L'Agenda des Médiévistes

IMC Leeds 2016
Session: Medieval Equestrianism, Theory and Practice

We invite paper proposals on all aspects of medieval equestrianism, for complimentary sessions highlighting:

• theoretical approaches to medieval equestrian studies;
• practical applications of medieval equestrian studies, whether as part of re-enactment, live demonstration or public engagement activities, as well as the application of equestrian practices to academic studies of the Middle Ages.

In addition, there will be a Making Leeds Medieval on Horseback session, to round up the findings of the previous sessions with thematic demonstrations.

As the special strand of the IMC Leeds 2016 is Food, Feast and Famine, we particularly encourage to submit proposals engaging with both horses and food: food for horses and horses as food, as well as other associations between horses and nourishment. However, proposals on all other aspects of medieval equestrian studies are equally welcome.

Please send us proposals of under 200 words for 15-20 minute papers by 15 September, 2015.

Anastasija Ropa, PhD; email: AnastasijaRopa@lspa.lv
Timothy Dawson, PhD; email: levantia@hotmail.com

VII. International Congress for young Cusanus scholars – 21-22 September 2016
Università „G. d’Annunzio“ Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italia
Dipartimento di Scienze filosofiche, pedagogiche ed economico-quantitative

In 1450 Nicholas of Cusa writes his trilogy on the „Idiot“ in which he deals with explicit philosophical, theological and scientific topics. Because of his exceptional character the “idiota” has been particularly highlighted in the Cusanus research of the 20th and 21st century: The „idiota“ is characterised by his specific interest in human knowledge and by his practical and experimental way of thinking. The four books (De Sapientia I and II, De mente, De staticis experimentis), partly written in the region of Abruzzo, offer a broad field of research which covers various forms of knowledge and problems.

We are happy to invite you to the next Congress for young Cusanus scholars 2016 on “Nicholas of Cusa’ books of the idiot: Philosophical, theological and scientific contents” at the Università „G. d’Annunzio“ Chieti-Pescara. Here, the books on the „Idiota“ can be discussed in terms of philosophy, history, and philology.

With this meeting the series of Congresses for young Cusanus scholars will be continued. Its general aim is to support and strengthen the research and further development of the predoctoral and young postdoctoral scholars who deal with cusan philosophy on an international level.

Official languages of the congress will be German and English.

We are looking forward to welcome you and ask you to submit a short abstract with bibliography, and a short biography before December 10, 2015 to „jungcusaner2016@gmail.com“.

More info: http://www.jungcusaner2016.wordpress.com

Until relatively recently, scholars have tended to focus on the symbolic valence of nonhuman animals, to read their behavior and characteristics as representative of explicitly human interests and concerns. With the advent of critical animal studies, new work has begun to critique traditional humanist scholarship by challenging any absolute distinction between the categories of « human » and « animal.” This has led to new readings of animals in the medieval world as living creatures rather than merely figurative representations of human experience and values.

Language provides a particularly rich locus for this exploration. Drawing on a tradition stretching back to Genesis, many medieval writers identified the capacity for language as evidence of possession of reason, that faculty which was seen to separate humans from all the rest of God’s creation. At the same time, many animals were understood to possess language of their own and in some cases to participate in human language. Although medieval philosophers generally deny intention and significance in animal vocalizations, a range of medieval textual traditions suggests that animals were commonly seen to communicate within and between species.

This interdisciplinary volume seeks articles of 6,000-9,000 words from all fields of medieval studies exploring language, broadly construed, as part of the continued interrogation of the boundaries of human and nonhuman animals in the Middle Ages. How, when, and with whom did animals talk in the medieval world? What kinds of communicative strategies did medieval people recognize in the animal world, and how were they interpreted? How was human meaning imposed on animal vocalizations? How does the use of animals as symbolic language in verbal and visual texts draw upon empirical understanding of nonhuman communication (body language, etc.)? How might nonhuman animals remind us of the embodied nature of language itself?

Informations pratiques :

Proposals of 300-500 words should be submitted by e-mail to Dr. Alison Langdon at the following address: alison.langdon@wku.edu

Deadline for proposals is August 1, 2015. Notification of accepted proposals will be made by August 15, 2015, with complete chapters due by June 1, 2016. The volume has been invited for submission to Ashgate and Amsterdam University Press.

Source : Animots

Berne
29-30 avril 2016

Chiaroscuro since Leon Battista Alberti’s De pictura (1435) has been one of the central subjects characterising painting and sculpture in practice and theory in Italy. Primarily, it concerns the articulation of plastic qualities, the formulation of relief, both in painting and sculpture. In the northern tradition, too, chiaroscuro has been highly valued. Through chiaroscuro, the textures of materials and the structural fabric of their surfaces, including their eye-catching highlights, have been evoked. Chiaroscuro goes hand in hand with an intensification of optical qualities.

In the Cinquecento, the significance of chiaroscuro underwent an important change. The evocation of plasticity and corporeality through a chiaroscuro that created relief was now in part replaced by a tonally defined chiaroscuro, which focused on pictorial qualities. This is the case, for example, in the Clair obscur prints, which developed in both, northern and Italian art. These different uses of chiaroscuro are each linked to differently grounded aesthetic commitments.

Within the context sketched above, we want to understand chiaroscuro as a distinctive aesthetic principle. Our chronological focus is on the period from 1300 to 1600.

The following sections are envisaged:

– chiaroscuro and monochrome painting
– chiaroscuro in the context of drawing and prints
– chiaroscuro and sculpture
– chiaroscuro in the art of Leonardo da Vinci

Further relevant proposals may be added: suggestions will be gladly received.

Interested scholars are cordially invited to present their researches and ideas in the framework of the conference. Please send your abstract (max. 300 words) for a c. 20-minute presentation together with your Curriculum Vitae by August 15, 2015 by email to: claudia.lehmann@ikg.unibe.ch

Presenters will be contacted in September 2015.

Source : blog de l’ApAhAu