CALL FOR PAPERS FOR SESSION

MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, AND VIRTUALITY: BEFORE THE MODERN ERA

(IN-PERSON PANEL WITH UP TO FOUR SPEAKERS)

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES, KALAMAZOO AND HYBRID FORMAT, 8-10 MAY 2025

DUE BY 1 SEPTEMBER 2024

The human experience has drastically evolved to that of a virtual existence. Virtual platforms have become indispensable media that reconstruct human relationships, conferences, and even methods of religious ritual. However, this is not the first instance in which humans operated within a religious context where “technology” has been utilized to commune outside of themselves. Presentations will engage with concepts of virtuality, mediation, and technology, and are encouraged to broach such concepts with a theoretical framework. Case studies may engage with material, performative, or literary sources that manage viewer perception/reception --- simulated virtuality, telepresence, or mediation, --- and even question concepts of authenticity.

**Please Note: The symposium will be planned as an in-person session.

Please submit a 200–250-word abstract, CV for consideration, and 4 keywords to https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6500. For questions, please contact the session chair: katharine.d.scherff@ttu.edu , and be sure to list “Kalamazoo CFP, Virtuality” as your subject line. The paper proposal deadline is September 1.