Books and Transgressions: 50th New England Medieval Consortium Conference and Quinquagenary Celebration
Friday, November 15, 2024 - Saturday, November 16, 2024听|听Boston College & Tufts University鈥� | Please to Attend
The Friday, November 15 event is going to take place in听Special Collections, Tisch Library, Tufts University听35 Professors Row听Medford, MA 02155.
The 2024 conference听will mark the quinquagenary (fiftieth anniversary) of the NEMC鈥檚 founding. As the conference returns to Boston College for the first time since 1981, we hope to make it an especially festive occasion.
This year's theme is "Books and Transgressions."听Keynote lectures will be delivered by听听(Assistant Professor of French, New York University), 鈥淩ules of Transgression in Medieval Poetry: Lessons from a Forgotten Bestseller鈥�; and听听(Professor of Islamic Thought, University of Chicago), 鈥淎uthors and their Audiences in Medieval Arabic Book Culture."
The local organizing committee is听Tina Montenegro听(BC),听听(Tufts University), and听Eric Weiskott听(BC).
This conference will provide an opportunity for medievalists working across a range of disciplines and geographic areas to join in conversation about premodern cultures of the book, boundary-crossing, and the law and other normative cultural expressions. Given this year鈥檚 conference location at a Jesuit, Catholic university, and our keynote speakers, we particularly (but not exclusively) invite submissions focused on regions other than England, including the Middle East; language traditions other than English; and religious cultures.
We interpret 鈥渢ransgressions鈥� broadly, including the notions of access, trespass, and desire. Accordingly, we welcome papers from medievalists in any discipline, concerned with any region or polity of Europe, Asia, or Africa.
The conference takes place on Saturday. On the preceding Friday afternoon, there will be an exhibition or workshop hosted by the Tufts University Special Collections.
Institutional Sponsors:听听
- Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA)
- Medieval Academy of America听Institute for the Liberal Arts听
- Boston College听Special Collections, Tufts University听
Schedule and RegistrationFriday,听November 15, 2024 |听Special Collections, Tisch Library, Tufts University | Registration Required | |
|---|---|
| 3:00鈥�4:45 PM | exhibit and workshop on manuscript fragments feat. Lisa Fagin Davis |
| 5:00鈥�6:00 PM | NEMC steering committee meeting听 |
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | Stokes Hall South Rm. S195 (Auditorium), Boston College | Registration Required | |
|---|---|
| 8:00-9:00 AM | Coffee / Registration听 |
| 9:00-10:00 AM | Plenary Lecture听
|
| 10:00-11:30 AM | Session 1: Transgressive Poetics
|
| 11:30-11:45 AM | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 AM-1:15 PM | Session 2: Manuscript Studies Unbound
|
| 1:15-2:15 PM | Lunch听 |
| 2:15-3:15 PM | Session 3: Sciences at the Crossroads听
|
| 3:15-4:15 PM | Session 4: Translation as Transgression听
|
| 4:15-4:30 PM | Coffee Break |
| 4:30-5:30 PM | Plenary Lecture听(Live-stream option available)
|
| 5:45-7:30 PM | Reception | John J. Burns Library |
Speakers
- Ariane Bottex-Ferragne (New York University), 鈥淩ules of Transgression in Medieval Poetry: Lessons from a Forgotten Bestseller鈥�
- Robert Stanton (Boston College)
- Juliette Goutierre (Columbia University), 鈥淓rasure and Transformation of the Transgressive in the Fourteenth-Century Ovide moralis茅鈥�
- Mariah Min (Brown University), 鈥淒esperate Measures Call for Desperate Times: Richard Coer de Lyon and the State of Exception鈥�
- Selina Wang (Columbia University), 鈥淭ransgressive Nonsense and Beyond: An Analysis of Meaningless Poems in 惭补苍鈥檡艒蝉丑奴 (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves, c. Eighth鈥揘inth Century)鈥�
- Nancy Netzer (Boston College / McMullen Museum)
- Anahit Gasparyan (Tufts University), 鈥淢anuscript and Monument: The Roots of the Etchmiadzin Gospel in Bgheno-Noravank鈥樷��
- Alexander Riehle (Harvard University), 鈥淢iniature Manuscripts: Byzantine Books of Diminutive Dimensions鈥�
- Anne Shafer (Rhode Island School of Design), 鈥淩eimagining Boundaries: The Blue Qur鈥檃n and its Ancient Order鈥�
- Eileen Sweeney (Boston College)
- Riccardo Brighenti (University of Milan), 鈥溾�楢nd it is called 鈥淧lato鈥檚 laws鈥� since it is against Nature鈥檚 laws鈥�: Classical Reception and Preternatural Transgressions in the Medieval Kit膩b al-Naw膩mis / Liber Aneguemis鈥�
- Iman Darwish (Harvard University), 鈥淗ow Not To Write a Medieval Arabic Medical Book鈥�
- Eric W. Driscoll (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 鈥淎ntiquarianism as Transgression in Late Byzantium: The Case of Georgios Gemistos Plethon鈥�
- Chase Hockema (Boston College)
- Gennifer Dorgan (University of Massachusetts at Amherst), 鈥淭ranslation, Version, Recension: Modern Terms, Medieval Textuality鈥�
- Joseph R. Johnson (Georgetown University), 鈥淩evelation/Variation: Encountering the 鈥楳other of Abominations鈥� in French Vernacular Bibles鈥�
- Ahmed El Shamsy (University of Chicago), 鈥淎uthors and their Audiences in Medieval Arabic Book Culture鈥�
Campus Map and Parking
Campus Map and Parking:
Parking is available at the nearby Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue Garages.
Boston College is also accessible via public transportation (MBTA B Line - Boston College).
Boston College strongly encourages conference participants to receive the COVID-19 vaccination before attending events on campus.
