Conferences Archive
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Listening for the Vikings: Some Evidence from Etymology
Posted on May 18, 2013 | No CommentsThe Vikings left behind several kinds of evidence during their stay in Anglo-Saxon England. Richard Dance notes that 'one crucial aspect is the etymological.' -
Feasting with Early Medieval Chiefs: Locating Political Action through Environmental Archaeology
Posted on May 18, 2013 | No CommentsThis excellent paper was the first given in the session on Early Medieval Europe. It looked at various archaeological excavations in Iceland and Denmark and the political role feasting played in pre-Christian Viking societies. -
Louis the Pious and the Conversion of the Danes
Posted on May 17, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper was part of a very interesting session on the Early Middle Ages. The papers covered Eastern European Infant Burial, the archaeology of medieval feasting and conversion. This paper contrasted the conversion policies of Charlemagne versus those of Louis the Pious. -
Man Bites Dog: Alarming Effects of Medieval Animal Venom
Posted on May 16, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper was part of a fantastic series on mental health and disability in the Middle Ages. It was very humorous. This paper examined various types of bites, the "medieval symptoms" and some cures. So if you don't want to bark like a dog, or lash out at people with your teeth, read on... -
The Queen of Sicily’s Paris Shopping List, 1277
Posted on May 16, 2013 | No CommentsSarah-Grace Heller examines a letter sent by Charles I of Anjou, King of Sicily to one of his agents in Paris, where he provides a detailed order of textiles and clothing that he needed to have purchased. -
William the Conqueror and the Channel Crossing of 1066
Posted on May 16, 2013 | No CommentsWilliam the Conqueror waited several weeks before making his maritime crossing of the English Channel in 1066 - was he hampered by weathered or did the Norman Duke intentionally remain in Normandy, hoping that events in Anglo-Saxon England would turn to his favour? -
Androgynes, Crossdressers, and Rebel Queens: Modern Representations of Medieval Women Warriors from Tolkien to Martin
Posted on May 15, 2013 | No CommentsThis was another stellar paper given at the Tales after Tolkien session. It was an intriguing look at the women of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones and how each author portrays the mother and warrior characters of Galadriel/Cersi/Daenerys and Eowyn/Arya/Brienne. The paper examined the differences and problems posed by the portrayal of women in theses fantasy novels. -
The Meaning of the Middle Ages: Fans, Authors, and Industry
Posted on May 15, 2013 | No CommentsThis was a very enjoyable paper given on the topic of medievalism and the predominance of a European perspective in almost all fantasy literature. Young examined three authors who were moving away from the traditional telling of fantasy by subverting the typical pseudo-medieval narrative or by moving away from European cultures towards embracing Eastern, Aztec and other non-European worlds. -
George R. R. Martin’s Quest for Realism in A Song of Ice and Fire
Posted on May 14, 2013 | No CommentsThis was my last session of KZOO this year and it was the perfect way to end a great conference. This series was dedicated to examining medievalism in fantasy literature with the dominant topic being George R. R. Martin and Tolkien. -
Are We Post-Queer? A Roundtable on the Present and Future of Queer Theory in Medieval Studies
Posted on May 14, 2013 | No CommentsThis was part of an excellent panel discussion on the future Queer Theory, pedagogy, gender and the cross over between Queer Studies and politics. -
Chivalry and Public Disorder in Thirteenth-Century Florence
Posted on May 13, 2013 | No CommentsThe was the second of two fabulous papers given at the my first session on Medieval violence. Whereas the first paper in this series looked at violence in the university setting, this one tackled violence in an elite sphere - Florentine knights and their retinues. -
The Hundred Years War as a Siege War
Posted on May 10, 2013 | No CommentsKelly DeVries aims to correct some misperceptions about the Hundred Years War, and argues that war between England and France, fought from 1337 to 1453, was mostly a war of sieges. -
Student Violence at the University of Oxford
Posted on May 9, 2013 | No CommentsMy first foray of KZOO 2013 couldn't have been off to a better start with, “I just don’t want to die without a few scars”: Medieval Fight Clubs, Masculine Identity, and Public (Dis)order. There were only two papers in this session and both were riveting. I felt like I couldn't type fast enough to get it all in! The first paper was given by Professor Andrew Larsen of Marquette University. Professor Larsen published a book on high and late medieval student violence and the Saint Scholastica's Day Riot at Oxford university. -
Networking Scribes
Posted on May 5, 2013 | No CommentsThis was the keynote paper given at the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference at the University of Toronto April 18 - 21, 2013. -
Welsh Poetry and the War of the Roses
Posted on May 5, 2013 | No CommentsThis is a brief summary of a paper on Welsh poetry, patronage and politics. It was given at the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference at the University of Toronto April 18 - 21, 2013. -
Bite Me: Rude Food and the Anglo-Saxon Riddle Tradition
Posted on May 3, 2013 | No CommentsAndy Orchard, one of the world's leading experts in Old English literature, presented on the tradition of early medieval riddles, and how the themes of food and sex can be found in these works. -
Rhetoric and Ethnicity in Gerald of Wales
Posted on May 3, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper was given at the 2013 Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Meeting at the University of Toronto. -
‘Fromm thennes faste he gan avyse/This litel spot of erthe’: GIS and the General Prologue
Posted on May 2, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper was given at the Canada Chaucer Seminar on April 27, 2013. -
Call for Papers: Light in the Religions of the Book: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Posted on May 1, 2013 | No CommentsUpcoming Conference at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, December 13-15, 2013 -
Pleasurable Forms and Forms of Pleasure in the Pages of the Pearl – manuscript
Posted on April 30, 2013 | No CommentsBahr discussed the poem, Pearl, jokingly termed, 'a formalists wet dream', and focused on its implied relationship between pleasure and form and how it explored the relationship between desire and fruitfulness. -
Reconstructing a Late Medieval Irish Library
Posted on April 20, 2013 | No Comments'It is a tricky thing to discuss a library that has not existed for 350 years.' -
“Becoming Mary of the Gael”
Posted on April 19, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper focused on the comparison of St. Brigit and the Virgin Mary in early Irish texts. -
Call for Papers: The Archaeology of Gatherings Conference
Posted on April 8, 2013 | No CommentsWith 2013 being the year of 'The Gathering' this theme was chosen to examine why people over millennia have come together, often in large numbers, for religious assemblies, social interaction, to exchange commodities and ideas, along with other reasons such as farewells, wakes, political opposition, inaugurations etc. -
Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art
Posted on March 29, 2013 | No CommentsA symposium held at the Art Gallery of Ontario offered new insights into the artistic community of 14th-century Florence. -
Celtic Search Talk III: Irish Classical Studies and the Irish History of Troy
Posted on March 8, 2013 | No CommentsThis was part of a series of papers given at the University of Toronto in competition for a position in the Celtic Studies department. This paper focused on the reception of literature and the reception of the classics in medieval Ireland.
