Barcelona
20­-22 May 2015

All this was shewde by thre partes, that is to sey by bodyly syght, and by worde formyde in my vnderstondyng, and by goostcly syght.
(Juliana de Norwich, Shewings, Long Version, 9, 29­30).

The rose’s red hue, its intoxicating scent and its thorns show us the many faces of this flower’s truth. Senses are the ways through which humans interact with the world and develop their life learning.

For its connection to pleasure and joy, senses have been dually interpreted as sources of sin and immorality yet also as paths of knowledge, since through them we can reach a universe of perceptions which encourage experimentation ­and thus, relation­ with our surroundings and with our inner self. Julian of Norwich, an English theologian and mystic, expressed with simplicity in the words cited above how she had knowledge of the divine: three types of visions connected to different senses.

In this new researchers’ encounter we seek to open the door to the multiples insights and reflections about senses and sensuality in the Middle Ages, offering a wide range of aspects linked to the multiple narratives which this issue inspires: the ways of knowledge, sensory and spiritual pleasure, or artistic and literary forms which have captured the sensorial universe in the Middle Ages.

With a distinctly interdisciplinary intention, the congress aims to give voice to innovative researches on multiple and corresponding fields, such as History, Philosophy, History of Art or Philology, among others. Our main objective with this call is to help build new spaces of creation and of transmission of knowledge, thus confronting the specialization and compartmentalization of expertises usually attributed to the academic world. The accepted papers will define the final sections in which the congress will be divided.

Call for papers

Proposals will be accepted until October 31st 2014. You can send your texts in a word or OpenDocument text format, to the address arditcongress2015@gmail.com. You will receive an acceptance/refusal answer from the scientific committee before November 30th.

Abstracts extension: maximum 300 words.

Key words: maximum 5 concepts.

Languages accepted: The congress’ official languages are Catalan, Spanish and English. Likewise, we welcome proposals in French, Italian and Portuguese as well. Selected presentations in any Romanic language should include an English presentation (*ppt) or a handout in English including a summary of the content.

Personal details required:

• Name and surname.
• Institution.
• Title of the paper or poster.
• Contact details: email, phone number (optional).

Inscription price for participants: 25 euros (free of charge for ARDIT members).

Lecture timing:
Papers: 20 minutes
Posters: 5 minutes

Publication:

One of the main aims of our meeting is to spread the scientific results of the congress, publishing a selection of the best contributions. We will propose to ways of publication, as we did in the past edition of the congress:

Spaces of Knowledge: Four Dimensions of Medieval Thought (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, in press).
SVMMA. Revista de Cultures Medievals, N. 3, primavera 2014 (Institut de Recerca en Cultures Medievals ­ Universitat de Barcelona). [link to journal]

Organizing Committee
ARDIT Medieval Cultures Coordinator: Carme Muntaner

Contact details
arditcongress2015@gmail.com
http://arditculturesmedievals.weebly.com

Information related to the accommodation in Barcelona and other useful information coming soon on ArditCongress’ website: http://arditcongress.weebly.com

With the support of:
Institut de Recerca en Cultures Medievals (IRCVM)
Màster en Cultures Medievals de la Universitat de Barcelona Societat Catalana de Filosofia (filial of Institut d’Estudis Catalans)