CFP: Columbia University Medieval Guild Conference

One of the things that's great about being a medievalist in Columbia's English Dept. is the sense of community and tradition that has been handed down through the years. One part of that tradition is the Medieval Guild Conference, put on each year by three or four intrepid graduate students. October 2007 will mark the 18th annual conference. This year's CFP just came out (and I'd imagine some of you have already seen / will be seeing this in your email inbox soon), and it looks like yet another great conference -- expand this post to see the call!

The title of the conference is Medieval Bodies: Traversing Sex and Gender in the Middle Ages, and the keynote speaker is Karma Lochrie. If the format holds there's usually a panel of professors who participate in a Methodology panel. Last year's was particularly lively, and I'd imagine this year's will follow suit. The date is October 13th 2007 -- a Saturday. For information about conferences put on by the Guild in the past few years (as well as other Guild-related materials!), click here (the CFP will be accessible there shortly). For the CFP -- please click on the "read more" below!

Columbia University Annual Medieval Guild Graduate Student Conference

Medieval Bodies: Traversing Sex and Gender in the Middle Ages

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Keynote Speaker: Professor Karma Lochrie

The graduate students of the Columbia University Department of
English and Comparative Literature invite twenty-minute papers
addressing the topic of bodies/ traversing sex and gender in the
Middle Ages for their annual conference.

Possible topics may include:

-- Traversing Bodily Boundaries: bodily/ textual boundaries; transgender bodies; human and inhuman assemblages and gender; sacred transformations; gendered spaces; inheritance and bodies: mothering, fathering, and nurturing

-- Materiality and Gendered Bodies: veiling, bodily marking, circumcision, and similar practices; the marked / sexed body; transformative gendered objects: relics et. al; sumptuary culture and gender

-- Performance and Gender: sacred performances of gender; sex, texts and literacy; gendered literary communities; gossip, rumors and gender; cross-dressing and transgressive performance; costume and gender; queer studies and homosocial relationships; friendship, troth, and honor; masculinity/femininity and violence; war and gender

We will consider all papers on the topic of bodies/ traversing sex and gender in the Middle Ages and encourage interdisciplinary submissions. To be considered for the program, please send an abstract (250 words maximum), along with your contact information, including active e-mail address, street address and phone number, and
any requests for audio-visual equipment. Submissions must be received by August 20, 2007 to be given full consideration for inclusion in the program. For more information, contact medievalbodies@gmail.com.


Conference Organizers: Elizabeth Bonnette, Jessica Fenn, Brigit McGuire