medieval

To submit an abstract, visit the ICMS website. All abstracts are due on September 15.  

Boccaccio and Boccaccian Medievalisms: Representations of Gender in Medieval Storytelling

Dear Colleagues,

Please consider submitting a paper proposal to the panel, "Boccaccio and Boccaccian Medievalisms: Representatives of Gender in Storytelling" for the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The dates of the conference are May 14-16, 2026. The deadline to submit a paper proposal is September 15. This panel will be in person and is organized by Italian Studies@Kalamazoo.

Description

Brenna Duperron and Sarah LaVoy-Brunette are continuing to build the 'Indigenous turn' with some exciting panels for the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 14-16, 2026), which include:

• “The Glo(cal) Middle Ages on Turtle Island” (hybrid panel);
• and “Settler Medievalism: Ideology and Practice” (hybrid panel).

Abstract submissions due September 15, 2025 to the ICMS Confex site:

https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi

Call for Papers

Medievalisms in Time and Space

The International Society for the Study of Medievalism Annual Conference

Fully Online

November 14th and 15th, 2025

Hosted by Anita Obermeier at the University of New Mexico

We welcome submissions considering aspects of Medievalisms in Time (any temporalities or relationships between them) and Space (inner spaces, Outer Space and outer spaces, contested spaces, geographies real and imagined, trans-temporalities); Trans-medievalisms of all kinds (such as transgender medievalisms, transformative medievalisms, transgressive medievalisms).

This roundtable will explore the development and impact of a yearly Joan of Arc themed Carnival parade and affiliated activities on understandings of Joan of Arc and carnival, itself.  The roundtable has alread been approved for inclusion at the International Congress of Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan from May 14-16 2026.

 Key cities in Joan of Arc’s history often emphasize associations with the Maid as important parts of their cultural identities and contributors to their economies. Catholic and secular organizations alike propose tours for those who wish to “live” some dimension of Joan’s history by visiting the sites where she was born, fought, and died.

Call for Papers

Medievalisms in Time and Space

The International Society for the Study of Medievalism Annual Conference

Fully Online

November 14th and 15th, 2025

Hosted by Anita Obermeier at the University of New Mexico

We welcome submissions considering aspects of Medievalisms in Time (any temporalities or relationships between them) and Space (inner spaces, Outer Space and outer spaces, contested spaces, geographies real and imagined, trans-temporalities); Trans-medievalisms of all kinds (such as transgender medievalisms, transformative medievalisms, transgressive medievalisms).

ICMS 2026, Session 7569

While the pop culture landscape of books and films often borrow from and are inspired by "the medieval period"–as well as frequently disseminated, propagated, and influenced by neo-medievalist works such as those by Martin, Jordan, Sanderson, and Hobb–relatively little discourse focuses on how other types of contemporary works pull from the same and/or similar influences. With the increasing popularity of medievalism in games, music, etc., this paper panel seeks to prompt, deepen, and explore the study and discussion of the less commonly talked about–yet no less consumed–works and how they look to and use popular mis/understandings of the medieval.

This session seeks to explore the intersections of embodiment and environment in the Middle Ages, considering how bodies—organic and inorganic, human and non-human, material and immaterial—constitute, shape, and envelop one another. By “naturing” bodies, we seek to erode neat divisions between humans and the natural world to uncover the earthy entanglements linking humans to the environments they shape and are shaped by. Attuning to John Scotus Eriugena’s claim that nature is the name “for all things, for those that are, and those that are not,” we invite papers that reflect on the fundamentally relational ontology of humans, non-humans, and environments.

This session seeks papers that examine points of contact between different languages in Layamon’s Brut and in other prose and verse Bruts.  Papers that focus on instances within the text where speakers of different languages interact are welcome, as are papers that take examine Layamon’s and other Brut authors’ methods of translating sections of source texts and/or incorporating other languages into their text.  The session hopes to advance critical understanding of relationships between language and cultural or ethnic identity, language as a source of power or prestige, and translation as a way of conveying history to different audiences.  What do perceptions of language tell us about the writers and readers of historical texts

Games have long used medievalist or medieval-adjacent settings to engage with audiences. Scholars have noted the various connections to be made between popular perceptions of the medieval in games and historical and textual realities of the medieval world. While games may not always make it a priority to accurately portray medieval (or pseudo-medieval) life, there are still important parallels and intertextual references that games use to harken back to the medieval world—whatever version of that that reality they choose to use as a basis, at least. Just like games construct a faux reality for their players, so too have the popular conceptions of the medieval world been carefully constructed through literature and popular culture.

Prayer was central to religious life in the late medieval and early modern period. Despite growing scholarly interest in religious texts, devotional practices, and spirituality, prayer and prayer books remain comparatively understudied. Prayer could take on a multitude of forms and occur in a range of spaces, from public to secluded and private; from monastic, liturgical prayer to short, indulgenced invocations and meditative prayers that evoked a rich scala of emotions and mental images.  

The word apocalypse contains a paradox. In common usage, it means, “a disaster resulting in drastic, irreversible damage to human society or the environment, esp. on a global scale; a cataclysm” (OED); but the word’s roots come from the ancient Greek for “unveiling." 

                  Apocalypse contains both end and beginning, annihilation and exaltation. The apocalyptic promises death and destruction, yes, but also, knowledge and transformation.  The apocalypse is above all a threshold. Thus, as an object of inquiry, apocalypse calls for the examination of perspective and perception, as much as of semiotics and the historical.