October 1-4, 1998
The Medieval and Early Modern Institute
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
In the medieval and early modern periods, what sort of boundaries were drawn by and around cultures? identities? geographies? And at the end of the twentieth century, in an era of globalization, multiculturalism, and postcoloniality, what sort of boundaries do we draw around periods, disciplines, methodologies? What happens at such boundaries? How do we resist and unsettle the idea of a homogeneous culture when considering such boundaries?
This conference will attempt to address these questions by exploring cross-cultural contacts and other boundary crossings in the medieval and early modern periods. With its inaugural conference the Medieval and Early Modern Institute, an interdisciplinary group of scholars at the University of Alberta, seeks to promote contact among different disciplines and theoretical approaches involved in the investigation and critical representation of the medieval and early modern world.
Proposals for papers and sessions on any topic connected with cross-cultural contact and other boundary crossing are welcome; interdisciplinary sessions will be given priority. In particular we invite proposals for papers and sessions on the following topics:
--Multilingualism and/or multiculturalism before
and after the nation state
--Early Canadian contact narratives
--Crossing boundaries: women, Jews, heretics, sodomites,
infidels, indigenes, and strangers within
--The production and disruption of hegemonic identities
--Europeans as barbarians and strangers
--War and peace making
--Issues of representation: travel and exploration, mapping and
map making
--Religious polemics/conversion
--Linguistic encounters: "farfetched" languages,
contamination, and translation
Papers must be limited to a reading time of 20 minutes. All proposals are subject to limitations of time, space, and the approval of the Organizing Committee. The official languages of the conference are French and English. Abstracts of 1-2 pages (250-500 words) and a short c.v., or proposals for entire sessions including abstracts and c.v. should be sent to one of the following members of the Organizing Committee by November 1, 1997:
Professor Glenn Burger,
Department of English, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E5
tel.: 403-492-4639 fax: 403-492-8142 email: glenn.burger@ualberta.ca
Professor Lesley Cormack,
Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H4
tel.: 403-492-4686 fax: 403-492-9125 email:lesley.cormack@ualberta.ca
Professor Natalia Pylypiuk,
Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Studies,
University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
tel.: 403-492-3498 fax: 403-492-2715 email:
natalia.pylypiuk@ualberta.ca
