Form and Reform

deadline for submissions: 
November 30, 2018
full name / name of organization: 
Cornell University Medieval Studies Student Conference
contact email: 

Form and Reform

Cornell Medieval Studies Student Conference 2019

The Medieval Studies Program at Cornell University is pleased to announce its twenty-ninth annual graduate student colloquium, which will take place on the 16th of February 2019 at the A.D. White House on Cornell’s Ithaca, NY campus.

This conference focuses on form and reform. From the austere form of life endorsed by the Desert Fathers to the intricate mathematical and architectural forms in cathedrals, from the educational reforms of Alfred the Great to the re-formation of the classical tradition, forms and their constant renegotiation shaped the religious, political, and intellectual life of the Middle Ages. We invite 20 minute papers that investigate form and/or reform in the Middle Ages from all disciplines and perspectives.

Possible topics include:

- Beauty and Aesthetics

- Cosmology and World Formation

- Architectural Design

- Shapes and Numbers

- Monastic Reform

- Social Reform and Class Structure

- Upsetting Form(s)

- Forms of Life, Diet, Constitution

- (Re)forming the Body and Mind

- Genre and Literary Boundaries

Please send abstracts by 30 November 2018 to Sophia D’Ignazio ( sd769@cornell.edu )