The Medieval and Renaissance Student Association (MaRSA) of California State University, Long Beach is seeking individual papers as well as panel submissions for their graduate student conference. The conference will be held at the Karl Anatol Center on the campus of CSULB on March 12th, 2020.

This year's theme engages with the concepts of otherness and problematic identities within the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. Thus, topics that MaRSA would like to engage with embrace the many facets of Medieval and Renaissance monstrosity and identities. As an interdisciplinary conference, we welcome submissions from a wide array of disciplines focusing on the art, literature, and history of the period. Paper and panel topics might address issues (but are not limited to) the following:

Monsters as the other (theories of otherness)

Eco-criticism and Monsters

Nationalism and Monsters

Identity formation

-Gender

-Race

-Sexuality

-Religious Identity

Psychoanalysis (historical actors)

Post/Modern Medievalism

Fantasy Monsters

-Zombies

-Ghosts

-Dragons

-Fairies

-Demons

-Giants

-Ogres

-Werewolves (shapeshifters)

-Dwarves

Cultural/Social Isolation (outlaw)/ Marginalization

Travel Literature and Monsters

Colonialism/ Imperialism

Trans-Atlantic

Disabilities (dwarves)

Medieval Imaginary

Monstrous Bodies

Witchcraft (magic)

Ideological Appropriation

Presentations should run for approximately 15 minutes. Please submit abstracts of no more than 300 words along with a current 1 page cv by email to medren.csulb@gmail.com by february 6th, 2020