After more than a year of distancing, the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium is pleased to announce our theme, Contact|Touch, for the 47th Colloquium, which will take place in-person, April 8-9, 2022, on the campus of the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. Registration is now open, and our conference program is now available.
Colloquium Format: One of the unique elements of the Colloquium is its use of a respondent-format. Papers for each panel are pre-circulated to a selected respondent 1 month before the conference meeting. The respondent takes this time to read each paper and create a response that addresses the individual papers and poses questions for the panelists. This guarantees that each presenter has the opportunity for an established scholar to engage with their work, and the responses set the initial terms for the questions and conversation at the end of each panel.
Commenters are generally established figures in the field with a significant record of publication; participants in the Colloquium are generally limited to holders of a Ph.D. and those currently in a Ph.D. program.
COVID Considerations: After much discussion and debate, including taking into account the preferences and needs of our accepted panelists, we have decided to attempt an in-person conference this year. We will be asking participants to be vaccinated, and masking in all academic buildings is mandatory for all visitors (and students) on campus. We are also working with our public health officials to see what other safety measures we can put in place to help people feel comfortable and safe attending the conference. Our campus is currently almost entirely vaccinated (students, faculty, and staff), and because of our remote location and small size, we are able to keep very close track on the number of positive cases we are currently experiencing. This information is also always available to the public through our campus COVID dashboard.
With that said, we are also cognizant that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and that it might well be impossible for people with young children, with compromised health, or who care for elderly or at-risk family members to travel. Therefore, we will do our best to accommodate these participants by offering a remote option for the conference. Because of our size, we have limited options for spaces on campus with hybrid capabilities, but we shall do our utmost to make sure as much of the conference is accessible as we can.
When you register for the conference, you will be asked if you plan on attending as an in-person guest or as a remote guest. We will also send out a second poll, with the same question, 2 weeks before the conference to determine if current pandemic conditions have altered your travel plans. One final caveat: while we are optimistic about the future, if conditions under the current omicron surge change dramatically before the conference begins, we will consider moving the conference entirely online. In this event, we will refund fees and attempt to pivot to a fully-remote version. We don't anticipate this, but in these times it seems unwise to rule anything out absolutely.
We have three exciting plenary speakers for this year's event. Our two plenary lectures will come from Dr. Hussein Fancy and Dr. Elina Gertsman. As a special event this year, Jos Charles will be offering a reading from her work, with conversation to follow.
Here is where you can find information about the sub-themes that have been organized as part of the Colloquium for 2022. You may submit to one of these themes, or to the general call for papers.
Proposals for papers can touch on any aspect of the general theme, and we encourage proposals from medievalists of any discipline and any geographic area. Scholars can apply to the general call, or to specific sub-themes (available here). We accept proposals from anyone with a Ph.D. or who is in the process of gaining a doctorate. Abstracts should be submitted by November 1st, 2021.
We also invite participants to submit whole panels of papers, that is, a pre-organized panel. Professional organizations often submit panels from among their membership, but individuals or institutions are also invited to do the same. To submit a full panel, you need to send a description of the panel, a CV and abstract for the papers you would like to include, and suggestions for possible respondents. Panel proposals are due November 1st, 2021.
You may also submit by email, if you prefer.
Homepage |
Travel Info |
