The Medieval Landscape/Seascape, 25th International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2–5, 2018

Writing about the medieval landscape and environment has a rich and long tradition and is an area in which many of the disciplines that comprise medieval studies have made significant contributions. Scholars working on ideas of the landscape, concepts of space and place as well as in the developing field of environmental humanities have added to our theoretical framework for understanding people's relationships with the environment in the past.

Through interdisciplinary approaches and discussions, the Medieval Landscape/Seascape group hope to encourage a dialogue to begin addressing key questions about landscapes/seascapes in the Middle Ages: What is the relationship between the experience and conceptualisation of landscapes/seascape? What gaps exist in the evidence for the landscape/seascape as a physical, economic, social and cultural phenomenon, and can interdisciplinary work help us to bridge these? What innovative methods and approaches can we bring to the study of medieval landscape/seascape?

We encourage papers proposals that encourage debate with landscape concepts above and particularity related to
the theme of'Memory & Landscapes' for 2018.

The four sessions proposed related to memory are:

1. Memory & Community
2. Memory & Place
3. Memory & theSacred
4. Memory & the Environment/Nature

Memory

• reclamation of empty places, re-use of place
• how places in the past are remembered in the present
• recording and memory tools
• forgetting/remembering,memorials,medievalism
• connections to past places (e.g. ancient wells, forests)
• methodologies to re-remember past landscapes,places, spaces
• religious and use of environment/nature for remembrance/commnuity memory
• memory and place/space
• frontiers, borders, 'edges' of communities/place
• metaphorical margins and places (e.g. marsh, fen, swamps, mountains, islands, forests)
• spaces/places between living and dead
• landscapes of movement
• spaces/places of in-between worlds/cultures
• maps and writing/recording landscapes
• the environments, nature, place names used for remembering

Potential contributors might like to think about the following ideas/concepts when suggesting a paper in the sessions:

1. the place of the landscape/seascape in historical writing
2. landscape/mariitme archaeology
3. medieval urban landscapes
4. the landscape of particular events
5. experiencing the landscape/seascape
6. tools and theories for understanding the medieval landscape/seascape: e.g. digital humanities, knowledge exchange, mapping, etc.
7. different national landscape traditions, including antiquarian and chorographic traditions,and how they affect our understanding of the medieval past

Please send abstracts for 20 minute papers to Karl C Alvestad & Kimm Curran no later than 30 August 2017. Please note that you can only present one paper at Leeds IMC and would be grateful that if you are accepted to another session that you get in touch.

Proposals should include:

• Full Title of paper
• Abstract (max 200 words)
• Which session you would like to be considered for
• Your name, institution(if applicable)or affiliation (if applicable)
• Full postal and electronic contact details (these will be used by LeedsIMC to contact you, post the programme, etc.)

Organizers
Karl C Alvestad
Kimm Curran

Twitter: @MedievalLandSea
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MedievalLandSea