**Please note the updated deadline for submissions***

In his Timaeus, Plato hypothesizes that human beings participate in the same world-soul that animates the cosmos, a microcosm of the wider macrocosm. This analogy proved stimulating for the inhabitants of the Middle Ages and inspired them to explore the connections between the body and the wider universe, as well as the relationship between bodies. This conference likewise encourages scholars across the fields of medieval studies to examine the body, the human, and the spaces in-between.

The SEMA 2022 conference organizers welcome proposals for individual papers, whole sessions, or round tables from all medieval disciplines and geographical regions, but preference will be given to abstracts that pertain to the conference theme and sub-themes:

Medieval medicine and notions of health
Disability studies
The body politic
Bodies and humans in motion
Visible and invisible bodies
Persecuted and privileged bodies 
Human and non-human
Embodiment and corporeality
Gender and sexuality
Race and racialization
The body in medieval law

Proposals for individual papers must be 200-300 words, and proposals for paper sessions or round tables should provide abstracts for all participants in addition to a brief statement of the panel’s purpose. All proposals must include contact information for presenters as well as requests for technology.

The Southeastern Medieval Association's 2022 Conference will take place in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Sheraton Hotel and the adjacent Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, November 10-12. The conference will be hosted by a consortium of area medievalists—Brad Busbee (Samford University), Jill Clements (University of Alabama, Birmingham), Jessica Hines (Birmingham Southern College), and Tony Minnema (Samford University). 

Find additional information at https://www.samford.edu/arts-and-sciences/events/The-Body-and-the-Human