'The Future of Medieval Studies' - conference held at the University of Leeds, 31 May to 1 June, 201

The two-day symposium The Future of Medieval Studies will be held at the University of Leeds from 31 May to 01 June 2018, and marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Leeds Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS) by exploring current developments in the field. The symposium asks, how can Medieval Studies be made more engaged and better reflect the world of the present and the future? 

To answer this question, three closely-connected topics will be explored: The diversity of the Middle Ages, the diversity of Medieval Studies, and the diversity of medievalists. Paper proposals were encouraged to be submitted in a non-traditional format, such as seminar-style discussions, several very short presentations followed by discussion, structured small-group activities, or other possibilities. Ultimately delegates were encouraged to be experimental, creative, and flexible.

Members of our department will host a session titled (Where) Do We Meet? Diversities of Teaching Medieval Studies in the Peripheries.

Registration is now open here.

Thursday, 31 May 2018

10:30-11:00. Registration and coffee

11:00-12:00. Loving the Middle Ages in a Flat World, Richard Utz (Georgia Institute of Technology)

12:00-13:00. Famous Men Who Rape: Chaucer, Edward III and Teaching Medieval Studies in the #MeToo Era, Lucia Akard (Oxford) and Seamus Dwyer (Yale)

13:00-14:30. Lunch

14:30-15:30. (Where) Do We Meet? Diversities of Teaching Medieval Studies in the Peripheries, Gerhard Jaritz (CEU) and Zsuzsanna Papp Reed (CEU), with Skype contributions from Andrea Vanina Neyra (Universidad de Buenos Aries), Ephraim Shoham-Steiner (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), Xu Zhexin (Salzburg), and Dan Knox (CEU)

15:30-16:30. Going Global, Phil Booth (Lancaster) and Adam Simmons (Lancaster)

16:30-17:00. Break

17:00-18:00. Diversity and Decolonisation, Priyamvada Gopal (Cambridge) and Alaric Hall (Leeds)

Friday 01 June 2018

09:00-09:30. Registration and coffee

09:30-10:30. Decolonising the Medieval Islamicate, Fozia Bora (Leeds), Daisy Livingston (SOAS), and Adam Talib (Durham)

10:30-11:30. Medieval Art History: Postcolonising, Decolonising, Eva Frojmovic (Leeds) and Catherine Karkov (Leeds)

11:30-13:00. Lunch

13:00-14:00. Interpreting the Middle Ages for the Game of Thrones Generation, Michael Carter (English Heritage), Maeve Morales-O'Donnell (Courtauld Institute of Art), and Will Wyeth (English Heritage)

14:00-15:00. Diversifying the Traditional Narrative of Cultural Encounter, Adam Simmons (Lancaster) and Claudia Rogers (Leeds)

15:00-15:30. Break

15:30-16:30. Closing Discussion, Geoff Humble (Leeds), Emilia Jamroziak (Leeds), Sjoerd Levelt (Bilkent), Amanda Power (Oxford), Victoria Yuskaitis (Leeds)