renaissance

Please notice updated DEADLINE of 30 January 2020 to comply with organizational requirements at ESSE

The European Society for the Study of English (ESSE)
The 15th ESSE Conference. Lyon, August 31 – September 4 2020

Seminar 29: The Perception and Representation of Plants in Early Modern England (1550-1700)

15th ESSE Conference, August 31 – September 4

Lyon, France

Seminar 57 "Genre, gender and nation in early prose fiction in English (1600-1700)"

Convenors:

Dr. Sonia Villegas-López (University of Huelva, Spain) villegas@uhu.es

Professor María José Coperías-Aguilar (University of Valencia, Spain) maria.j.coperias@uv.es

Professor Karen Gevirtz (Seton Hall University, US) karen.gevirtz@shu.edu

Traditionally attributed to King Solomon and defined by Rabbi Akiva as the “Holy of Holies” among the sacred scriptures (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5), the Song of Songs is one of the most fascinating and controversial Biblical books. Fervently read and carefully explained, celebrated as a key to the supreme mystery of the union between God and men, the Song of Songs, the primary source for the Christian pervasive metaphor of the sacred marriage and eros, was a text crucial not only to the Middle Ages, but also to the Renaissance period. This ambivalent book, which combined a sensual celebration of love with a well-established tradition of allegorical interpretation, held a particular appeal for poets.

“Queer Crossings, Unruly Locales, 1500-1800”  

University of California, Santa Barbara 

Conference Date: February 28-29, 2020 

Abstracts Due: December 5th, 2019 (Extended Deadline)

*Extended Deadline* 31 December 2019

The Witch in Medieval and Early-Modern Literature

In our supposedly disenchanted world, depictions of witches follow fairly standard aesthetic and ideological criteria the role of which is to maintain or, on the contrary, to challenge societal considerations regarding gender roles or normative female bodily depictions. But such standardization does not do justice to the heterogeneity of representations that pre-modern witches actually possessed.

William Shakespeare was Emily Dickinson’s favorite writer and her letters abound with references to him and his works. Dickinson’s allusions to Shakespeare’s writings evidence his pervasive presence in her life but also signal his ubiquitous place in her culture.

In collaboration with the Emily Dickinson Museum, the 2020 EDIS Annual Meeting will be held July 31 to August 1 in Amherst. This year’s focus is Dickinson’s great love of Shakespeare and this theme will shape the usual features of our Annual Meetings such as reading groups, tours of the Dickinson Museum, performances, readings, seminar-style discussions, and talks.

Paul Brown aptly described Thomas Becket as a tripartite figure: historical, legendary, and
literary. 2020 marks the triple jubilee of Thomas Becket: 900-year anniversary of his birth, 850-
years since his murder, and 800-years since his translation. We invite proposals for papers on all
things Becket related for the panel “Commemorating Thomas Becket.” I will be submitting a
proposal for a session at the beginning of January for the General Meeting of the Canadian
Society of Medievalists conference held at the 2020 Congress in London, Ontario, at the
University of Western Ontario, June 3-5. Proposals which address the political, religious,

The London Shakespeare Centre & Shakespeare’s Globe Second Graduate Conference

Negotiating Boundaries: Early Modern Texts and Cultures

 14-15 February 2020

 Shakespeare’s Globe & King’s College London

The Medievalism in Popular Culture Area (including Anglo-Saxon, Robin Hood, Arthurian, Chaucer, Norse, and other materials connected to medieval studies) accepts papers on all topics that explore either popular culture during the Middle Ages or transcribe some aspect of the Middle Ages into the popular culture of later periods.  These representations can occur in any genre, including film, television, novels, graphic novels, gaming, advertising, art, etc.   For this year’s conference, I would like to encourage submissions on some of the following topics:

The Wooden O Symposium invites panel and paper proposals on any topic related to the text and performance of Shakespeare’s plays. The 2020 conference seeks papers that investigate our 2020 theme: Shakespeare, Story, and Adaptation. Topics could range from the art and power of story-telling, legends and tales, or the drive to adapt stories. We welcome unique interpretations of this theme. Next year’s symposium encourages papers and panels that speak to the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2020 season: Pericles, The Comedy of Errors, Richard III, Cymbeline, Shakespeare’s Worst!, Into the Breeches!, and Desperate Measures (a musical based on Measure for Measure).

We are seeking contributions from scholars in various disciplines to submit proposals for chapters to be combined into an edited collection on Shakespeare’s influences on modern day science fiction.

Shakespeare’s influence on literary genres is profound to say the least, however, for some people, the association with modernity and popular culture often blinds the reader from any connection to Shakespeare and the English Early Modern Period. Evidence from science fiction belies this position as Shakespeare in both physical and textual form is a regular fixture on the screen. A well-known example comes from the 2007 Doctor Who episode “The Shakespeare Code” where the Doctor refers to him as “the most human human there’s ever been.”

Durham Early Modern Conference 20208th July 2020, 09:00 to 10th July 2020, 17:00, Durham University

Call for Papers for the Durham Early Modern Conference 2020 is now open. The deadline for submissions of Monday 11 November 2019.

We are also pleased to confirm the following keynote speakers:

·Professor Florence Hsia, Professor of History of Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison

·Professor Laurie Shannon, Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of Literature, Northwestern University

·Professor Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Professor of Musicology, University of Oregon

Call for papers

Trinity College Dublin, 24-25 April 2020

Proposals for papers are invited for a conference on The Senses in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Hearing and Auditory Perception, which aims to provide an international and interdisciplinary forum for researchers with an interest in the history of the senses in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Keynote Speaker:

Professor David Hendy, University of Sussex

Echoes on the Air: How Modern Media Evoke and Dramatize
the Sounds of the Distant Past