CFP: International Conference on Medievalism

We like to get uniquely MEMO presentations together for this conference. Please send proposals to Carol Robinson (clrobins@kent.edu) by June 1, 2009.
Call for Papers
24th International Conference on Medievalism

October 8-11, 2009

Medievalism and Religion

Studies in Medievalism invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference, October 8-11, 2009. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of Medievalism, and especially those that focus on this year's theme of “Medievalism and Religion.”

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring together aspects of the Middle Ages with the ways artists and scholars since medieval times have imagined these eras in literature, film, music, painting, sculpture and other media, as well as in other (non-humanities) institutions. One does not have to look far to find connections between medievalism and religion. For example, in her book's Epilogue, Karen Armstrong writes, "Crusading is not a lost medieval tradition: it has survived in different forms in both Europe and the United States and we must accept that our own views are as likely to be blinkered and prejudiced as either the Arabs' or the Jews'. It is probably impossible for us to change these old crusading attitudes overnight." Points of focus might include (but are not limited to):
ÿ Counter cultural medievalists beliefs
ÿ Misrepresentations of medieval religion in contemporary society, including Neopaganism
ÿ Medievalism, religion, war and other contemporary crusades
ÿ Medievalist contemporary religious music
ÿ The “gothic” architecture of American churches
ÿ Re-imaginings of important religious figures (Cuthbert, Saladin, Catherine of Siena, Maimonides, Margery Kempe)
ÿ Travel and/or pilgrimage literature (early or modern)
ÿ Modern historical novels (including mysteries)
ÿ Medievalist religious works on the contemporary stage
ÿ Shakespeare and medievalist beliefs
ÿ Tolkien and Religion
ÿ Religion in contemporary Arthurian works
ÿ Medievalist religion portrayed on film, television and/or the radio
ÿ Medievalist religion and the Internet
ÿ Medievalist religion in electronic and/or non-electronic games
ÿ Gender identity and sexuality, medievalism and religion

Publication Opportunities:
Selected papers related to the conference theme will be published in The Year’s Work in Medievalism.

Siena College is located near Albany in beautiful upstate New York, 2 hours north of New York City, with easy access via Albany International Airport (ALB) and by Amtrak train and auto. October is prime leaf-peeping season with an average temperature of 65 degrees. Siena College, a contemporary institution that is yet also firmly grounded in the traditions of Franciscan Catholicism, is the perfect setting for our exploration of medievalism and religion.

For more information, vist:
http://www.medievalism.net/conferences/conference2009.html