Liminal Time and Space in Medieval and Early Modern Performance

5th-7th September 2014, University of Kent

Plenary Speakers: Professor Carol Symes (Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Professor Andrew Hiscock (Bangor)

This interdisciplinary, cross-period conference explores the representation, effects and meanings of liminal time and space in medieval and early modern performance culture. Emphasising the inherently liminal and ephemeral nature of performance, it will consider space and time in conjunction across a range of performance events between the tenth and seventeenth centuries. Bringing together scholars working on medieval and early modern performance in its broadest sense, the conference will initiate cross-disciplinary, cross-period dialogues that explore the continuities and ruptures between cultural thinking in the two periods, and draw out the ambiguous, transitional and transitory aspects of both concepts. On the evening of Friday 5th September the Early English Performance Cultures and Contemporary Creative Practice session will explore the ways in which cultural and creative practices might both elide and emphasise spatio-temporal divisions. During this session, theatre practitioners and writers will present, discuss, and answer questions about their most recent work, all of which has engaged with early English performance culture and narrative. This event will be followed by a drinks reception and is open to the public.

BURSARIES: Thanks to the generosity of the Society for Renaissance Studies, we are able to offer two fee-waiving bursaries to postgraduate delegates working in the early modern period. If you fall into this category please email the organisers, giving your name, institution, a brief summary of your dissertation (c.100 words) and your supervisor’s name. The bursaries will be distributed to the first two postgraduates who apply.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: http://www.kent.ac.uk/english/research/conferences/liminaltimeandspace.html

ORGANISERS:

Dr Sarah Dustagheer - S.Dustagheer-463@kent.ac.uk
Dr Clare Wright - C.Wright-468@kent.ac.uk

CALL FOR PAPERS: Early Modern Jarman

a Jarman 2014 event, 1 February 2014, Anatomy Theatre & Museum, King's College London

We invite proposals for papers (20 mins) on Jarman's adaptations of early modern texts and his deployment of historical figures and images in relation to: punk and the avant garde; national identity; politics and activism; sexuality/gender/desire; HIV/AIDS.

Keynote papers will be given by Jim Ellis (University of Calgary), Jeffrey Masten (Northwestern University) and Pascale Aebischer (University of Exeter). The conference includes admission to the “Pandemonium” exhibition in the Inigo Rooms (Somerset House East Wing), King's College London.

Expressions of interest should be sent to the organizers, Pascale Aebischer and Gordon McMullan, by 29 November 2013. Proposals from PhD students working in all appropriate fields (early modern studies, film studies, art history, etc.) are especially welcome.

The conference fee is £35 (waged) or £25 (unwaged).

Selected papers will be included in a special issue of Shakespeare Bulletin. Proposals of up to 300 words for 6000‐word essays should be sent to the special issue guest editor, Catherine Silverstone, by 8 November 2013.

For further information, see http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/shakespeare_bulletin/calls.html. The conference is hosted by the London Shakespeare Centre and supported by Shakespeare Bulletin and the Centre for Early Modern Studies at the University of Exeter.