Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages, University of St. Andrews, April 26–28, 2016

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages 2016, an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the University of St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies (SAIMS). Entering into its eighth year, this conference welcomes participation from postgraduate, postdoctoral and early career researchers interested in one or both of our focal themes of gender studies or more general ideas of transgression in the mediaeval period.

We invite proposals for papers of approximately 20 minutes that engage with the themes of gender and/or transgression from various disciplinary standpoints, such as historical, linguistic, literary, archaeological, art historical, or others. This year, the conference will  prioritise comparative approaches to the themes of gender and transgression across different time periods and, in particular, different regions. Thus, we strongly encourage abstracts which focus not only on western Christendom, but also the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world. We also welcome proposals which contain a strong comparative element. Possible topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

• Emotional history
• Legal Studies: women in the courtroom, gendered crimes, law breaking and law making
• Orthodoxy and Heresy: transgressing orthodox thought, portrayals of religious ‘outsiders’, monasticism, lay religion, mysticism
• Moral transgression
• Homosexuality and sexual deviancy
• Masculinity and/or femininity in the Middle Ages: ideas of gender norms and their application within current historiography
• New approaches and theories: social network theory, use of the digital humanities