Shakespeare at Kalamazoo 1999
The following proposed sessions for the Thirty-fourth Congress in 1999 are
subject to approval by The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University. Shakespeare at
Kalamazoo has organized programs at the International Congress since 1989.
Session 1. Ritual and the Imagery of Power in Medieval and Shakespearean Drama.
This session invites scholars in the areas of Renaissance study, such as art history,
philosophy, theology, music, science, history, and literature to discuss the manner in
which depictions of rituals and ceremonies convey the imagery of power. Papers for Session
1 should provide evidence in Shakespeare's plays of medieval performance
practices and dramaturgical conventions in depictions of rituals and ceremonies. Emphases
will be on ceremonies of arrival and departure, actualizing the "self" through
ritual enactment, and the increasing ritualization, artificiality, and theatricality of
the Medieval tournament throughout the early modern period.
Session 2. Stories of the Body: Medieval and Shakespearean Embodiments
This session invites scholars in the areas of Renaissance study, such as art history,
philosophy, theology, music, science, history, and literature to discuss constructions of
the body. Papers for Session 2 should focus on the representations in Shakespeare's plays
of late medieval and early modern constructions of the body. Topics may include but are
not limited to stories of the body, bodies politic, female authority on stage, and the
self-fashioning of honor.
The Congress of Medieval studies provides a unique milieu for an exchange
of insights on Shakespeare's place in the continuum of culture. Interested parties must
follow rules corresponding to those established by the Board of the Medieval Institute.
Please direct inquiries, abstracts, and papers to Debbie Barrett-Graves;
Humanities Department; The College of Santa Fe; 1600 St.Michael's Drive;
Santa Fe, NM 87505. FAX: (505) 473-5642; E-Mail: debarre@ibm.net
© 1997-, R.G. Siemens (Editor, EMLS).
(PD 8 June 1998)