Deadline: 1 December 2018
Social Media in the Middle Ages and Beyond: Production, Circulation, and Reception of MSS and Early Printed Books, 1350 to 1550; University College Dublin, July 7 to July 11
This conference theme may be as narrowly or broadly interpreted as necessary, though always with reference to the history of MSS and books from 1350 to 1550, and their material culture. The EBS conference organizers encourage proposals on MSS and books as an early form of social media that promote cultural, artistic or religious ideas; on the making, reading, and ownership of manuscripts and early printed books, especially when influences can be traced between books, owners, or readers; on texts that share content or respond to content in other texts; on the circulation of books or inheriting of books indicated by wills or by annotations in the books themselves; on the cachet of owning and lending books; on gossip, discussion, reputations of books or the libraries that house them; on marginal inscriptions or drawings that comment on the text or respond to those of earlier or other readers; on the social networks in which MSS and books travelled, or perhaps helped to create, among other related themes. Theoretical approaches that engage directly with MSS and books are welcome. Proposals for papers that describe MSS and books owned, made or read by women, along with abstracts that engage with MSS and books from outside Western Europe and/or which place Western European MSS and books in dialogue with those from other parts of the globe and other cultures are especially encouraged. Lectures or proposed full sessions, especially those that consider the transition from script to print, bibliographic issues, or the movement of books within or into Ireland, are also of particular interest.
Send your title and abstract (350 words) along with a-v requirements to the program committee by December 1. These are: Martha Driver at mdriver@pace.edu, Niamh Pattwell at niamh.pattwell@ucd.ie, and Margaret Connolly at mc29@st-andrews.ac.uk (Please include EBS Conference Abstract DUBLIN 2019 in the subject line of your email. Please also send a paper copy of your abstract to Martha Driver at Dept of English, Pace University, 41 Park Row, Rm 511F, New York, NY 10038 so as to insure that nothing is lost in transit. Scholars planning to combine the conference with a research trip might be reminded that the many library collections in Dublin tend to be busy with visitors in the summer months, so booking ahead is advised.
FMRSI 