Call for Papers 1: You Are On Native Land:  Understanding Medieval Studies in Turtle Island

The EDID Committee of the CSM/SCM invites papers on Indigeneity and the medieval. 

It has been over a decade since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their report and 94 Calls to Action. Academia was called to decolonize, reconcile, and Indigenize their approach to research, scholarship, and the classroom. In response to a long history of colonial violence from researchers (ranging from tokenism to extraction), Indigenous scholars of the medieval, such as Wallace Cleaves (Tongva), Tarren Andrews (Bitterroot Salish), and Sarah LaVoy-Brunette (White Earth), have stressed the importance of real and thorough engagement with Indigenous communities and thought in this work. This panel builds on the excellent conversations from the 2025 International Congress of Medieval Studies’ “Slow Engagement” Roundtable, which asked medieval scholars to consider how they’ve ‘slowed down’ to be responsible and reciprocal in their learning, approaching, or engaging with Indigenous Studies. This panel asks the following questions: what role has Medieval Studies played in answering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call? What role does Medieval Studies have in reconciliation more broadly? How do/should we continue to engage with Medieval Studies on Indigenous lands? For non-Indigenous scholars, what changes to your approaches have you made? This session will focus on best practices for the inclusion of Indigenous approaches to Medieval Studies and/or on (re)considering the exclusion of Indigenous groups from the larger narratives of the past.

Papers might consider:

•How can we respectfully and appropriately engage with Indigenous methodologies in our approaches to medieval studies?

•How can we engage relationally across Indigenous Studies and other forms of critical approaches, such as Critical Race Studies, Queer or trans studies, gender studies, etc.?

•How have Indigenous communities responded to, engaged with, subverted, or appropriated medieval studies or medievalism?

•How can a field like medieval studies engage with the 4Rs of Indigenous research: respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility?

•What are some critiques of current or historical approaches among non-Indigenous scholars and/or the harms undertaken from extractive research protocols among others?

•What do personal and/or scholarly engagements with Indigenous communities, identities, and Knowledge Keepers look like for different medievalists, and what has been learned from such engagements?

•What has been the impact of colonialism on the discipline of medieval studies? Alternatively, how have medieval studies been an essential tool in colonialism? 

Presentations may be in either English or French and should be 15- 20 minutes in length. Please submit proposals by email by January 5, 2026. Please note that while this is an in-person conference, the EDID committee can try to arrange some Zoom participation as needed for accessibility reasons within the parameters of what is possible at St Francis Xavier University. For Inquiries or Proposal Submissions, please contact Brenna Duperron at brenna.duperron@unbc.ca. 

Proposal Submission Details: Paper proposals must include a document giving the title plus a one-page abstract (without identifying the author). A separate document should consist of a one-page curriculum vitae which includes the paper’s title at the top.

**Scholars need not be members of the Canadian Society of Medievalists to submit proposals but, by the time of the conference, must be members in good standing and are expected to pay their 2025-26 annual membership fees to CSM / SCM by March 15, 2026 if they are not already members.