specifically focused on the field of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. In response to this, they founded Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Intended to be accessible and community building, with a focus on the digital humanities, the journal was founded on a commitment to being open-access and prioritizing graduate students’ and early career researchers’ work. Over the last decade, Ceræ has remained committed to these tenets, while also managing to grow globally. Still based in Australia and having remained committed to highlighting the research of graduate scholars, Ceræ has developed an international reputation within Medieval and Early Modern research having published contributions from both emerging and established scholars from all over the world. The journal has sponsored panels at Australasian (ANZAMEMS) and international conferences (IMC), and the current Committee is composed of scholars based in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, and Sweden.

During preparations last year for our tenth-anniversary issue, the Committee considered ways that we could expand our commitment to open-access research and the fostering of a global community of medieval and early modern scholars. It was apparent that many of the larger conferences in our field were shifting away from offering hybrid and virtual panels and returning to a solely in-person conference structure. Though most virtual options had been initiated out of necessity during the height of Covid-era global lockdowns, for many scholars – especially the graduate and early career researchers that Ceræ has a particular interest in supporting – these virtual options had allowed them to attend conferences, share their research, and engage in building community in ways that had previously been financially untenable. And while some conferences are still offering hybrid/virtual panels, the cost to attend them is often prohibitive for many researchers, leaving them cut off from the broader medieval and early modern community.

In response to this, and in the spirit of fostering an inclusive, accessible community, we here at Ceræ are thrilled to announce our inaugural virtual conference, which will take place over two days on 26–27 April 20241. The conference will be held entirely online, via Zoom, and all sessions will be recorded and made available on the website for a limited time after the conference has concluded to allow for continued discussion. To ensure that the conference is accessible to all scholars, regardless of financial position, there will be a nominal attendance fee of approximately $5-10 AUD (the final amount yet to be finalised by the committee). 100% of the proceeds from the conference will directly contribute to the ongoing operational costs of the journal to help us in our commitment to remain fully independent and open-access.

The conference will have the same theme as Volume 11 – Metamorphosis, Transformation, and Transmutation – and we hope that this theme will attract a number of original and thoughtful submissions. We also strongly encourage all conference presenters to submit a full version of their paper for publication within the journal (subject to the usual peer-review process).

Please email your submission for a 20-minute (+ 10 minutes Q&A) presentation to ceraejournal@gmail.com, including: a 150–200 word abstract, your academic affiliation and title (if any), a short 50-100 word biography, and the time-zone from which you will be presenting. The conference call for papers will close on 29 February 2024.

The Middle Ages as Meeting Ground

Annual Conference of the Medieval Association of the Pacific Interiority and the Outer World, Pepperdine University, Calabasas CA, 7-9 June 2024.

The Medieval Association of the Pacific welcomes paper and session proposals from all areas of medieval studies for our 2024 conference, including overlapping areas of early modern and late antique studies. MAP encourages paper submissions from graduate students, emerging professionals, and independent scholars.

This year’s conference events will take place at the Calabasas Campus of Pepperdine University, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California, just five minutes by car from the entrance to Malibu Creek State Park, 8,000 acres of natural woodland and chaparral, and just twenty minutes from the majestic Pacific Ocean. All conference registrants are also invited to a private sneak peek of the Getty Center’s new exhibit, “Marvels of the World: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages.”

MAP 2024 seeks paper and session proposals focused on the affective experience of the foreign during the Middle Ages. Contrary to popular belief in the intensely local nature of the Middle Ages, medieval peoples traveled far and wide for a variety of reasons, including pleasure, business, and religion. As with all human experience, these encounters elicited a wide range of emotional responses—from delight to disgust, from fear to curiosity. This thematic focus explores the emotional response that people had to others who were culturally different from themselves in speech, manner, appearance, governance, or faith, as well as to objects, environments, and experiences that are alien to them. Papers should consider the medieval world from multiple perspectives, including  those who did the traveling and those who encountered new people in their home communities.

As is the MAP tradition, papers do not need to relate to this theme to gain acceptance. Scholars from the larger Pacific Rim, especially outside of the continental United States are encouraged to apply. In addition to proposals that speak to this year’s conference theme, ones that take into account the interests and needs of early career scholars on how to win fellowships and grants, access local resources, manage large corpora, prepare for the job market (including how to apply successfully for positions at community colleges and regional public universities), earn tenure, publish in journals or other academic presses, work effectively in foreign archives and special collections, and/or balance personal and professional demands are also welcome. Early career scholars who have recently published a monograph are also invited to submit proposals for a review panel of their scholarship. Advisors, editors, etc. may nominate books for consideration. All nominations (both self and other) should include a list of recommended reviewers.

All proposals, whether individual, session, round-table, or workshop should include as two separate documents (1) a cover page with the speaker(s)’ name(s), discipline(s), and contact information, including any institutional affiliation, and e-mail address(es) and (2) title(s) and abstract(s) of approximately 500 words. Individual proposals should be for 20-minute presentations with approximately 10 minutes of Q&A. Session proposals may be for three or four presentations in the same general proportion (90-minute or 120-minute sessions). Session organizers should strive for a balance of gender and career stage among their participants. All session proposals should include any specific space or technology/resource needs.

Please submit all proposals attached as .doc or .pdf files with “MAP 2024” and the name of your paper or session title in the title to this link, e.g. MAP 2024 - Grants and Fellowships in SoCal. Questions should be directed to Jennifer.Smith@pepperdine.edu with the subject line, 2024 MAP Conference.

Proposals are due 05 February 2024. Please click here for more information on MAP’s program vetting policy. MAP is also pleased to offer prizes for papers associated with this conference. Please see our website for more information.

Leeds IMC 2024: Crisis

1-4 July 2024

Congress website and call for papers.

Paper proposal deadline: 31 August 2023
Session proposal deadline: 30 September 2023

The IMC provides an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of all aspects of Medieval Studies. Proposals on any topic related to the Middle Ages are welcome, while every year the IMC also chooses a special thematic focus. In 2024 this is ‘Crisis’.

2024 NCS Biennial Congress Call for Papers and Presentations

NCS Congress, Pasadena, California, 15-18 July 2024

Abstracts should be no longer than 200 words. You may submit to only one session, including the Poster Expo, and session organizers may not present work in their own session. You must be an NCS member to present at the conference. Please refer to the CFP, linked here, for more detailed information.

After submitting this form, please also email your abstract to your chosen session’s organizer(s). Your submission is not complete until the email has been received.

Submissions (form and abstracts) are due by 22 September 2023.

Fifth Quadrennial Symposium on Crusade Studies

​The Fifth Quadrennial Symposium on Crusade Studies (October 3-5, 2024) hosted by Saint Louis University will take place on its European campus in Madrid, Spain. Meeting in the vibrant capital city, the Symposium offers scholars the opportunity to present research, visit significant locations, and engage in historical discussion. The goal of the of the Symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation into all topics and disciplines associated with crusading and the Latin East. The symposium will include plenary sessions from Thomas Asbridge, of Queen Mary University of London and Helen Nicholson of Cardiff University.   

The Symposium invites proposals for papers, complete sessions, and roundtables. Any topics regarding the scholarly investigation of medieval crusading are welcome. Papers are normally twenty minutes each and sessions are scheduled for ninety minutes. 

Submissions are currently open and the deadline for all proposals is March 31, 2024. Late submissions will be considered if space is available. Decisions will be made by the end of April and the final program will be published in June.

Please see the conference web site for further details.

Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales

Hybrid Conference hosted by the Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group and the University of Western Australia, Saturday 26 October.

The Perth Medieval and Renaissance Group, Incorporated, conference for 2024 will take place on Saturday 26 October at The University of Western Australia. The theme is ‘Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales’. This will be a hybrid conference at UWA and on Zoom.

The keynote speaker is Dr Victoria Bladen (University of Queensland). Dr Bladen teaches in literary studies, poetics, and adaptation in the School of Communication and Arts at UQ and has twice received a Faculty award for teaching excellence (2015 and 2017). She has published on early modern poetry, Shakespeare, Shakespeare on screen, Jane Austen, and the pastoral genre.

The conference is interdisciplinary and we encourage research beyond the traditional humanities. We also welcome undergraduate, Honours, and postgraduate students to attend and present on their work. We are enabling this through offering options for students to present shorter papers or to present together with their peers, and by running a Humanities Research Skills Masterclass (see below).

The Call for Papers is now open: more information here. Deadline 23 June 2024. Further details will be provided closer to the date.