REPRESENTING THE MIDDLE AGES

The 28th Annual Conference of the

Illinois Medieval Association

25-26 February 2011

DePaul University

Chicago

We’re pleased to announce the 28th annual conference of the Illinois Medieval Association, co-sponsored by the departments of Catholic Studies, English, History, History of Art and Architecture, Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Religious Studies at DePaul University on February 25-26, 2011.

The intended meaning of a work, whether it’s a text or art object or another relic of the Middle Ages, is a well-established topic of discussion across the disciplines that constitute medieval studies today.  What the author or artist originally meant, especially in view of the work’s sources, or the traditions and conventions of its genre, or the author’s or artist’s personal or public circumstances – these are definitive considerations in modern representations of the Middle Ages.  At the same time, the later forms or re-presentations of medieval works, what a work becomes in the view of subsequent scholars or other audiences is equally an important field of study.  Indeed, the recovery or restoration – the “archeology” of the medieval text or artifact, including medievalisms as well as the modern digitization of medieval works, all of these transformations have an important impact on how the Middle Ages are represented.  In a sense, all medieval works are translations, literally or figuratively, re-creations and re-presentations of earlier texts, images, or experiences, transformed by the work of their original medieval authors and by subsequent post-medieval scholarship and audiences.  We invite papers from across the disciplines on this topic, “Representing the Middle Ages.”

This year’s plenary speaker will be James Robinson, Senior Curator of the Late Medieval Collections at the British Museum.  Dr. Robinson has written on the Lewis chessmen and has recently published Masterpieces of Medieval Art (2008).  His areas of specialization include seal-dies and pilgrim badges, medieval reliquaries and jewelry, and English alabasters.  He also led the design and installation of the new medieval gallery at the British Museum and has spoken numbers of times on interpreting, presenting, and making medieval artifacts accessible to public audiences in the twenty-first century.  He is currently engaged in preparations for a major exhibit, Treasures of Heaven:  Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe, which will be shown in Cleveland, Baltimore, and London between October 2010 and October 2011.

We welcome proposals for both individual papers as well as whole sessions.  Sessions will typically be scheduled for 90 minutes, with 20 minutes for each paper and time for discussion.  Proposals should include a short account of the proposed paper (or papers in the session) as well as contact information for the individual submitting the proposal.  The deadline for submitting proposals is October 15, 2010.

For more information or to submit proposals, go to the IMA website at www.illinoismedieval.org or contact Bill Fahrenbach, Department of English, DePaul University, at bfahrenb@depaul.edu.