GESTA VOLUME 63 NUMBER 2 NOW AVAILABLE TO ICMA MEMBERS!

The latest issue of Gesta (Fall 2024) is now available on the University of Chicago Press Journals website. Following is the issue's table of contents: 

Gesta, Vol. 63, No. 2

Seeing Christ on the Cross in Late Antique Syria and Mesopotamia: Crosses, Crucifixes, and the Question of Iconicity 
Daniel An

Illumination Unbound: The Victoria and Albert Museum Cross and Its Parchment Miniatures
Judith Hathaway Oliver

“Go Forth and Learn”: Visual Exegesis in the Medieval Haggadah
Abby Kornfeld

The Columns from “the Tomb of Charlemagne” between Aachen and the Louvre: A Modern Spoliation Saga
Brigitte Buettner

Remember, ICMA membership provides exclusive online access to the complete run of Gesta in full text, PDF, and ebook editions at no additional charge.

To access your members-only journal subscription, log in to the ICMA site here with your username and password.  If you have any questions, please email icma@medievalart.org

ICMA IN DC: EXHIBITION TOUR OF "AN EPIC OF KINGS: THE GREAT MONGOL SHAHNAMA" - FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2024. REGISTER TODAY!

ICMA IN WASHINGTON DC
EXHIBITION TOUR OF AN EPIC OF KINGS: THE GREAT MONGOL SHAHNAMA

FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2024, IN PERSON
1:30–3PM ET
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART, WASHINGTON, DC

Register HERE

Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23

The Great Mongol Shahnama is the most celebrated of all medieval Persian manuscripts. Considered Iran’s national epic, the Shahnama (Book of Kings) was completed by the poet Firdawsi in 1010. The copy known as the Great Mongol Shahnama was produced three hundred years later, commissioned by a ruler of the Ilkhanid dynasty, a branch of the Mongol Empire. Between the manuscript’s covers, art, power, and history intertwined. An Epic of Kings presents twenty-five folios from this now dismantled manuscript alongside contemporaneous works from China, the Mediterranean, and the Latin West, highlighting the cosmopolitan nature of the Ilkhanid empire.

For more information on the exhibition, click HERE.

You are invited to join other ICMA Members and area medievalists for a tour led by exhibition curator Simon Rettig (Associate Curator for the Arts of the Islamic World, National Museum of Asian Art) on Friday 6 December 2024 at 1:30pm. Drinks to follow courtesy of the ICMA.
 
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC
Meet on Floor B1 at the bottom of the stairs, in front of the entrance to the exhibition in Galleries 23 and 24.

This gathering is informal:

  • Attendees are responsible for their own travel bookings. Admission to the exhibition site is free.

  • The purpose of this event is to introduce ICMA members and medievalists from the area to one another, to strengthen the social and professional ties in our community, and to celebrate our mutual interest in medieval art, while exploring the exhibition together.

 
Organized by Michelle C. Wang, Georgetown University, and Matthew Westerby, National Gallery of Art.

For questions, please email icma@medievalart.org

Register HERE

STUDY DAYS FOR "LUMEN: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LIGHT" AND "WONDERS OF CREATION: ART, SCIENCE, AND INNOVATION IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD" - 10-12 NOVEMBER 2024. REGISTER TODAY!

STUDY DAYS FOR LUMEN: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LIGHT AND WONDERS OF CREATION: ART, SCIENCE, AND INNOVATION IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD


GETTY CENTER AND THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART
LOS ANGELES, CA AND SAN DIEGO, CA

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2024 - TUESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2024

Register by emailing: medievalstudyday@gmail.com

ICMA members are invited to an event organized by our friends at Study Day Medieval Art on the occasion of two exhibitions Lumen: The Art and Science of Light at the Getty Center and Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World at The San Diego Museum of Art.



PART I
Los Angeles, CA
Getty Center

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2024
Talk (in-person and online)
Art, Science, and Wonder in the Medieval World
The Getty Center

Free | Advance ticket required   
To attend in person, click Get Tickets  
To watch onlineregister via Zoom.

To complement the exhibition Lumen: The Art and Science of Light, curators and scholars present two panel discussions on the intersections of art and science in the medieval world. Designed as a series of engaging discussions, the first presentation explores topics such as astronomy and optics, and examines how medieval people thought about the science of light in both Latin and Arabic speaking regions. The second discussion invites scholars of neuroscience, philosophy, and art to discuss the way the eye and the brain react to light and how medieval people harnessed these effects to create immersive spaces of wonder.

Panel 1: Light, Time, and Magic in the Middle Ages, 11:00 am–12:30 pm

Moderator
Barry C. Smith
, professor of philosophy and director, Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study

Ladan Akbarnia, curator, South Asian and Islamic art, San Diego Museum of Art
Margaret Gaida, postdoctoral researcher, California Institute of Technology
Megan McNamee, lecturer in pre-modern art, 500–1500, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh

Panel 2: The Perception and Neuroscience of Light, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Moderator
Barry C. Smith
, professor of philosophy and director, Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study

Nancy Thompson, professor of art and art history; Department Chair of Art and Art History, St. Olaf College
G. Gabrielle Starr, president, Pomona College
Abbey Stockstill, associate professor of Islamic art and architecture, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University

Full information HERE



MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2024
Study Day in the exhibition Lumen: The Art and Science of Light with the curators of the exhibition: Kristen Collins, Nancy Turner, and Glenn Phillips

Click HERE for exhibition info. 


Afternoon / evening: individual travel to San Diego



PART II
San Diego, CA
The San Diego Museum of Art

Tuesday 12 November 2024
Study Day in the exhibition Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World with curator Ladan Akbarnia

Click HERE for exhibition info.  

 
Afternoon:  return travel
 

Please send your registration as soon as possible to:
medievalstudyday@gmail.com

Call for PhD Applications: MSCA Doctoral Network StoryPharm, Due 15 December 2024, 14:00 CET/ 8:00 ET

Call for PhD Applications

MSCA Doctoral Network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities

Various Locations

Due 15 December 2024 at 14:00 CET (8:00 ET)

MSCA Doctoral Network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities. Call for PhD Positions Medieval Art History

We are pleased to announce four three-year Special Scientist PhD Positions in Medieval Art History within the framework of the MSCA doctoral network StoryPharm: Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond. Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities (European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action – Doctoral Networks – Grant Agreement 101169114, https://www.ucy.ac.cy/storypharm/):

“Images of Christ’s Miraculous Healings between Medical Awareness and Social Inclusion (9th–11th c. CE)” (University of Salerno, Italy)

“The Pictorial Narratives of Herbal Medicine in Dioskorides’ De materia medica” (University of Lund, Sweden)

“Ecologies of Healing: Visual Storytelling in Medieval Medical Manuscripts and Herbals” (University of Bamberg, Germany)

“The Healthy Place: Architecture and Images for Healing Devotional Experiences in Southern Italy in a Mediterranean Context” (University of Salerno, Italy)

StoryPharm focuses on premodern narratives and images involving medicine, health, and healing. These will be studied from a transdisciplinary and comparative perspective, across linguistic and cultural borders.

For detailed information on each PhD position and on the application procedure please consult: https://www.ucy.ac.cy/storypharm/vacancies/

Applications will be accepted from 15/10/2024 until 15/12/2024 at 14:00 CET (8:00 ET).

NEW VIDEO! FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS, 2024-2025

NEW VIDEO

FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS 2024-2025

12 September 2024, 12 PM ET

The Friends of the ICMA held the latest in a series of special online events on Thursday 12 September 2024, 12 PM ET. The hour-long program previeweed three medieval exhibitions, each introduced by its curator.

Stephan Wolohojian introduced the exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350. The exhibition is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until 26 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/siena-the-rise-of-painting-1300-1350

Sue Brunning spoke about the exhibition, Silk Roads. The exhibition is on view at The British Museum until 23 February 2025. For more information, visit https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/silk-roads

Ladan Akbarnia introduced the exhibition, Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World. The exhibition is on view at the San Diego Museum of Art until 5 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.sdmart.org/exhibition/wonders-of-creation-art-science-and-innovation-in-the-islamic-world/

The panel was introduced and moderated by Leslie Bussis Tait, Chair of the Friends of the ICMA.

To watch the video, visit the Special Online Lectures page.

Last Conques EU Project Meeting: Conques in the Global World, Rome, 11 October 2024, 9:30-13:00

Last Conques EU Project Meeting

Conques in the Global World

11 October 2024, 9:30-13:00

Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Italy

The last meeting of the Conques EU project will take place in Rome in person--For those who cannot attend, look for a book publication within the year that is full of the newest research on Conques. See: https://conques.eu/outputs for material that has already appeared.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art: Professor Ivan Drpić, At Columbia University, 14 Nov. 2024 6:15-7:45PM

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book

Professor Ivan Drpić

Thursday, 14 November 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, New York, NY

Join us for Professor Ivan Drpić's (University of Pennsylvania) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, November 14th at 6:15pm in Schermerhorn Hall, room 807.

For more information, visit
https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-ivan-drpic
.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art: Professor Jacqueline Jung, 17 Oct. 2024 6:15-7:45PM

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps

Professor Jacqueline Jung

Tuesday, 17 October 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Stronach Center, Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, NEw York, NY

Join us for Professor Jacqueline Jung's (Yale University) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, October 17th at 6:15pm in the Stronach Center (8th floor of Schermerhorn Hall).

For more information, visit https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-jacqueline-jung

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE CONFERENCE: Unruly Iconography? Examining the Unexpected in Medieval Art, INDEX OF MEDIEVAL ART AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE CONFERENCE

Unruly Iconography? Examining the Unexpected in Medieval Art

INDEX OF MEDIEVAL ART AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

9 NOVEMBER 2024

LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

Ivory chess piece in the form of a queen, British Museum (1831 1101 84) © The British Museum; CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Free registration is now open for on-site attendance at the upcoming Index conference. “Unruly Iconography?” opens a new conversation about medieval images that don’t follow the rules. Speakers will challenge their listeners to rethink the unspoken paradigms that have decided when iconographic motifs should be considered canonical and which are instead “singular,” “exceptional,” or even “mistakes.” They will interrogate the value and limitations of the unspoken binaries that often underlie such labels: tradition versus invention, canon versus exception, or center versus periphery. Their wide-ranging papers will demonstrate the value of a more critically aware, contextually sensitive, and historically informed approach to the study of images and image-making in the Middle Ages. The conference will take place on November 9, 2024 in the Louis A. Simpson Building, A71, at Princeton University. Although the conference will not be recorded, a live stream link will provide digital access to those who cannot attend in person. Only those attending on site are asked to register, using the form below.

This constitutes the first of two internationally linked conferences, the second of which will be a site-based seminar at the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” in Naples in June 2025, which makes southern Italy a laboratory for exploring the relationships between iconography and place within a geographically expanded Middle Ages. Details and a call for participation for the field seminar can be found here.

SCHEDULE

8:45–9 am: Coffee and pastries

9:00–10:15 am

Welcome

Diliana Angelova (UC Berkeley), “Lawless, Hilarious, Black: Eros and Companions in Byzantium.”

Krisztina Ilko (University of Cambridge), “The Chessmen of the Hunt.”

10:15 am: Coffee break

10:45–12:15 pm

Heidi Gearhart (George Mason University), “A Poem, a Scribe, a Saint, and a Scriptorium: Evoking Multiple Presences in Arras Bibliothèque Municipale MS 860.”

Julie A. Harris (Independent Scholar, Chicago), “Indicate, Illustrate, Decorate, or Comment? Iberian Hebrew Bibles and Their Unruly Paratextual Marks.”

Q&A

12:15–2:00 pm: Lunch Break

2:00–3:00 pm

Alexander Brey (Wellesley College), “Iconography Between Empires: The Red Hall at Varakhsha.”

Mark H. Summers (University of Kentucky), “Dressed to Impress: Reconsidering Roger II of Sicily and the Iconography of Kingship.”

3:00–3:30: Coffee break

3:30–4:30 pm

Nicole C. Paxton (John Cabot University), “Iconographic Innovation and Political Subversion in the Medieval Serbian Akathistos Cycle.”

Patricia Simons (University of Michigan/University of Melbourne), “The Goldfinch: Flights of Fancy.”

4:30-5:15 pm

Q&A and Closing

Reception to follow in Weickart Atrium, Louis A. Simpson Building


LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

ICMA in Milwaukee on Saturday 12 October 2024: Tour of "Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives" + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

ICMA in Milwaukee
Tour of Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

Saturday 12 October
2pm CT

Register HERE

ICMA members are warmly invited to an informal gathering at the Haggerty Museum of Art on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday, October 12th, beginning at 2:00pm to view Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives. The co-curators of the exhibition, Abby Armstrong Check, Claire Kilgore, and Tania Kolarik will give a brief introduction to the exhibition and highlight different objects within the show. Attendees will then be welcome to roam the galleries. At 3:00pm we will walk over as group to the Joan of Arc Chapel on the campus of Marquette University where Abby Armstrong Check will give a short talk about the history of the only consecrated medieval chapel in the United States.

More information about the exhibition: https://www.marquette.edu/haggerty-museum/material-muses.php

Register HERE

Call for Applications: Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies, Mount Holyoke College, Due By 1 December 2024

Call for Applications

Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies

Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean World

Department of Art History and Architectural Studies

Mount Holyoke College

Due By 1 December 2024  

The Mount Holyoke College Department of Art History and Architectural Studies invites applications for an art or architectural historian of the late antique and medieval Mediterranean world for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2025. We are especially interested in candidates whose research and teaching are concerned with aspects of globalism and cultural connections. The teaching load is four courses per year, comprising a general survey, upper-level courses, and advanced seminars in the candidate's area of expertise.

In addition to an active and exciting research program, applicants should have a record of strong teaching at the undergraduate level and experience mentoring students who are broadly diverse. Our department is deeply committed to diversifying our curriculum as well as our faculty. Ph.D. or ABD in art or architectural history is required. Please submit a cover letter, CV, and three statements concerning 1) teaching philosophy, (2) research interests, and (3) mentoring. Please also include a writing sample and upload this additional document in the Please upload other documents in support of your application section of the application. Reference letters will be requested at a later date in the process.

Applicants are requested to apply online by December 1, 2024 at the following site:

https://mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/details/Assistant-Professor-of-Art-History-and-Architectural-Studies_R-0000001388

 For more information, please contact Anthony Lee.

For a copy of this advertizement, click here.

Mount Holyoke is an undergraduate liberal arts college with 2,200 students and 220 faculty. Over half the faculty are women; one-fourth are persons of color. Mount Holyoke College is located about 90 miles west of Boston in the Connecticut River valley, and is a member of the Five College Consortium consisting of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.


Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

 

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

  • A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

  • A complete resume or curriculum vitae

  • For faculty positions, statements on mentoring, teaching, and research will also be required.


Mount Holyoke College is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)

Mount Holyoke College, the leading gender-diverse women’s college, is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are a diverse community of staff, faculty, and students, united in our mission to offer an intellectually adventurous education in the liberal arts through academic programs that are renowned internationally for their cross-disciplinary excellence, experiential approach, and commitment to diversity.

Mount Holyoke College is a welcoming and inclusive environment that values and respects individuals of all backgrounds. As an EOE, we encourage members of historically underrepresented groups or nontraditional backgrounds to apply for open positions at our institution. The College has a long-standing tradition of providing women and other historically underrepresented groups with access to an innovative educational experience that prepares students for purposeful leadership by integrating hands-on opportunities into the curriculum. We firmly believe that diversity enriches our community and enhances our ability to prepare students for success in an increasingly globalized world. 

We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all qualified applicants and to building an exemplary workforce that reflects the diversity of our student body and the communities we serve. Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates who are capable of engaging thoughtfully, effectively, and boldly with the world.

Online Lecture: Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia, Agata Deptuła, 27 Sept. 2024, 12:00PM ET

Online Lecture

Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia

Agata Deptuła, University of Warsaw

Friday, September 27, 2024 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the first lecture in the 2024–2025 East of Byzantium lecture series.

Three Nubian kingdoms (Nobadia, Makuria, and Alwa), located in the Middle Nile Valley, became part of the Christian oikumene in the middle of the sixth century, receiving from Byzantium not only the faith, but also its setting, including Greek as the principal liturgical language and a set of texts used during liturgical celebrations. Singing was an integral and significant component of the Eastern Church ritual, and it is not surprising that hymns also gained popularity in Nubia.

Texts at our disposal are mostly fragmentary, preserved in the form of parts of manuscript leaves, faded wooden tablets, or inscriptions written on the walls of cult buildings. Despite their fragmentary state, Nubian hymns exhibit a richness of forms and themes. There are troparia belonging to the oldest layer of Greek liturgical poetry and witnesses of the original Greek versions of the hymns by Severus of Antioch, known so far only through their Syriac translations. Longer compositions are also found, with the canon—a structured liturgical hymn composed of nine odes related to the nine biblical canticles—seemingly enjoying particular popularity.

These compositions span the spectrum of feast days as well as fixed celebrations, and also praise saints, especially Archangel Michael and Theotokos. Attestations of the usage of individual hymn verses in inscriptions left by visitors in churches indicate that singing to praise the Lord was widespread among the faithful. As a result, hymns are the largest and richest group of liturgica known from the area, shedding light on local liturgical practices. Additionally, the fact that some hymns are not preserved in their original form outside Nubia demonstrates that the material can contribute to unraveling the development of hymnography in Eastern Christianity at large.

Agata Deptuła is an archaeologist at the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, where she specializes in medieval Nubia and epigraphy.

Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

Upcoming Exhibition: Corvey Unddas Erbeder Antike: Kaiser, Kloster under Kulturtransfer im Mittelalter, Diözesanmuseum Paderborn, Germany, Opens 21 Sept. 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

Corvey Unddas Erbeder Antike: Kaiser, Kloster under Kulturtransfer im Mittelalter

Diözesanmuseum Paderborn, Germany

21.9.2024-26.1.2025

The Aachen Bear | Cathedral treasury Aachen

A think tank of the Middle Ages marks the starting point of the exhibition in the Paderborn Diocesan Museum; formerly the Corvey Monastery that was founded 1,200 years ago and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the last 10 years. Back then, it was monasteries that preserved the ancient knowledge that still shapes us today. The numerous fasinating exhibits in the exhibition vividly show how ancient cultural techniques - especially reading and writing - and ideas about politics, law, art and science were transmitted in the Middle Ages. Monks reproduced ancient documents, craftsmen reworked ancient originals or integrated them into their own works. Captrued and shaped by the spirit of the times, such treasures reveal narratives that continue to puzzle us even today.


More than 120 fascinating artefacts on loan from European museums, libraries and archives will be on display on Paderborn, accompanied by insights into the work of the curators and research scholars who are preserving our ancient heritage today. The calligrapher and artist Brody Beuenschwander will also bring the diversity of writing cultures to life in impressive visual interventions. A richly illustrated catalogue will be published and there will be an extensive programme of events.


The exhibition is under the patronage of the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

For more information, go to https://www.erbe-der-antike.de/en/

Call for Papers: Medieval Iberia in a Connected World: The Raw-Materials Record, ICMS Kalamazoo (8-10 May 2025), Due 15 Sept. 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS

Medieval Iberia in a Connected World: The Raw-Materials Record

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 8-10 May 2025

Due 15 September 2024

This session aims to contribute to the production of knowledge about the Global Middle Ages by analyzing the role that the Iberian Peninsula played in the trade of raw materials. On the one hand, the goal is to advance the knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula as a point of arrival/departure of raw materials relative to extra-peninsular and/or extra-European territories. In addition, papers may address the representations and symbolism those raw materials acquired in Iberian contexts.

This session will create a space for methodological reflection. It thus aims to bring together researchers from very different disciplinary perspectives, including not only the Humanities but also scholars from the Experimental and Natural Sciences. This session will highlight the need for cross-cultural approaches for a more comprehensive approach to medieval Iberia.

Papers may delve into issues of short-, medium-, and long-distance trade; the subsequent use of these raw materials in the production of objects, artifacts, or buildings; and the significance assigned to them in visual and literary culture. Proposals for papers will be accepted through September 15 and need to be submitted at:

https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6341

Delivery Mode: Hybrid session

Organizers: Erika Loic (eloic@fsu.edu); Alicia Miguélez (amiguelez@fcsh.unl.pt)

Sponsoring Organization: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Univ. NOVA de Lisboa

Keywords: Medieval Iberia, Global Middle Ages, Raw Materials, Trade, Reception and Symbolism

Call for Papers For Special Online Session: Purgatory to Paradise - Visualizing the Iter Salvationis in Medieval Art, ICMS Kalamazoo (8-10 May 2025), Due By 14 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers For Special Online Session

Purgatory to Paradise - Visualizing the Iter Salvationis in Medieval Art

60th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (May 8–10, 2025)

Due by 14 September 2024

This special session wishes to analyze the representations of souls in Purgatory and their journey toward Paradise. The exempla employed in medieval texts and sermons featured vividly impactful imagery designed to engage the audience and leave a lasting impression. In medieval visual art, how are themes of sin, punishment, and, importantly, the possibility of salvation portrayed? Additionally, what is the significance of depicting souls in purgatory as naked? How this symbolism can be interpreted in conveying theological truths about redemption and renewal?

The session will encourage an interdisciplinary approach. Liturgy, sermons, drama, and visual arts were deeply interconnected with the expression of iter salvationis. For this reason, these elements will be examined in relation to pilgrimages and indulgences to understand the dramatization of the after-life. The scientific importance of the session lies in understanding how these devotional images served not only as reminders of mortality, akin to memento mori, but also as catalysts for the pursuit of indulgences. Moreover, the analysis of case studies will not only aim to highlight specific aspects and general phenomena in Late Medieval Europe, but also to define identities and devotees’ experiences in their life and after-life journey of purification.

Scholars are invited to submit a 300-word abstract, excluding references. Proposals should also include name, affiliation, email address, the title of the presentation, 6 keywords, a selective bibliography, and a short CV. Please send the documents to maryandthecity.imc2022@gmail.com by September 14, 2024.

Call for Papers: Manuscripts Before the Year 1000, ICMS Kalamazoo 2025 (8-10 May 2025), Due By 15 September 2024

Call for Papers

Manuscripts Before the Year 1000

ICMS Kalamazoo 2025 (8-10 May 2025)

Due By 15 September 2024

Image credit: Blue Quran, National Library of Tunisia (s.x)

This special session solicits research on any aspects of manuscript study from late Classical through the Early Medieval era, notably palaeography and codicology, but also study of mise-en-page, transmission, and editing. Discussion of manuscripts from all eras and global origins before the year 1000 is welcomed, especially papers which may deal with cross-cultural exchange and movement of manuscripts across the medieval world conceived broadly (China, India, the Near East, Africa just as much as Europe and the Mediterranean).

In-person.

Organizer: Dr. Bruce Gilchrist bruce.gilchrist@concordia.ca

Send proposals by September 15 to: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6018

Call for Papers: The Living Dead and the Transmission of Otherworldly Knowledge in Medieval Texts and Images’, IMC Leeds (7-10 July 2024), Due By 16 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers

‘The Living Dead and the Transmission of Otherworldly Knowledge in Medieval Texts and Images’

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds 2025

Due By 16 September 2024

Office of the Dead in a Book of Hours, San Marino, Huntington Library, MS HM 1165, fol. 105r.

Throughout the Middle Ages, narratives circulated in which the dead returned to convey special knowledge to the living, appearing in the form of ghosts, visions, and walking corpses. As intermediaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead, these figures revealed hidden truths, issued dire warnings, and imparted wisdom about the future and the afterlife. This session focuses on representations of the living dead in art and literature throughout the medieval period, with a particular focus on the role of the dead as keepers and transmitters of hidden knowledge.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on topics relating to the living dead in medieval art and literature, which may include: 

  • Accounts of ghostly apparitions in waking life, dreams, and visions 

  • Descriptions of the afterlife given by the dead as well as visionary encounters with the dead in heaven, hell, and purgatory 

  • Encounters with walking corpses or other corporeal undead 

  • Visual representations of interactions between the living and the undead 

  • Necromancy and magical contact with the spirits of the dead 

  • Warnings and prophecies pronounced by the dead 

  • The living dead as conveyors of moral lessons in exempla and didactic literature 

  • Confessions and revelations of hidden sins in encounters with the living dead 

  • Discussions of commemorative practices between the living and dead 

  • The nature of interactions with ghosts and other revenants, including noise and non-verbal communication

Submit abstracts of up to 250 words to Sam Truman (sat89@case.edu) and James Galvin (james.galvin@keysfamily.co.uk) by Monday, 16 September 2024. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Call for Papers: BAA Sponsored Sessions, International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds (7-10 July 2025), Due By 20 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers

BAA sponsored sessions

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds 2025

Due By 20 September 2024

The BAA is now welcoming paper proposals for the BAA-sponsored sessions at the International Medieval Congress, which will take place at the University of Leeds (7th-10th July 2025).

The IMC’s research theme for 2025 is ‘Worlds of Learning’ and the IMC’s suggested themes include, but are not limited to:

  • Ideals, practices, and rituals of teaching and learning

  • Gendered ideals of learning and gender in learning

  • Pedagogical techniques for different age groups

  • Technical and artisanal knowledge

  • Oral transmission, practice, and performance in learning processes

  • Medieval epistemologies and systematisations of knowledge

  • Religious conceptualisations and interpretations of learning

  • Forms of learning and/about the self

  • Languages and their role in the acquisition of learning

  • Representations of learning in literature and art

  • Learning materials, including instructional objects, texts, images, and diagrams

  • Schools and universities and their local and regional networks

  • Financial and political networks supporting communities of learning

  • Lieux de savoir and locales of learning, including (permanent or situational) material and spatial arrangements

  • Printing and publishing learned materials

  • Distribution and circulation of knowledge traditions (Digitally) Mapping intellectual networks

  • Cross-cultural and interreligious learning

  • Cultural transfer and cultural appropriation

  • Different national and confessional/religious historiographies of learning, their continuing impact, and their problems

A full list of suggested topics and more details can be found here: https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/ 

It is hoped that we can organise several sessions, with similar papers grouped together (either methodologically or by subject). Before submitting a proposal, please ensure you have familiarised yourself with the conference fees and the available bursaries for the IMC, details of which are available here: https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/proposals/bursary 

Proposals should consist of a paper title, your affiliation (if any), your contact details, and a short abstract (50-100 words). Please send paper proposals to Harriet Mahood (hpmahood@gmail.com) by Friday 20th September 2024.

Call for Participants: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual, Three-Part Workshop, Due By 23 September 2024

Call for Participants

Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual

Three-Part Workshop

Due By 23 September 2024

The Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, are pleased to invite abstracts for the next Studying East of Byzantium workshop: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual.

Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual is a three-part workshop that intends to bring together doctoral students and very recent PhDs studying the Christian East to reflect on how to reflect on the usefulness of the concept of “Ritual” in studying the Christian East, to share methodologies, and to discuss their research with workshop respondents, Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter, and Lev Weitz, The Catholic University of America. The workshop will meet on November 18, 2024, February 14, 2025, and June 5–6, 2025, on Zoom. The timing of the workshop meetings will be determined when the participant list is finalized.

We invite all graduate students and recent PhDs working in the Christian East whose work considers, or hopes to consider, the theme of ritual in their own research to apply.

Participation is limited to 10 students. The full workshop description is available on the East of Byzantium website (https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/studying-east-of-byzantium-xi-ritual/). Those interested in attending should submit a C.V. and 200-word abstract through the East of Byzantium website no later than September 23, 2024.

For questions, please contact East of Byzantium organizers, Christina Maranci, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Harvard University, and Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at contact@eastofbyzantium.org.

EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA. It explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire in the late antique and medieval periods.