CFP Session Sponsored by the International Peal-Poet Society (9/15/2025; Kalamazoo 2026)

Posted on behalf of the International Pearl-Poet Society:

I apologize for the lateness of this email, but as the deadline for paper proposals for ICMS 2026 approaches (Monday September 15), I want to make everyone aware that the International Pearl-Poet Society is sponsoring/co-sponsoring THREE paper sessions. You can view them on ICMS’s official “Call for Papers,” which is open for proposal submission. IPPS sessions can be accessed directly at: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Index/SponsorList~International%20Pearl-Poet%20Society.



The titles of the sessions as well as information about delivery modes are as follows.

From Here to Eternity: Perspectives on Time in the Works of the Pearl-Poet [Virtual]

Time as an existential concept flows consistently through the poems of the Pearl-Poet. From the conversations of the Pearl Maiden and the Dreamer contrasting human existence and the bliss of eternal life in Heaven in Pearl to the relentless passing of (liturgical) time in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, these poems audaciously juxtapose time and eternity, life and death, vigor and decline in its various narratives. Our session invites readers to explore some of the many facets of time pertinent to a late-medieval English poet and his audiences.

Geographies of the Pearl-Poet: Spaces and Places in the Corpus [Virtual]

The Pearl poems take place in strategically-chosen geographic locations and visionary landscapes. The biblical poems offer detailed descriptions of ancient world cities like Babylon and Nineveh, and the romance-world poems introduce conventional settings (eg. the court of King Arthur) as well as more esoteric spaces like the Wirral forest in SGGK or the visionary garden in Pearl. This session invites readers of the collected poems to engage the broader literary critical conversations around place, to acknowledge poetic setting as crucial to a deeper understanding of both poem(s) and poet in their medieval context.

Medieval Roots and Modern Branches: Medieval Texts and Tolkien's Works [Virtual]

This session is co-sponsored by the Pearl-Poet Society and Tolkien at Kalamazoo. We have offered virtual sessions together during the past four years. Members are currently working on a special issue of the journal Enarratio on ecological themes in the works of the Pearl-Poet and J.R.R. Tolkien. We would benefit from the opportunity to gather and present new ideas in a paper session. The focus on “Medieval Roots and Modern Branches” is particularly timely in light of the work being done on this special issue and on the reception of the theme represented in the “The Rings of Power” series on Prime and the recent release of the animated film set in Middle-earth, “The Ride of the Rohirrim.”



All paper proposals must be submitted through the ICMS website no later than 15 September 2025. While proposals must be submitted through the website to be considered, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions about sponsored sessions, the proposal submission process, session delivery modes, and so on.


Cordially,

Jonathan Juilfs

Vice President, International Pearl-Poet Society

CFP ISSM Sponsored Sessions List for Kalamazoo 2026 (proposals by 9/15/2025)

ISSM at ICMS 2026

Source: https://medievalisms.org/issm-at-icms-2026/

ISSM will be sponsoring four online sessions during the 61st ICMS (May 14-16, 2026). Submissions for possible inclusion on one of our panels listed below need to be made in ICMS’s Confex System by Friday, September 15. For questions on any of the topics, please email the contact person listed after the session description. And feel free to share widely with anyone who might be interested in these topics!

1: Political Medievalisms 

(Michael Evans: michaelevans@delta.edu )

Medievalism continues to play a significant role in the world of politics. This session seeks to reach beyond the many discussions of the Alt-Right to consider other forms of medievalisms in politics, including modern monarchies, real or imagined; the use of medievalism, new feudalism, and historical claims in labor and worker’s rights movements; the Papal Conclave and election of Pope Leo XIV; medieval imagery, language, or claims in political campaigns; recollections of the medieval past in government’s self-constructions or as justifications for actions, etc.

II: Medievalisms in Space 

(Angela Weisl: angela.weisl@shu.edu for now)

Building on several successful sessions on Science Fiction Medievalisms, this session seeks to consider specifically what happens when the Middle Ages turns up in Outer Space. How is the past created in the future, and to what end? How is the Middle Ages imagined disconnected from the planet on which it took place? How does Medieval space get negotiated in Outer Space?

III: Global Medievalisms 

(Angela Weisl: angela.weisl@shu.edu)

This session seeks to consider medievalisms outside of Europe and North America. We are particularly interested in papers on medievalism in the Global South and how European implanted cultures have left their medieval mark far from home, as well as how these non-European cultures make use of, understand, and imagine their own pasts to contrast, combat, or reject colonial medievalisms. We are also particularly interested in how Catholic medievalisms function and create continuity (or discontinuity) in places where the Church has played an instrumental part of colonial implantation of Western culture, and what about its current function might reflect its medieval past.

IV: Medievalism and Costume 

 (Angela Weisl: angela.weisl@shu.edu )

This session seeks to investigate the medieval in clothing, costume, and ritual. How does the medieval influence fashion? What is the rhetoric of clothing at Renaissance Fairs? In LARPing and Reenactment? In Academic Regalia? Papers might consider popular figures, such as Chappell Roan, who inflect the medieval in their costuming, and what it says about how they understand themselves and their public position.

CFP ISSM 2025 Conference: Medievalisms in Time and Space (9/15/2025; Online 11/14-15/2025)

CFP ISSM 2025 Conference: Medievalisms in Time and Space

Source: https://medievalisms.org/cfp-issm-2025-conference-medievalisms-in-time-and-space/

We are pleased to announce that our annual conference will be taking place on November 14th and 15th this year. The fully online conference will be hosted by Anita Obermeier and the University of New Mexico. Our theme is Medievalisms in Time and Space.

We welcome submissions considering aspects of Medievalisms in Time (any temporalities or relationships between them) and Space (inner spaces, Outer Space and outer spaces, contested spaces, geographies real and imagined, trans-temporalities); Trans-medievalisms of all kinds (such as transgender medievalisms, transformative medievalisms, transgressive medievalisms).

While we encourage proposals covering these key themes, we welcome papers addressing any aspect of Medievalism.

Submissions are due by September 15 using the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/NvsV1vxaVbiiNaNo6

If you have questions about the theme or submissions process, please contact Angela Weisl (angela.weisl@shu.edu) or Michael Evans (michaelevans@delta.edu).

Final Call for Papers Reminder: Kalamazoo, Leeds, and NeMLA 2026

We are sponsoring a number of sessions for 2026. All are hybrid or remote. Please consider submitting a proposal and/or sharing with your network.

Thanks,

Michael

They are:

NeMLA 2026 (Pittsburgh/Online)

CFP Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain (NeMLA Session 21918) (Hybrid) (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2026). Sponsored by the Mark Twain Circle of America. Details at https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/2025/08/cfp-twainian-regeneration-adaptations.html. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143541544/2025_CFP_Twainian_Regeneration_Adaptations_of_the_Works_Life_and_Legacy_of_Mark_Twain_NeMLA_Session_21918_Hybrid_9_30_2025_Pittsburgh_3_5_8_2026_.) 

CFP Uncharted Medievalisms: Medieval Borrowings in Games (NeMLA Session 21633) (Hybrid) (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2026). Details at https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/2025/08/cfp-uncharted-medievalisms-medieval.html. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143541634/2025_CFP_Uncharted_Medievalisms_Medieval_Borrowings_in_Games_NeMLA_Session_21633_Hybrid_9_30_2025_Pittsburgh_3_5_8_2026_.) 

International Congress on Medieval Studies 2026 (Kalamazoo/Online)

CFP Magics, Marvels, Metamorphoses, and Monsters: Horrors of the Medieval Past, Present, and Future (Virtual) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026). Co-sponsored by Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association, Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, International Society for the Study of Medievalism. Details at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/2025/08/cfp-magics-marvels-metamorphoses-and.html. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143540648/2025_CFP_Magics_Marvels_Metamorphoses_and_Monsters_Horrors_of_the_Medieval_Past_Present_and_Future_Virtual_9_15_2025_ICMS_Kalamazoo_Online_5_14_16_2026_.) 

CFP Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated: A Medieval Comics Project Team-up (Hybrid) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026). Co-sponsored by Medieval Comics Project, International Arthurian Society/North American Branch, International Society for the Study of Medievalism. Details at https://medieval-comics-project.blogspot.com/2025/07/cfp-medieval-classics-reillustrated.html. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143540696/2025_CFP_Medieval_Classics_Re_Illustrated_A_Medieval_Comics_Project_Team_up_Hybrid_9_15_2025_ICMS_Kalamazoo_Online_5_14_16_2026_.) 

CFP Remembering the Middle Ages: Memories of the Medieval Across Time and Space (Roundtable) (Hybrid) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026). Co-sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, International Arthurian Society-North American Branch, International Association for Robin Hood Studies. Details at https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/2025/07/cfp-remembering-middle-ages-memories-of.html. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143540764/2025_CFP_Remembering_the_Middle_Ages_Memories_of_the_Medieval_Across_Time_and_Space_Roundtable_Hybrid_9_15_2025_ICMS_Kalamazoo_Online_5_14_16_2026_.) 

CFP (Re)Visiting the Reel/Un-Reel Middle Ages: Pathways to Furthering Research on Medievalisms on Screen (Roundtable) (Virtual) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026). Details at https://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/2025/09/cfp-revisiting-reelun-reel-middle-ages.html. Co-sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, International Arthurian Society-North American Branch, International Society for the Study of Medievalism. (PDF version at https://www.academia.edu/143834155/2025_CFP_Re_Visiting_the_Reel_Un_Reel_Middle_Ages_Pathways_to_Furthering_Research_on_Medievalisms_on_Screen_Roundtable_Virtual_9_15_2025_ICMS_Kalamazoo_Online_5_14_16_2026_.) 

International Medieval Congress 2026 (Leeds/Online)

CFP Medieval Temporalities and Comics (Hybrid) (9/20/2025; Leeds IMC 7/6-9/2026). Details at https://medieval-comics-project.blogspot.com/2025/08/cfp-medieval-temporalities-and-comics.html. (PDF version as https://www.academia.edu/143540880/2025_CFP_Medieval_Temporalities_and_Comics_Hybrid_9_20_2025_Leeds_IMC_7_6_9_2026_.) 

CFP Medievalisms Area at SWPACA 2026 (10/31/2025; Albuquerque 2/25-28/2026)

Medievalisms Area at SWPACA 2026

deadline for submissions:
October 31, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Southwest Popular/American Culture Association

contact email:
adunai@tamuct.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/09/01/medievalisms-area-at-swpaca-2026



Call for Papers

Medievalisms Area

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)



47th Annual Conference, February 25-28, 2026

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

https://www.southwestpca.org

Submissions open: September 1, 2025

Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2025



Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 47th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/.



The Medievalisms Area invites papers exploring constructions and representations of the medieval from any number of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. This area is broadly interested in how meanings, uses, and signifiers of the medieval are engaged and negotiated, both in specific instances and across time. Papers might approach medievalism with attention to media (e.g., literary medievalisms, cinematic medievalisms, etc.); historical, regional, and cultural contexts (among others); theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary approaches; and any other scholarly (including scholarly-creative and pedagogical) perspectives and topics.



All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app.



For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/.



Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words and a brief summary of 100 words or less.



For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs & Resources link.



The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2025.



SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2026. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/.



Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/. For 2026, we will be returning to the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to shopping and dining.



In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/.



If you have any questions about the Medievalisms area, please contact its Area Chair, Amber Dunai, at adunai@tamuct.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@swpaca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.



This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2026 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2026.



We look forward to receiving your submissions!


Last updated September 2, 2025

CFP Time and the Outlaw (Hybrid) (9/26/2025; Leeds IMC 2026)

Sharing on behalf of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies.


Leeds International Medieval Congress 2026

6th-9th July 2026, University of Leeds, UK

Call for Papers



The theme of Leeds International Medieval Congress will be ‘Temporalities’

On the official ‘Call for Papers’ webpage, this is described as follows:

‘Diverse notions of the passage of time affected medieval people’s political decisions, economic exchanges, and production of objects and artefacts. Medieval people manipulated time to reflect their gender roles, narrative strategies, views on human ageing, shifts in ethnic or social groups, or changes in public and private spaces.

Modern concepts of medieval time are bound up with our own understanding and (ab)use of medieval temporalities. Whether we construct images of a ‘Dark Age’, or imagine a romantic time of chivalry and knighthood, these projections into the past reflect our own temporal outlooks and how today we organise ‘medieval time’ in a variety of ways that address modern diverse political or cultural agendas, which lie at the heart of our debate on medievalism.’



IARHS session proposal is ‘Time and the Outlaw’


Outlaw stories are like time travellers: they exist in their own time and seemingly outside time. Some of their elements remain fixed and unchanging whilst others are a product of negotiation between the tellers and their audiences, according to the needs of their present situations and ideological perspectives. They exist in a variety of media and in many different genres.

This session, therefore, examines outlaws and their stories through time: what they have been, what they are now, and what they may become. How have they been presented and how has that presentation changed, how might they be presented in the future – and why? Are outlaw stories simply ephemeral wish fulfilment, or do they really matter? What was their function in the past, what is it now, and what might it be in the future?

Outlaw heroes are not necessarily ‘different’ from other people – they frequently begin their stories living unremarkable lives in an everyday world – but their qualities are super-charged by their natural empathy and ability reacting to adverse circumstances created by (‘evil’) others. Their subsequent actions become the subject of myth, legend and popular culture. They speak truth to and about power in every age.

Medieval commentators regarded stories (such as those of Robin Hood) as either mindless diversions that did neither harm nor good, or as carriers of important socio-cultural messages that could be either supportive or subversive of hegemonic practices and beliefs. The outlaw’s relevance in and through time, to whom and why, is still a major subject of academic study and of interest to wider audiences.



We invite proposals for 20-minute papers on this topic. Some suitable Congress suggestions are: Medieval perceptions of time, temporality, and their modern interpretations; People in time; Time as an agent of change; Temporality in political, economic, and socio-cultural relations; Time, memory, and commemoration; Time, nature, and the environment; Medieval temporalities in film, media, digital technology, and Artificial Intelligence; Artistic representations of time and temporality; Medieval temporalities in literature, music, performing arts, and folklore; Medievalism and medieval temporalities; The future of the Middle Ages.

This is a limited list, but proposals on any aspect of time and outlaws/outlaw stories, in any or many media, medieval, post-medieval, modern or future are welcomed.

The session/s will be hybrid, so distance need not be a limitation.



To submit before the Congress deadline, proposals need to be made by midnight on Friday 26th September. There will be a waiting list in operation after that weekend.

Please send your proposal to the session organiser, Dr Lesley Coote, at coote081@gmail.com

Proposals need to be accompanied by a working title, speaker name and designation, and a contact address.

CFP Beyond Commemoration: Interrogating Modern Statues of Medieval Figures (Panel) (Hybrid) (9/30/2025; NeMLA)

Beyond Commemoration: Interrogating Modern Statues of Medieval Figures (Panel)

Submit proposals at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21759

Primary Area / Secondary Area
Cultural Studies and Media Studies / Interdisciplinary Humanities

Modality
Hybrid: The session will be held in-person but a few remote presentations may be included.

Chair(s)
Afrodesia McCannon (New York University)

Abstract

This paper session examines how medieval individuals are memorialized and reinterpreted through contemporary statuary across the globe. Moving beyond simple historical commemoration, these modern depictions serve as potent symbols, reflecting and shaping modern identities, national narratives, and artistic expressions. This session seeks to explore the multifaceted significance of these statues and the diverse contexts in which they are erected and understood.
I invite papers that critically examine the motivations, ideologies, processes, and impacts of creating and displaying statues of medieval figures in the modern world. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: the role of these statues in constructing or reinforcing nationalisms and regional identities; the ways in which medieval figures are adapted or reimagined to serve contemporary political agendas; the intersection of medievalism and modern artistic practices in sculptural representations; the impact of these statues on public memory and historical understanding; and the controversies or debates surrounding their creation, placement, and interpretation.
I particularly encourage submissions that explore a geographically diverse range of examples, including statues representing European, Islamic, East Asian, African, and other medieval traditions. By bringing together sculpture from various cultural contexts, this session aims to foster a comparative understanding of how the medieval past is invoked and visualized in the present, and to interrogate the broader significance of these tangible links to the premodern era.

Description

This session explores how contemporary statues of medieval figures across the globe reinterpret the past to shape modern identities, political narratives, and artistic expression. The session invites critical engagement with the global uses of medievalism in public sculpture today.

CFP Off of the Printed Prose Page: Multimodal Medievalisms (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo)

Off of the Printed Prose Page: Multimodal Medievalisms (A Paper Session)

deadline for submissions:
September 15, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Tales after Tolkien Society

contact email:
talesaftertolkien@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/07/09/off-of-the-printed-prose-page-multimodal-medievalisms-a-paper-session

ICMS 2026, Session 7569

While the pop culture landscape of books and films often borrow from and are inspired by "the medieval period"–as well as frequently disseminated, propagated, and influenced by neo-medievalist works such as those by Martin, Jordan, Sanderson, and Hobb–relatively little discourse focuses on how other types of contemporary works pull from the same and/or similar influences. With the increasing popularity of medievalism in games, music, etc., this paper panel seeks to prompt, deepen, and explore the study and discussion of the less commonly talked about–yet no less consumed–works and how they look to and use popular mis/understandings of the medieval.

Abstracts are due 15 September 2025 via Confex, https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Home/0


Last updated July 17, 2025

CFP Uncharted Medievalisms: Medieval Borrowings in Games (NeMLA Session 21633) (Hybrid) (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2026)

Uncharted Medievalisms: Medieval Borrowings in Games (NeMLA Session 21633)

deadline for submissions:

September 30, 2025


full name / name of organization:

57th Northeast Modern Language Association Conference


contact email:

cscarlsell@gmail.com


source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/27/uncharted-medievalisms-medieval-borrowings-in-games-nemla-session-21633

Games have long used medievalist or medieval-adjacent settings to engage with audiences. Scholars have noted the various connections to be made between popular perceptions of the medieval in games and historical and textual realities of the medieval world. While games may not always make it a priority to accurately portray medieval (or pseudo-medieval) life, there are still important parallels and intertextual references that games use to harken back to the medieval world—whatever version of that that reality they choose to use as a basis, at least. Just like games construct a faux reality for their players, so too have the popular conceptions of the medieval world been carefully constructed through literature and popular culture. Games, as a result, often use borrowed or shared narrative references and storylines to shape this perception and the connection between these texts. For example, in Larian’s incredibly popular game Baldur’s Gate 3, players enter the Underdark and are presented with a sword in a stone that only the correct rolls or actions can release. The blade itself, Phalar Aluve, is a magic weapon from which certain classes and races can achieve great benefits, and this only serves to link it in imagination with the famous sword of King Arthur. This session seeks to explore these constructs and medieval allusions in popular gaming worlds, showcasing their importance to the culturally constructed medieval world and their connections to medieval texts that have shaped our understanding of the past. Possible textual topics include Warhammer, World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, Baldur’s Gate 3, Assassin’s Creed, Pendragon, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Mount & Blade, Final Fantasy, and other medievalist games. Abstracts that explore explicit connections between games and medieval texts/narratives will be given preference, but all explorations of gaming and the medieval world are welcome.



Hybrid Session.


Please use the NeMLA Abstract Submission Portal at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP and submit to session 21633


NeMLA's deadline is September 30, 2026.

CFP Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain (NeMLA Session 21918) (Hybrid) (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2026)

Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain (NeMLA Session 21918)

deadline for submissions:

September 30, 2025


full name / name of organization:

57th Northeast Modern Language Association Conference


contact email:

cscarlsell@gmail.com


source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/27/twainian-regeneration-adaptations-of-the-works-life-and-legacy-of-mark-twain-nemla

This session is sponsored by the Mark Twain Circle of America.



American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1935-1910) achieved lasting fame as Mark Twain, an identity that served as both his pen name and the persona he cultivated for the public. Twain’s writings and his distinctive character have dispersed across time and space, and the resulting Twainian tradition incorporates these elements in many ways.


Importantly, his works and iconography have long been the focus of adaptation. This process begins with the illustrations commissioned for the initial publication of his texts, Twain’s own attempts to rework and expand his stories, and contemporary caricatures of his person, and it continues with retellings of Twain’s stories, linked texts (such as prequels, midquels, and sequels) connected to his work, recastings and restagings of his tales, and new adventures for Twain himself. These adaptations, appropriations, and transformations of Twain appear in diverse forms and formats including anime series, artworks, cartoons, comics, films, games, historical fiction texts, home video releases, graphic novels, illustrations, memorials, musical theater productions, mysteries, performances, plays, radio broadcasts, science fiction works, sculptures, song lyrics, stamps, television programming, theme park attractions, and tourist sites.


Each adaptation regenerates aspects of Twain for new audiences revealing fresh insights into the reception of his works, life, and legacy. They also highlight both the timelessness of Twain as well as his timeliness for the present of each new text that his writings and his person have inspired.


Resource Guide: https://tinyurl.com/TwainianRegenerationRG.


Hybrid Session.


Please use the NeMLA submission portal at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP and look for session 21918.


NeMLA's submission deadline is September 30, 2025.

Recent Book - Fantasy Aesthetics - Open-Access

transcript Verlag has recently published the open-access collection Fantasy Aesthetics: Visualizing Myth and Middle Ages, 1880-2020. Full details and access link at https://www.transcript-publishing.com/978-3-8376-7058-5/fantasy-aesthetics/.

Fantasy Aesthetics: Visualizing Myth and Middle Ages, 1880-2020

Hans Rudolf Velten / Joseph Imorde (Eds.)

4 July 2024, 264 pages

ISBN: 978-3-8376-7058-5

Fantasy novels are products of popular culture. They owe their popularity also to the visualization of medievalist artifacts on book covers and designs, illustrations, maps, and marketing: Castles on towering cliffs, cathedral-like architecture, armored heroes and enchanting fairies, fierce dragons and mages follow mythical archetypes and develop pictorial aesthetics of fantasy, completed by gothic fonts, maps and page layout that refer to medieval manuscripts and chronicles. The contributors to this volume explore the patterns and paradigms of a specific medievalist iconography and book design of fantasy which can be traced from the 19th century to the present.

CFP Remembering the Middle Ages: Memories of the Medieval Across Time and Space (Roundtable) (Hybrid) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026)

Remembering the Middle Ages: Memories of the Medieval Across Time and Space (Roundtable) (Hybrid)

61st International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI), Thursday, 14 May, through Saturday, 16 May, 2026

Co-sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, International Arthurian Society-North American Branch, International Association for Robin Hood Studies

Co-organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College; Siân Echard, University of British Columbia; and Alexander L. Kaufman, Ball State University

Heather Arden has argued that medievalisms manifest as the “survival, revival, or re-creation” of some aspect of the Middle Ages. As such, while they are linked to a particular period of history, medievalisms are not necessarily bound to a specific time or place. The medieval may continue or be brought back within its original location or be reset in distant lands and, even, on other worlds. As Umberto Eco has noted, “people like the Middle Ages,” and, at the most basic level, each of these manifestations illustrates the ongoing appeal of the medieval. More importantly, however, they also display the continued importance of how the era is viewed–both positively and negatively–and shape a unique relationship with those who restore and/or participate within them.

In this co-sponsored session, we seek to ally scholars of popular culture and medievalisms along with those who study the legendary traditions of the Matter of Britain and the Matter of the Greenwood to share new and neglected works that highlight the many ways we remember the Middle Ages and have restored it to life. 

Please post paper submissions into the Confex site using the direct link https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7245.    

Do send any questions to the organizers at medievalinpopularculture@gmail.com.  Submissions are due no later than 15 September 2025.

Please be aware that those accepted to the panel must register for the conference in order to present. Past registration costs can be viewed at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/registration. The International Congress on Medieval Studies does offer limited funding as travel awards and subsidized registration costs; details are available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards.   

For more information about the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, do check out our website Mass Mediævalisms: The Middle Ages of Popular Culture: https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/. 

For more information about the International Arthurian Society/North American Branch, do check out our website at https://www.international-arthurian-society-nab.org/ and consider becoming a member of our organization.

For more information about the International Association for Robin Hood Studies, do check out our website Robin Hood Scholars: IARHS on the Web: https://robinhoodscholars.blogspot.com/. 

CFP IARHS-Sponsored Session (6/25/2025; Southeastern Medieval Association Conference, Cincinnati 11/6-8/2025)

Sharing on behalf of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies:

CFP: IARHS-Sponsored Session, Southeastern Medieval Association Conference, November 6-8, 2025, University of Cincinnati

Proposed Sponsored Session Title: “Confluences in the Robin Hood Tradition”


The theme of SEMA’s 50th annual conference is “Confluences”:
https://southeasternmedieval.wordpress.com/2025/05/07/sema-2025-cfp/


With that theme in mind, the IARHS welcomes abstracts for formal paper sessions to be considered for 1-2 possible sessions at SEMA’s in-person conference.

• How does the Robin Hood tradition explore political, environmental, geographical, natural confluences in its body of literature?
• In what ways does the Robin Hood tradition merge disparate or similar cultures, ideologies, texts to form something new?
• In what ways is the Robin Hood tradition fixated upon or enamored with concepts of hybridity of physical, ideological, or textual bodies/forms? 
• "Confluences" suggests movement, which results in an overlapping, a layering, and/or a merging of objects or forms. As such, in what ways is the Robin Hood tradition (its body of literature, its various media texts) reliant upon existing or nascent textual conjunctions, accretions, convergences, and meetings not only to sustain itself but also to create new works?

Please send to Alex Kaufman (alkaufman@bsu.edu) by June 25, 2025 the following items in a Word Document or a PDF for consideration for an IARHS-sponsored session at the SEMA Conference:


1. Your name
2. Your email
3. Your affiliation
4. A 250-word abstract
5. 3-5 keywords
6. If you will need technology to present at the conference

CFP Fantasy & the Fantastic Area / Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Narratives (5/15/2025; PAMLA San Francisco 11/20-23/2025)

Sharing on behalf of Kristin Noone, Fantasy & the Fantastic Area Chair for the Pacific Ancient & Modern Language Association (PAMLA)

PAMLA Conference: Nov 20-23, 2025; Location: the InterContinental Hotel, San Francisco

Abstract / Proposal Deadline: May 15 (it'll stay open through the 16th for any late ones)

PAMLA general website: https://www.pamla.org/pamla2025/

Full CFP with all areas (my specific areas linked below): https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/CFP

Standing Session: Fantasy and the Fantastic

Area Chair: Kristin Noone, Irvine Valley College (kristinlnoone@gmail.com)

Fantasy and the supernatural, broadly defined, shape many of the most popular contemporary narratives and universes—from Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones, from World of Warcraft to The Witcher, from classical and medieval tales of monsters and dragons to the worlds of N.K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, Tracy Deonn, Nnedi Okorafor, and Ursula K. Le Guin. As a genre, fantasy engages with questions of rhetoric, identity, and power in multiple ways, across multiple media, subgenres, and cultural traditions; the enchantment of fantastic and supernatural narratives has cast a persistent and global spell. We welcome proposals both related to the conference theme, "Palimpsests: Memory and Oblivion," and those not related.

Direct submission portal: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19602

Special Session: Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Narratives (co-sponsored by the International Association for Robin Hood Studies)

Session Chair: Kristin Noone, Irvine Valley College (kristinlnoone@gmail.com)

Robin Hood and other outlaw figures exist as polymorphous, shifting, persistent presences across space and time, inhabiting storyworlds that respond to and reflect the needs of the society in which the outlaw emerges. The Robin Hood tradition is a rich and varied one, appearing across many forms of media and numerous adaptations; outlaw heroes—or anti-heroes, protagonists, or even antagonists—can be found in cultures from the medieval to the present, spanning the globe.

For this special allied session, the International Association for Robin Hood Studies invites papers and presentations which explore the myriad faces and evolutions and representations of the outlaw, from the medieval to the modern, in various cultural traditions and media. This year’s overall PAMLA conference theme is “Palimpsests: Memory and Oblivion,” and particular attention will be given to proposals which incorporate these concepts, but we are certainly open to all outlaw-related proposals regardless of theme—in keeping with the greenwood community spirit!

Direct submission portal: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19616

Kalamazoo Report - More than The Green Knight: Exploring the Ongoing Tradition of Adapting and Appropriating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Hybrid)

We co-sponsored another great session today at Kalamazoo. My thanks to our chair, my fellow presenters, and our audience (both on-site and in Zoom).

More than The Green Knight: Exploring the Ongoing Tradition of Adapting and Appropriating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Hybrid)

60th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)


Session 247 (Sangren Hall 1320): Friday, 9 May, from 3:30-5:00 PM EDT

Principal Sponsoring Organization:

Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Co-Sponsoring Organization(s):

International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB), International Pearl-Poet Society


Organizers: Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College; Joseph M. Sullivan, Univ. of Oklahoma; Amber Dunai, Texas A&M Univ.–Central Texas

Presider: Amber Dunai, Texas A&M Univ.–Central Texas

There Are Many Ways to the Green Chapel: Creating a Resource Guide to Adaptations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Virtual)

Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

Michael A. Torregrossa (he/him/his) is a graduate of the Medieval Studies program at the University of Connecticut (Storrs) and works as an adjunct instructor of writing and literature courses in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His research focuses on popular culture’s adaptation, appropriation, and transformation of literary classics, including the Arthurian legends. In addition to these pursuits, Michael is the founder of The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain (2000-) and The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture (2004-). He also serves as editor for these organizations' various blogs and as moderator of their discussion lists and leads the development of their conference activities. Besides this work, Michael is active in the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association (a.k.a. NEPCA) and organizes sessions for their annual conference in the fall. Since 2019, Michael has been NEPCA’s Monsters and the Monstrous Area Chair, but he previously served as its Fantastic (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror) Area Chair, a position he held from 2009-2018.

Not a Knight, but a Turtle: Looking at Children’s Media and Medievalism through Franklin and the Green Knight (Virtual)

Sam Lehman, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Sam Lehman is a PhD Candidate who studies Arthurian literature and popular culture on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada; her thesis project looks at women and trauma in The Mists of Avalon and Le Morte Darthur.

“Finn is totally getting played:” Carnival Games and Imbalanced Knowledge in Adventure Time’s Adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Prudence J. Ross, Brown Univ

Prudence Ross is a PhD candidate at Brown University in the Department of English. Their work is focused on considering the ways in which poetry, affect, and memory relate to and produce one another in early modern and medieval texts. Prudence’s dissertation project, entitled Poetic Joinery: Remembering the Passion in Early Modern Poetry, examines how the image of the joint in its various contexts – bodily, architectural, and mechanical - are employed in devotional poetry towards establishing a deeply felt readerly memory of the Crucifixion.

In His Own Time, On His Own Terms: Neuroqueer Medievalisms in Jes Battis’s The Winter Knight (Virtual)

Miles Smith, Fordham University

Miles Smith is a PhD candidate in English at Fordham University. Their dissertation project focuses on rhetoric and nonnormative bodyminds in late medieval literature, with a particular emphasis on gender, animality, and disability. They use they/them pronouns.

Funding Request METS

I've been asked to share this by the Middle English Text Series based at the University of Rochester. Do consider helping them out if you can.

On April 3, the Department of Government Efficiency summarily cancelled almost all grant support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  This cancellation had an immediate and destabilizing effect on the Middle English Text Series (METS), which was nearing the mid-point of a three-year NEH grant that had provided essential funding for the compensation of METS Managing Editor and the remainder of our editorial and research staff.  In the days since, we have been scrambling to assemble new internal sources of funding that will allow METS to bring to completion editions currently under way (online and print) and to support further editions in the series.  While we are hopeful that we will soon have a short-term plan in place to see these editions through to publication, that plan cannot succeed without your support.

METS issued its first volume in 1989, and published its hundredth volume in 2023. In November 2024 METS launched its completely renovated website and digital edition (www.metseditions.org):  this offers a new reader interface, intuitive access to the texts, glosses, notes, and introductions, along with TEI encoding of all new editions, improved metadata, and enhanced transparency and accessibility.  MIP has kept all volumes continuously in print, and the METS website (available through the University of Rochester Libraries) has attracted over a half million hits per year from more than one hundred thirty-five countries and language groups.  The Series currently has some sixteen volumes in progress, and plans to publish two of these in print and online this year. The Series is also working on updating all its backlist editions for the new website, including adding TEI markup to each edition.

The abrupt loss of NEH support threatens all of this.  While we have been working over the last several years to transition METS to a more sustainable funding model, we are not there yet. The emergency measures are just that: temporary.  Without new sources of funding, METS will be unable to sustain its staff or operations beyond the near future., 

We are calling on the medievalist community: editors, scholars, instructors, and everyone who has relied on METS for teaching, research, or simply the joy of engaging with medieval texts to help ensure the survival of this vital resource.  METS has long stood as a shared foundation for the field.  Now, its future depends on those who believe in the value of collaborative, open-access scholarship and of engagement and understanding of history. 

To that end, we have established the Russell Peck Memorial Fund through the University of Rochester.  All contributions to this fund will go directly toward supporting METS’ editorial staff and ensuring the continued production of high-quality, freely available editions.   If you have ever assigned a METS volume in a syllabus, cited one in your research, or found inspiration in a medieval text thanks to METS, we ask you to consider giving back.  Every donation – no matter the size – helps sustain the work that makes our field accessible to the world. These donations are tax deductible for US taxpayers.

Donations can be made via our website: https://metseditions.org/donate. This link will take you to the University of Rochester's giving portal. 

If you prefer to donate via check, please send to: University of Rochester, Office of Gift and Donor Records, 300 East River Road, BOX 270032, Rochester, NY 14627, with a note indicating that you wish the gift to go to the Russell Peck Memorial Fund. You can also support this initiative through gifts of stocks and securities; Qualified Charitable Distributions; or cryptocurrency. If you are interested in any of these options, please contact Pam Jackson at pamela.jackson@rochester.edu or 585.281.9061. 

This is a time of crisis for our field and for the humanities. It is also an opportunity for us to come together as a field to protect what we’ve built together and to ensure that METS will continue to support future generations of students, readers, and scholars. Thank you for joining us in our mission.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Anna Siebach-Larsen (annasiebachlarsen@rochester.edu) and Thomas Hahn (thomas.hahn@rochester.edu).

Thank you for your support,

Thomas Hahn (General Editor) & Anna Siebach-Larsen (Executive Director)

Job Posting: Assistant Editor of Year's Work in Medievalism (apply by 5/16/2025)

Sharing on behalf of the Internation Society for the Study of Medievalism:

The Year’s Work in Medievalism is seeking applications for the position of Assistant Editor. The selected individual will work alongside the current editors on future issues of the journal, undertaking administrative and editing tasks as needed and directed. While this is not a paid position, it is one that offers considerable insight into and experience with the operations of an academic journal. It is also an excellent opportunity for displaying service to the field.

Prior experience in the areas of editing and publishing is an asset, as is familiarity with MS software and the Chicago Manual of Style, though neither is required. Candidates for this position should have a strong interest in, and hopefully some prior experience with, researching the reception of medieval culture in post-medieval times. Experience in asynchronous collaboration, synthesizing reports, and providing constructive feedback on writing would all also be most welcome.

The average weekly workload for the position varies based on the publishing cycle. The appointment will be for a two-year period.

Please send a concise "letter of interest" and CV in PDF to Renée Ward (rward@lincoln.ac.uk) and Valerie Johnson (vjohnso6@montevallo.edu). The deadline for applications is 16 May 2025.

CFP Medievalisms Area at SWPACA Summer Salon 2025 (4/15/2025; online 6/26-28/2025)

Medievalisms Area at SWPACA Summer Salon 2025

deadline for submissions: 

April 15, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

Southwest Popular/American Culture Association

contact email: 

adunai@tamuct.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/03/27/medievalisms-area-at-swpaca-summer-salon-2025.

Call for Papers

Medievalisms Area

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

2025 SWPACA Summer Salon

 

June 26-28, 2024

Virtual Conference

https://swpaca.org/

Submissions open on March 25, 2025

Proposal submission deadline: April 15, 2025

 

Proposals for papers are now being accepted for the SWPACA Summer Salon. SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas in a variety of categories encompassing the following: Film, Television, Music, & Visual Media; Historic & Contemporary Cultures; Identities & Cultures; Language & Literature; Science Fiction & Fantasy; and Pedagogy & Popular Culture. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/

 

The Medievalisms Area invites papers exploring constructions and representations of the medieval from any number of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. This area is broadly interested in how meanings, uses, and signifiers of the medieval are engaged and negotiated, both in specific instances and across time. Papers might approach medievalism with attention to media (e.g., literary medievalisms, cinematic medievalisms, etc.); historical, regional, and cultural contexts (among others); theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary approaches; and any other scholarly (including scholarly-creative and pedagogical) perspectives and topics.

 

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app

 

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Summer Salon FAQs and Tips page at https://swpaca.org/faq-summer-salon/

Registration information for the conference will be available at https://swpaca.org/summer-salon/

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer any financial assistance for the Summer Salon.

 

Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Only one proposal per person, please; unfortunately, we cannot accommodate roundtables for the Summer Salon.  

 

If you have any questions about the Medievalisms area, please contact its Area Chair, Amber Dunai, at adunai@tamuct.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.

 

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Last updated March 31, 2025

CFP MMLA 2025 Permanent Session: Old and Middle English Language and Literature (4/21/2025; online 11/14-16/2025)

 

MMLA 2025 Permanent Session: Old and Middle English Language and Literature

deadline for submissions: 

April 21, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

Midwest Modern Language Association

contact email: 

kathleen.burt@mga.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/02/25/mmla-2025-permanent-session-old-and-middle-english-language-and-literature.

Note: this conference has a hybrid format  (both virtual and in-person sessions). This session will be virtual.

The general call for this year, inviting “papers that explore the value of the Humanities in relation to a more hopeful future” in areas including but not limited to “languages, literature, pedagogy, writing studies, linguistics, folklore, film studies, the digital humanities, and library studies”, has broad possibilities within the languages, literatures, histories, and cultures related to Old and Middle English. This panel welcomes papers that address the presence, importance, and/or relevance of hope as a concept, mindset, language, and/or practice in Old and Middle English works of any kind, as well as explorations, arguments, or discussions of the relevance or importance or perceptions of these texts and ideas in both the medieval and the modern world.

Such considerations might take the form of (but need not be limited to) exploring any or all of the following: hope in, with, for, by humans and/or humanity; development of humanism as a literary, scientific, or historical or cultural movement; medieval literature/history/culture and medievalism as sources of study of or inspiration for hope; hopes for the field(s) now and in the future, and/or ways to cultivate such hopes.

 

Please send abstracts of approximately 350 words, along with a cv or brief biographical statement, to Dr. Kathleen Burt at kathleen.burt@mga.edu by no later than April 21, 2025.

Last updated March 24, 2025

CFP UVA Wise Medieval-Renaissance Conference XXXVIII (6/23/2025; 9/18-20/2025)

 

UVA Wise Medieval-Renaissance Conference XXXVIII (9/18-20)

deadline for submissions: 

June 23, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

University of Virginia-Wise Center for Medieval-Renaissance Studies

contact email: 

kjt9t@uvawise.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/03/07/uva-wise-medieval-renaissance-conference-xxxviii-918-20.

Sponsored by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise Medieval-Renaissance Conference promotes scholarly discussion in all disciplines of Medieval and Renaissance studies. The conference welcomes proposals for papers and panels on Medieval or Renaissance literature, language, history, philosophy, science, pedagogy, and the arts.  Abstracts for papers should be 300 or fewer words.  Proposals for panels should include: a) title of the panel; b) names and institutional affiliations of the chair and all panelists; c) a 200-250 word description of the panel).  A branch campus of the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise is a public four-year liberal arts college located in the scenic Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. 

Keynote Address

Frederick de Armas, University of Chicago  Cervantes’ Architectures: Windows, Holes, Corners and Fissures

Professor de Armas’ keynote address arises out of his study of the architectures in Cervantes’ works, especially depictions of smaller architectural elements such as rooms in the attic, shuttered windows and even keyholes. Professor de Armas will investigate other holes, along with corners and fissures, conjugating the apparent insignificance of some architectural features or flaws, with their inordinate consequences. Specifically, his address will discuss the three moments in the Don Quixote in which the story of Pyramus and Thisbe come into play and show how its cracks and fissures are spaces for innovation in Cervantes’ novel. 

Frederick De Armas received his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1969) and was awarded a doctorate Honoris Causa by the Université de Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 2018. He also received the Norman Maclean Faculty Award in 2023. Professor De Armas has taught at Louisiana State University, Duke University and Pennsylvania State University. He has been Andrew W. Mellon Professor and then Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in Romance Languages and Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago (2000-2024). At Chicago, he has served as Chair of the Department of RLL and Director of Graduate Studies. He has been President of the Cervantes Society of America and President of AISO (Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro). He is now Honorary President of AISO and of EMIT: Early Modern Image and Text Society.  He has been awarded several NEH Fellowships and has directed several NEH Seminars.

His interests include the politics of astrology; ekphrasis; the uses of architecture in early modern prose fiction; the relations between the verbal and the visual particularly between Spanish literature and Italian art; and the interconnections between myth and empire during the rule of the Habsburgs. He is the author of numerous books and edited volumes. Some of the more recent ones: 

Writing for the Eyes in the Spanish Golden Age (Bucknell UP2004);
Ekphrasis in the Age of Cervantes (Bucknell UP 2005);
Quixotic Frescoes: Cervantes and Italian Renaissance Art (Toronto 2006);
Ovid in the Age of Cervantes (Toronto UP 2010);
Don Quixote among the Saracens: Clashes of Civilizations and Literary Genres (Toronto UP 2011);
El retorno de Astrea: astrología, mito e imperio en Calderón (Iberoamericana 2016);
Women Warriors in Early Modern Spain (U of Delaware P, 2019):
Cervantes’ Architectures: The Dangers Outside (Toronto UP, 2022).He is also the author of several short stories and has published two novels: El abra del Yumurí (2016) and Sinfonía Salvaje (2019), both set in Cuba in the late 1950’s. Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words by June 23, 2025 to: https://www.uvawise.edu/webform/medieval-renaissance-proposals/ For more information, please visit our website: https://www.uvawise.edu/academics/department-language-literature/medieval-renaissance-conference/ or contact

Kenneth J. Tiller
Professor of English
Co-director, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
UVA’s College at Wise
Wise, VA 24293
(276) 376-4587
kjt9t@virginia.edu  

Last updated March 14, 2025