The night was dark and full of terrors-- But it was also entertaining!

On October 4 the Medieval Studies program explored the questions: What did ancient and medieval people do after the sun went down? Did they admire the night sky or fear the darkness?

While Dr Dossey explored changes in the ways Greeks and Romans viewed the night – changes possibly related to increasing urbanization – Dr Gross-Diaz gave examples of how and why those views morphed in the Middle Ages. From werewolves to lunar eclipses, from astrology to travel, the night experience was shared by nearly 100 students in Crown Auditorium which, for this event, was made completely and totally dark! 

The highlight of the evening was Dr Dossey and her student assistants performing an ancient Greek necromantic spell which raised this “corpse” to life and conjured it to foretell the outcome of one student’s exams (hint: never trust a corpse).

Loyola University Chicago, Watertower Campus, 16-17 Februrary, 2018

Medievalists have long engaged in the study of the body, producing some of the most influential contributions to the “bodily turn” of the 1980s and 1990s. The multidisciplinary conference “Reframing Medieval Bodies” invites reflection on past scholarship in this area and elaboration of new approaches and methods. We invite papers from the full range of disciplines in medieval studies, exploring bodies in their physiological, symbolic, political, economic, and performative capacities. Papers that revisit "the body" in light of bioarchaeological research and the history of medicine are especially welcome, as are papers that engage recent research on disability, gender, and race. 

We are delighted to announce our keynote speaker: Peggy McCracken, Domna C. Stanton Professor of French, Women’s Studies, and Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan. 

We welcome proposals for either individual papers or whole sessions. Proposals for individual papers should be limited to 300 words. Session proposals should include abstracts for the three papers as well as the contact information for all presenters.

Abstracts on any aspect of medieval studies are welcome, but we will give preference to submissions related to the conference theme. Submit proposals to ima2018loyola@gmail.com no later than December 1, 2017. 

Papers presented at “Reframing Medieval Bodies” are eligible for publication in the journal Essays in Medieval Studies. Questions may be directed to tstabler@luc.edu or icornelius@luc.edu.