Bridging the Gap: Classicists and Medievalists in Continuous Dialogue, session at the 54th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 9–12, 2019

We are calling for papers that address ways in which medieval society, texts, and material culture perpetuate and adapt earlier traditions and practices from the ancient world. While papers concerning the reception of literary texts are welcome, we are particularly interested in papers that seek to make connections between ancient and medieval religious practices, local customs and traditions, artistic styles or types of media, persistent urban centers, enduring clans or families, social attitudes towards oppressed groups or minorities, or deliberate political and social echoes of earlier classical forms of government. We define “ancient” and “medieval” broadly in this context. Papers about the influence of Zoroastrianism on medieval writings about magic would be as enthusiastically greeted as papers about the use of ancient Greek political terms to describe Scandinavian Things.

Our goal is to feature a mixed and widely diverse group of speakers, including both classicists and medievalists (and of course late antique and early medieval specialists), who can each contribute their scholarship and expertise to a larger dialogue. We don’t always know what questions we should be asking each other, let alone what the answers might be. This panel seeks to help reinvigorate that discussion and further contact between CAMWS and ICMS, especially at a time when it seems wise for all pre-modernists to hang – and hang out – together.

Session Organizer
Anise K. Strong, Western Michigan University

Session Sponsor
Classical Association for the Midwest and South