Marie de France Translations/Adaptations Roundtable Help for Kalamazoo 2027

Sharing on behalf of the organizers. Updated deadline 9/20/2026.

 

Reimagining Marie de France: Adaptations, Translations, and Fan-Fiction (A Roundtable)

Description

The Lais of Marie de France have been the subject of a number of translations, adaptations, and even fan-fiction. There are medieval translations like the Old Norse Strengleikar, contemporary adaptations such as Emilie Mercier’s animated short film and Kel McDonald’s graphic novel, and even novels about Marie de France, like Lauren Groff’s Matrix, a sort of fan-fiction that re-imagines the context of Marie’s Lais. This roundtable seeks contributions on any aspect of translating, adapting or re-interpreting Marie de France, using any methodological approach, in order to better define the history and significance of the works of Marie de France.

Submit an Abstract to this Session

CFP Medievalisms in Times of (mis)information (9/1/2026; Online 10/9-10/2026)

Medievalisms in Times of (mis)information

deadline for submissions:
September 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
International Society for the Study of Medievalisms

contact email:
anchietaguerra@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/07/02/medievalisms-in-times-of-misinformation




In 1996, Carl Sagan warned us of a time when people would lose their ability to question, “when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few . . . when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.” Maybe Mr Sagan was somewhat pessimistic when writing The Demon-Haunted World. But then again, in times of conspiracy theories, Ancient Aliens, Antivaxxers, and Holocaust Deniers, the Age of Information appears just as capable of spreading dangerous frauds and charlatans as it is of disseminating reliable scholarship.


Now we witness a Minister of War, an evangelical, tattooed with the medieval crusader motto “Deus vult”, calling for an American Crusade. In another country, we see the memory of the Knights Templar invoked again and again as a founding myth to justify a quasi-manifest destiny. And all over the world, the achievements of our predecessors are often discarded as impossible, explained as the works of aliens, supernatural forces, or ancient lost (often white) civilisations, disregarding the works of historians, archaeologists, and other researchers. The past is ripe for conspiracies, and the Middle Ages are a particularly fruitful part of it.


The Studies of Medievalisms, often in dialogue with disciplines like Literature, History, Cultural Studies, and others, may not always identify itself as a hard Science. Nevertheless, it is still an academic field with its own methodologies, structures, and rigour. Faced with this encroaching darkness, as Sagan would say, we invite scholars to submit papers examining the multiple challenges of researching medievalisms and how we should address the growing spread of disinformation. Of course, other themes related to medievalisms, neo-medievalisms and the reception of the medieval as a whole are all welcome.


Organised by the ISSM (International Society for the Study of Medievalisms), the annual conference is the oldest to be entirely dedicated to the subject of medievalisms, and this year, for the first time, it will be taking place in the South Americas, Brazil. For this to be possible, we will be working with the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) to promote dialogue with professors and researchers from different countries and institutions, “aiming to connect the public with scholars engaged in Medievalism Studies around the world.”


The conference is accepting papers and entire sessions via this link. Submissions are open until September 01, 2026.


This is a 100% online conference, which will take place between October 9 and 10. More information about the guests, keynotes, and schedules will start to be published soon.


For more information, please email us.


Proposal:
– Each participant may submit up to 2 papers.
– Proposals for entire sessions can include a maximum of up to 6 people divided into two tables of 3.
– English will be considered the default language. Sessions in Portuguese, French, and Spanish will only be considered if there are enough papers to fill them.
– The themes of the proposals must include medievalisms, neo-medievalisms, or medieval reception. Papers that work with representations and memories of the medieval period and the history of historiography about the period are also welcome.
– In addition to the abstract (maximum of 500 words), it is possible, but not mandatory, to send the full text upon registration. This can assist in the evaluation of the proposal.
– For proposals for a complete session, the abstract must (in up to 600 words) describe the theme as a whole, as well as clearly identify what each proponent will talk about.

Evaluation:
– The evaluation, acceptance, or elimination of submission is the conference’s Organization’s responsibility through a double-blind peer-reviewing process.

General Observations:
– The certificate of presentation will be issued only to presenters who were not absent during the entire panel in which they participated.
– The result will be published on September 15, 2026
– The presenter’s fee will be $20 for Staff and $5 for Students and Independent Scholars. Any requests to waive the fee should be sent to our email BEFORE the deadlines.


Last updated July 14, 2026

CFP Fostering Interpretive Communities in the Classroom and Research through Adaptation Studies (Roundtable) (Virtual) (9/30/2026; NeMLA 3/6-9-2027)

Fostering Interpretive Communities in the Classroom and Research through Adaptation Studies (Roundtable) (Virtual)

Co-organizers Michael A. Torregrossa and Carl B. Sell

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

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2026

58th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Salve Regina University (Newport, RI)/Online.

Hybrid event: 6-9 March 2027


This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Rationale

Explorations of adaptations offer many ways to investigate the conference theme of Empowering Communities. Adaptations, especially contemporary ones, create opportunities for inclusion that may not have been present in the source. This forges a new space for receivers of the text to connect to its narrative. Highlighting how and why these new works appeal to and have an effect on us can help our students (and ourselves) relate to older material and see the ways that a story can find new relevance.

Topics might include adaptations that recast, reset, and/or restage a text; adaptations that rewrite and/or reboot a text; adaptations that expand texts (such as prequels, midquels, or sequels); and adaptations that present ways to remedy problematic texts and authors.

We welcome investigations of adaptations across all media, as well as adaptation within transmedia franchises/universes.

Submission Instructions

All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22514 by 30 September 2026. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, Brief Bio, Media Needs, and Modality. This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Notification on the status of your submission will be made by 16 October 2026. If accepted, NeMLA asks you to confirm your participation with the session chairs by accepting their invitation and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2026. For the 2027 Convention, registration will be the same for in-person and remote attendance. (See NeMLA’s Membership and Registration page, at https://www.nemla.org/about/members.html, for full details.)


Be advised of the following policies for the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of any type. Registrants at NeMLA may not present the same abstract/paper on two different sessions. (See NeMLA’s Presenter Policies page, at https://www.nemla.org/convention/policies.html, for further details. Information on Session Types can be found at https://www.nemla.org/convention/sessions.html.)


NeMLA offers limited funding for travel to graduate students and to contingent faculty, adjunct instructors, independent scholars, and two-year college faculty. Details can be found at NeMLA’s Travel Awards page at https://www.nemla.org/awards/travel.html.


Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at MedievalinPopularCulture@gmail.com.


For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our blog, Mass Mediævalisms: The Middle Ages of Popular Culture, at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.

CFP Medievalist Fantasy and Science Fiction (6/13/2026; NEPCA 10/15-17/2026 online)

Northeast Popular Culture Association conference
15-17 October 2026
ONLINE SESSION


Session Proposal:

Medievalist Fantasy and Science Fiction

This session intends to put together discussions about medievalist fantasy and medievalist science fiction. It could be argued that medievalist fantasy is more related to the historical Middle Ages while science fiction medievalism is more generic, hence it includes elements of medieval provenance, yet without resorting to the historical period. Yet medievalist science fiction has been trying to overcome this limitation and increasingly there are analyses of how medieval history and literature reverberates in sci-fi. On the other hand, medievalist elements in fantasy that do not point to specific elements in the history or literature need to be adequately addressed as well.

Please send an abstract of up to 250 words to: annaczarnowus@op.pl
The deadline for the abstracts is 13 June 2026

CFP Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America (6/1/2026; Toronto 4/15-17/2027)

From the Medieval Academy of America:

MAA News – 2027 Call for Papers

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Chris

Source: https://www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-news-2027-call-for-papers-3/.

The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will take place on the campus of the University of Toronto, 15-17 April, 2027. The meeting is hosted by The Centre for Medieval Studies, in partnership with the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Canadian Society of Medievalists. The Annual Meeting will be held at Trinity College and St Michael’s College, two of the federated colleges in the University of Toronto college system. Scholars may wish to extend their visit and take advantage of opportunities for research at the library of the Pontifical Institute, one of the premier research libraries in Medieval Studies.


The Program Commitee welcomes innovative panels that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries or that use various disciplinary approaches to examine an individual topic. We encourage papers on Asia, Africa, the Middle East, or Eastern Europe and the networks and exchanges between East and West.

Click here for more information and to submit a proposal. Proposals must be submitted by 1 June 2026.

CFP Vikings and Norse Myths in Post-Medieval Reception (9/15/2026)

This came up in my feed in Academia.Edu. 

UPDATED: The main page for the call is at https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/scandia/announcement/view/1076.

Call for papers: 

Vikings and Norse Myths in Post-Medieval Reception

Scandia 9, 2026, Deadline: September 15, 2026. Editors: Dr. Susan Filoche-Rommé, Dr. Alberto Robles Delgado, Dr. Johnni Langer. Editing support: Reception Research Group (University of Alcalá).

“Viking! There are few words whose radiance is as magical as this one. Barely uttered, it evokes a legendary aura and a body of imagery that is more or less conventional” (Régis Boyer, Le mythe viking dans les lettres françaises, 1986, p. 9). Reception studies regarding the Vikings is essential for an in-depth understanding not only of art, literature, and the media, but also of the historiography of the Viking Age, as it has been constructed since the nineteenth century. Initially shaped by nationalist and Romantic idealisations — particularly through the rediscovery and reinterpretation of the Icelandic sagas — the image of the Viking gradually consolidated into a set of powerful stereotypes, many of which continue to inform cultural production and even academic discourse today.

A similar process can be observed in the reception of Norse mythology. Since the so-called Nordic Renaissance inaugurated by the work of Paul-Henri Mallet in the mid-eighteenth century, Norse myths have become one of the central symbolic repertoires mobilised by Romantic artists and political thinkers to construct, negotiate, or contest national identities in contexts such as Germany, England, France, and the Scandinavian countries. During the twentieth century, Norse mythology increasingly intersected with what has been described as “Vikingmania”, acquiring a pronounced dimension of popular entertainment while retaining strong ideological and idealised connotations, particularly in North-American popular culture, as well as forms of social validation within contemporary movements of Nordic paganism. As Christopher Abram has noted, “Norse myths make up one of the world’s great mythologies, and their popularity shows no sign of diminishing in the twenty-first century” (Myths of the Pagan North, 2011).
This dossier aims to bring together studies on the post-medieval reception of Vikings and Norse myths in the Western world, from the late Middle Ages to the present. It welcomes contributions addressing their representation and reinterpretation in the arts (including theatre, opera, visual arts, and music), in literature, in academic research (archaeology, history, literary studies), and in popular and mass media such as comics, cinema, television, and digital culture. Contributors are invited to examine a wide range of written, visual, musical, architectural, and monumental sources.

Methodologically, the dossier is grounded in reception studies and related approaches such as Neomedievalism, the uses of the past, and the invention of tradition. Particular attention is given to how different recipients — artists, politicians, scholars, and diverse publics — have interpreted, appropriated, and repurposed figures and narratives associated with the Viking world and Norse mythology. Rather than treating myths and historical images as static survivals, the contributions should approach them in terms of dynamic cultural artefacts, shaped by the social, ideological, and belief systems of each historical context. In this sense, reception is understood as an active and historically situated process of appropriation, through which the past is continuously reimagined and resignified.

Contributions should be sent in English, Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese. Submissions must be sent no later than September 15, 2026, only through the website: https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/scandia

Scandia Journal may also accept papers whose subject is not related to this dossier. In this case, the approved papers may be included in the free article section, and the deadline is the same. The free article section accepts papers regarding any area or field of Scandinavian Studies related to the Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia. 

Scandia Journal of Medieval Norse Studies (ISSN: 2595-9107, Qualis-Capes A4).
Contact and information: scandiajournalneve@gmail.com

Reception Research Group: https://reception.web.uah.es

CFP Wooden O Symposium 2026 (3/31/2026; Utah 8/3-5/2026)

Wooden O Symposium

deadline for submissions:
March 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Southern Utah University-Utah Shakespeare Festival

contact email:
tvordi@suu.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/01/09/wooden-o-symposium

August 3-5, 2026

Southern Utah University - Utah Shakespeare Festival



The Wooden O Symposium is a cross-disciplinary conference exploring the impact of Shakespeare's plays on culture and history, from his time to the present. This face-to-face conference aims to foster research in the field of Shakespeare Studies and to provide connections between academia and professional theatre productions through our partnership with the Utah Shakespeare Festival. The Wooden O Symposium limits participation to 25 presenters to ensure robust conversation and feedback as we strive to create a community of scholars engaged with the work of Shakespeare.

Our 2026 keynote speaker is Dr. Daniel Vitkus, Rebeca Hickel Endowed Chair in Elizabethan Literature at the University of California, San Diego

We invite proposals for presentations on any topic relating to Shakespeare and his plays, including:

• Shakespeare and Adaptation
• Shakespeare in Performance
• Shakespeare and History, Culture, and Society
• Shakespeare and Rhetoric
• Shakespeare and the Arts
• Shakespeare and his Global Contemporaries
• Theoretical Approaches

We also encourage papers and presentations speaking to the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2026 summer season: Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night. Conference registration includes 1 ticket to Troilus and Cressida and 1 to Hamlet, as well as 50% off any USF ticket from August 3-5 for you and your guests.

The deadline for proposals is March 31, 2026. Please include a 200-250-word abstract and the following information:

• name of presenter
• participant category (faculty, graduate student, or independent scholar)
• college/university affiliation
• email address
• audio/visual requirements and any other special requests.

All abstracts should be submitted through the following link: 2026 Wooden O Symposium Submission Form

For more information, please contact the conference co-organizers, Scott Knowles at scottknowles@suu.edu or Jessica Tvordi at tvordi@suu.edu


Last updated January 9, 2026

CFP Echoes of Shakespeare: Intertextual Dialogues across Centuries (6/1/2026)

Echoes of Shakespeare: Intertextual Dialogues across Centuries

deadline for submissions:
June 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Rachel Wifall / Saint Peter's University

contact email:
rwifall@saintpeters.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/01/18/echoes-of-shakespeare-intertextual-dialogues-across-centuries

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that submissions are open for the upcoming Special Issue, Echoes of Shakespeare: Intertextual Dialogues across Centuries. The Guest Editor, Rachel Wifall (Saint Peter’s University), welcomes articles that consider how the works of William Shakespeare have informed other artists and thinkers over time. Literature (ISSN 2410-9789) provides an advanced forum for studies related to the literature of all times and places. It publishes reviews, regular research papers, and short communications, as well as Special Issues on particular subjects. For this Special Issue, studies in intertextuality, adaptation, and appropriation are encouraged, from diverse fields such as history, philosophy, theater, music, film, and media studies. Since Shakespeare remains the most influential and most adapted English author, this issue aims to update the ongoing conversation between the works of Shakespeare and subsequent generations. While papers considering contemporary literature and other art forms are encouraged, studies are welcome that look back into history, as far as the seventeenth century.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr. Rachel Wifall (rwifall@saintpeters.edu), and CC the Section Managing Editor of Literature, Ms. Joyce Xi (joyce.xi@mdpi.com). The guest editor will review abstracts for the purpose of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/literature/special_issues/7099MS9755



Last updated January 20, 2026

CFP Medieval Feminist Forum

Cross-posted from our listserv Forever Medieval. 

Dear all,

I write on behalf of Lynn Shutters and myself, to invite you to consider Medieval Feminist Forum as an outlet for your scholarly work on medievalism. As the recently appointed co-editors of Medieval Feminist Forum, we would like to warmly invite submissions of articles for consideration. We welcome work from scholars at all stages of their careers. While literature and history are traditional strengths of the journal, we also welcome papers across disciplines.

Because we have a number of very exciting special issues in the publishing pipeline at the moment, including Intersections of Gender and Genres in Medieval Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and New Visions for Julian of Norwich, we are not accepting proposals for complete issues at this time.

You can find more information about MFF and submission policies here:
https://wmich.edu/medievalpublications/journals/mff

Also feel free to contact either Lynn (lynn.shutters@colostate.edu) or me (lbarnhouse@astate.edu) directly with any questions.

All best,
Lucy


Dr. Lucy C. Barnhouse (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor of History, Arkansas State University
Director, Medieval and Renaissance Studies minor
Co-edited with Winston Black: Beyond Cadfael: Medieval Medicine and Medical Medievalism
Now out: Hospitals in Communities of the Late Medieval Rhineland
Podcaster, Footnoting History

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.

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/.