Multiculturalism, Polyglossia & Ethnic Diversity: Conflict, Accommodation & Synthesis in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean, session at the 134th Annual Meeting the American Historical Association, New York City, January 3–6, 2020

The Mediterranean Seminar and the CU Mediterranean Studies Group seeks papers for a panel or panels to be proposed for the American Historical Associations’s Annual Meeting to be held in New York City on 3-6 January 2020 on the topic  “Multiculturalism, Polyglossia & Ethnic Diversity: Conflict, Accommodation & Synthesis in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean.”

The Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean was a dynamic zone of cultural contact, exchange, and innovation, the nexus between Europe, Africa, and Asia, and between the Byzantine, Latin, and Islamic worlds. It was home to an array of ethnic groups, and an array of vernacular and literary languages. Muslims, Christians and Jews of various origins, denominations and persuasions lived throughout the region, frequently cohabiting within the same regions, towns, and even households, engaging in dynamics of conflict and of collaboration, and exhibiting common identities that frequently crossed religious and ethnic lines. Multilingualism, bi-culturalism were common among individuals, and "code-switching" a common strategy. We seek papers that explore dynamics of interaction, transgression, engagement and conflict involving individuals and groups and the strategies they deployed as they navigated this diverse environment.