SOUTHEASTERN MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION (SEMA)

2023 SOUTHEASTERN MEDIEVAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE

CONSTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION

WINTHROP UNIVERSITY, ROCK HILL, SC
OCTOBER 12–14, 2023

APPLICATIONS DUE 15 JUNE 2023

The mission of the Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA) is to promote the study and enjoyment of the Middle Ages by students at every level of expertise. Professional and independent scholars from various branches of medieval studies—history, arts, science, philosophy, archaeology, paleography, theology, language, and literatures—make the Association’s annual meeting a forum for scholarly and pedagogical growth within those disciplines as well as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration.

As we watch the new silhouette of Notre-Dame rising from the burned ruins of its past, participate in vigorous debates about how the study of the Middle Ages will be pursued now and in the future, and plan to meet on a campus where medieval buildings have literally been rebuilt, we invite proposals for individual papers, whole sessions, or round tables on the conference theme of “construction and reconstruction.” Papers might consider the notions of

• How identities and places have been constructed in various periods of medieval history, literature, politics, art, and culture;

• The ways in which medieval systems of belief, value, and thought have been constructed, deconstructed, appropriated, and/or reconstructed;

• The relationships between form and construction (whether they be verse, literary, political, musical, architectural, artistic, ideologic, etc.);

• Ways in which modern society, countries, organizations, and/or individuals have re-made the medieval in their modern images;

• The ongoing debates about how we conceptualize, pursue, and further the study of the Middle Ages in the 21st century.

The organizers are extremely proud that Rock Hill was home to one of the earliest of the “sit-in” lunch counter protests that sparked the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. The conference will be held only a few blocks where the Friendship Nine were arrested for their lunch counter sit-in in February 1960, and a short drive from the tribal lands of the Catawba Indian Nation. In respect of these important historical and cultural contexts, we particularly invite papers and panels that focus on the ways in which diverse and/or indigenous religious, social, physical, political, legal, and/or economic identities have been constructed and reconstructed in the Middle Ages and beyond.

Submission guidelines: Proposals for individual papers must be limited to 300 words. Complete session proposals must include an overview and abstracts for the 3-4 papers for the panel, or 5-8 bios and an overview for a roundtable, as well as the contact information for all presenters. The SEMA 2023 conference organizers welcome proposals from all medieval disciplines and geographical regions, but preference will be given to abstracts that pertain to the conference theme.

To access the application and for more information, click here.