Jennifer Neville's "Representations of the Natural World in Old English Poetry" and Gillian Rudd's "Greenery: Ecocritical Readings of Late Medieval English Literature" are examples of the growing interest in ecocritical readings of medieval literature. The ways medieval writers thought about and interacted with nature and wilderness are important and relevant in regard to other conceptual frames and formulations that governed medieval thought and behavior. Papers in this panel will address the representations of nature in medieval texts as they pertained to and promoted political ideologies and programs of instruction or colonization. Papers on English and Continental literature are welcome.

This panel will be part of the 2010 International Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo, May 13-16. Please provide an abstract of at least 200 words and include your full name and contact information; send abstracts to Chelsea Henson, email: chenson@uoregon.edu. Deadline for abstracts has been extended to AUGUST 15, 2009.