Intellectual Networks in the Long Seventeenth Century

Durham University, 30 June-2 July 2013

Durham’s Centre for Seventeenth-Century Studies – now part of the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies – has, since its foundation in 1985, organized over a dozen high-profile international conferences. Next year’s event, which both continues that tradition and celebrates the Centre’s new role within one of Durham University’s flagship research institutes, will address the topic of ‘Intellectual Networks in the Long Seventeenth Century.’

The conference will explore the emergence and consolidation of systems of intellectual and cultural exchange during the long seventeenth century, while assessing their lasting influence on the history of scholarship, literature, diplomacy, science, and religious communities. The sub-topics listed below offer some guidance for the submission of proposals. Special emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the British Isles and the wider world.

• Erudite correspondence
• Academic networks: knowledge transmission and cultural change
• Diplomacy, high and low
• Literary circles
• Scientific institutions and the history of medicine
• Intellectual exchange among/within religious communities
• Book trade and collectorship
• Counter-intelligence and the political and religious underground
• Women and intellectual exchange
• Popular cultural exchange

Proposals for 20-minute papers and full panels should be submitted to early.modern@durham.ac.uk by 15th January 2013. Replies will be sent in early February 2013. Details concerning travel and accommodation for both speakers and delegates will be made available around the same time. It is hoped that the conference will give rise to an edited volume of selected essays.

The conference is taking place at an exciting time for seventeenth century and early modern studies at Durham. Recent significant developments include:

• The re-opening of Cosin’s Library (1699) on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Palace Green following a major restoration project; the collection, now part of Durham University Library, was assembled by the great seventeenth-century book collector John Cosin, Bishop of Durham (1595-1672)
• The joint custodianship of the library and archive of Ushaw College, shared between the trustees of the archive and Durham University Library
• A related international conference on Early Modern English Catholicism taking place at Ushaw College (28 June to 1 July 2013), with which the present conference will share a joint keynote lecture from Professor Eamon Duffy (Cambridge) on the evening of 30 June

For further details visit http://www.dur.ac.uk/imrs/newsandevents/research/cfp/

Call for Papers: Intellectual Networks in the Long Seventeenth Century

Durham University, 30 June-2 July 2013

Durham’s Centre for Seventeenth-Century Studies – now part of the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies – has, since its foundation in 1985, organized over a dozen high-profile international conferences. Next year’s event, which both continues that tradition and celebrates the Centre’s new role within one of Durham University’s flagship research institutes, will address the topic of ‘Intellectual Networks in the Long Seventeenth Century.’

The conference will explore the emergence and consolidation of systems of intellectual and cultural exchange during the long seventeenth century, while assessing their lasting influence on the history of scholarship, literature, diplomacy, science, and religious communities. The sub-topics listed below offer some guidance for the submission of proposals. Special emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the British Isles and the wider world.

• Erudite correspondence
• Academic networks: knowledge transmission and cultural change
• Diplomacy, high and low
• Literary circles
• Scientific institutions and the history of medicine
• Intellectual exchange among/within religious communities
• Book trade and collectorship
• Counter-intelligence and the political and religious underground
• Women and intellectual exchange
• Popular cultural exchange

Proposals for 20-minute papers and full panels should be submitted toearly.modern@durham.ac.uk by 15th January 2013. Replies will be sent in early February 2013. Details concerning travel and accommodation for both speakers and delegates will be made available around the same time. It is hoped that the conference will give rise to an edited volume of selected essays.

The conference is taking place at an exciting time for seventeenth century and early modern studies at Durham. Recent significant developments include:

• The re-opening of Cosin’s Library (1699) on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Palace Green following a major restoration project; the collection, now part of Durham University Library, was assembled by the great seventeenth-century book collector John Cosin, Bishop of Durham (1595-1672)
• The joint custodianship of the library and archive of Ushaw College, shared between the trustees of the archive and Durham University Library
• A related international conference on Early Modern English Catholicism taking place at Ushaw College (28 June to 1 July 2013), with which the present conference will share a joint keynote lecture from Professor Eamon Duffy (Cambridge) on the evening of 30 June

For further details visit http://www.dur.ac.uk/imrs/newsandevents/research/cfp/

The conference is supported by Durham University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Department of English Studies, Department of History, and School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

‘Exiturus: In Between Times and Spaces on the Early Modern Stage’

London Renaissance Seminar, Saturday 29th June 2013, 13.00-16.00

The Keynes Library, School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London, 46 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PD

In 'A Dictionary of Stage Directions in English Drama, 1580-1642', Alan Dessen and Leslie Thomson define 'exiturus' as 'offers to go', or 'going'. A rare stage direction, 'exiturus' applies to characters who are in the process of leaving, somewhere between on and off stage, on the edges of the tiring house or stage door. For this seminar, we have brought together scholars interested in liminal times and spaces on the early modern stage. Papers will discuss the nature of on- and off-stage fictional worlds and characters who inhabit the ambiguous times and places between those worlds, the representation of waiting and delay on the stage, and the performance of transitional and transformative identities (in temporal as well as spatial terms) in early modern drama.

13.00-13.30: Coffee

13.30-14.30: Panel 1

‘Ere I Go’: Time, Space, and the Act of Leaving in King Lear

Matthew Wagner, University of Surrey

‘Tis very like my wife’s voice’: Echo, Time and Identity on the Early Modern Stage

Sarah Lewis, King’s College London

14.30-15.00: Tea

15.00-16.00: Panel 2
‘Shall I draw the curtain?’: Playing with Boundaries in the Discovery Space

Sarah Dustagheer, King’s College London

Prosper on the top (invisible): Folio stage directions
Emma Smith, Hertford College, Oxford

The London Renaissance Seminar meets at Birkbeck College to debate issues in the study of the literature and culture of the Renaissance. All interested are welcome to attend.

Organisers: Sarah Dustagheer (sarah.dustagheer@kcl.ac.uk) and Sarah Lewis (sarah.lewis@kcl.ac.uk) Mailing list: t.f.healy@sussex.ac.uk LRS contact: s.wiseman@bbk.ac.uk

Translation and the Circulation of Knowledge in Early Modern Science

A one-day colloquium at the Warburg Institute, London
Friday 28 June, 2013

Organized by Sietske Fransen (Warburg Institute) and Niall Hodson (Durham University) in collaboration with Prof. Joanna Woodall (Courtauld Institute), Dr Eric Jorink (Huygens ING), and Prof. Peter Mack (Warburg Institute).

Keynote speaker: Prof. Sven Dupré (Freie Universität Berlin)

Paper proposals are invited for a one-day colloquium on the role of translation and translators in the circulation of knowledge in Early Modern science.

In recent decades, scholars have offered myriad new insights into the exchange and propagation of scientific ideas in the early modern Republic of Letters. Within this vibrant field, however, the part played by translation and translators remains little studied. This colloquium will explore the role of translation in early modern science, providing a forum for discussion about translations as well as the translators, mediators, agents, and interpreters whose role in the intellectual history of the period remains ill defined and deserves greater attention.

The topics listed below offer some guidance for proposals:

• Philosophy and theory of translation
• The practice of translating texts and images
• The ‘professional translator’
• The function and use of translations
• Translation in academies
• The use of auxiliary languages
• Translation in learned correspondence
• The readers of translations
• Informal translations: adaptations, paraphrases, summaries

Proposals for 25-minute papers should be submitted to Niall Hodson (n.d.hodson(at)durham.ac.uk) and Sietske Fransen (sietske.fransen(at)postgrad.sas.ac.uk) by 28th February 2013. A dedicated committee will evaluate the proposals and respond to submissions by 15th March 2013.

For further details, please visit the colloquium website at:

http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/colloquia/translation/

This colloquium is supported by the Warburg Institute and Durham University, and is organized in collaboration with the Visualizing Knowledge in the Early Modern Netherlands project at the Courtauld Institute, London.

ESRA Shakespeare Conference 2013 | Shakespeare and Myth [Call for Papers]

MONTPELLIER (France)
Wednesday 26– Saturday 29 June 2013

LIST OF SEMINARS

1. Early Modern Nature: Shakespeare, Science and Myth
2. The Early Modern Reception of Shakespeare in Print and Manuscript: The Rise of Shakespearean Cultural Capital?
3. Local and Global Myths in Shakespearean Performance
4. “Myth” in Relation to Truth, fable, history, legend, folklore
5. Myth, Romance and Historiography
6. Mythical Performance and its Afterlife
7. Mythologies of Childhood
8. Protean Shakespeare: Adapting, Tradapting, Performing Early Modern Plays
9. Shakespeare and Classical Mythology: European Perspectives
10. Shakespeare, Myth and Asia
11. Shakespeare and the Myth of the Feminine
12. The Shakespeare Myth Reloaded: Demythologizing and Re-mythologizing Shakespeare Today
13. Staging the Shakespeare Myths, 2000-2012
14. Translating Myths and Mythologizing Translations

Deadlines for all seminars

Please submit an abstract (200-300 words) and a brief bio (150 words) by 1 October 2012 to the convenors of the seminar you choose. Full details are on the website.

All participants will be notified about the acceptance of their proposals by 1 November 2012.  The deadline for accepted seminar participants to send their completed paper is 1 April 2013.  Information about plenaries, registration costs and other practical aspects will be given in due
course.

http://www.um.es/shakespeare/esra/index.php
www.ircl.cnrs.fr
email: esraircl@univ-montp3.fr

Popes and the Papacy in early modern English culture

The University of Sussex, June 24th – 26th 2013

Confirmed speakers include Peter Lake, Susannah Monta and Alison Shell

Proposals are still welcome for individual papers or panels on any subject associated with the theme of the conference. Suggested topics include:

• Anti-Catholic satire
• Literary and pictorial representations of Popes and the Papacy
• Pre-Reformation and recusant culture
• Diplomacy and correspondence
• English Cardinals
• Art and architecture
• Religious controversy/ Theological dispute.

Or any topic related to the theme of the conference.

Papers on the later 17th century are particularly welcome.

The conference will include a tour of the historic town of Lewes, from the scene of the burnings of the 17 Lewes Marian martyrs to the remains of Lewes Priory, one of England’s most important medieval religious houses.

300 word proposals for papers and panels should be sent to Paul Quinn (p.l.quinn@sussex.ac.uk) by March 15st 2013 (extended deadline). Papers should last for 20 minutes. Panels should include three papers.

Women and Curiosity in Early Modern Europe (Paris)

International conference, 21-22 June 2013, Paris, France

University Paris Ouest Nanterre (Quarto, CREA370)
and University Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 (Épistémè, PRISMES EA4398)

The multiplication of cabinets of curiosities and the obsession with novelty are evidence of the development of a “culture of curiosity” in the early modern period. While curiosity had long been considered as an intellectual vice, associated with hubris and the original sin, and described by Augustine as “lust of the eyes”, it became a virtue in the 17th century. One of the main reasons for this transformation was the continued efforts of natural philosophers to demonstrate that curiosity was morally acceptable in order to legitimise their scientific endeavour. Francis Bacon and his followers thus insisted on the code of conduct of natural philosophers, the usefulness of the knowledge they were seeking and the discrepancy between their own research and occult sciences. All of them championed the “good curiosity” of the natural philosophers, as opposed to the “bad curiosity” of men and women interested in magic, and in trivial and superficial matters.

If there was indeed a “rehabilitation of curiosity” in the early modern period, did it have any impact on women’s desire for knowledge? The emergence of women philosophers at the time (Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Lady Ranelagh, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Catherine of Sweden, Damaris Masham, Mary Astell, Catherine Trotter, etc.) may indicate that their curiosity was now considered as legitimate and morally acceptable – or at least that it was tolerated. Yet it has been suggested that the new status of curiosity in the early modern period led instead to an even stronger distrust for women, who were both prone to curiosity and curiosities themselves. The June 2013 conference on “Women and Curiosity” aims at assessing the impact of the alleged “rehabilitation of curiosity” on women in the early modern period, by analysing discourses on women as enquirers and objects of curiosity. Iconographic and fictional representations of curious women and female curiosity might also give an insight into the relations between women and curiosity in the early modern period (for example, Cesare Ripa’s allegory of curiosity as “a huge, wild-haired, winged woman” in Iconologia (1593), or representations of emblematic curious women such as Eve, Dinah, Pandora, etc.). The origins of these discourses and representations, as well as their premises, might also be investigated: to what extent did the condemnation of women’s curiosity reveal a fear of disorder and transgression? Did it betray male anxiety about female sexuality or about the mystery of birth? Was it justified by medical interpretations of curiosity, such as a specific humoural condition?

Women’s own conception of curiosity / curiosities in the early modern period might also be of interest, especially as it is rarely studied. The conference on “Women and Curiosity” will thus give us the opportunity to focus on what women themselves wrote about curiosity in their treatises, fictional works, translations, and correspondences. Did women writers consider curiosity as intrinsically female? How did they react to male discourses on women as enquirers and objects of curiosity? What representations of curiosity did they give in their texts?

Please send an abstract for 25-minute papers and a biographical note to Sandrine Parageau (sparageau@hotmail.com) or Line Cottegnies (line.cottegnies@univ-paris3.fr) by 30 January, 2013.

"Teaching and Publishing Mathematics and Science in the Society of Jesus in Early Modern Europe"

Wuppertal, 12-13 June, 2013

The workshop "Teaching and Publishing Mathematics and Science in the Society of Jesus in Early Modern Europe" is being organized by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies (IZWT) at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal. The Society of Jesus was a key player in the systematic dissemination of up-to-date knowledge of science and mathematics during the early modern period. The aim of the workshop is to take stock of the scope and impact of Jesuit mathematical and scientific teaching and publishing in early modern Europe. Special attention will be paid to the question of how to assess the Jesuit's influence in these fields in ways that go beyond the study of particular Jesuit authors or colleges.

For further information on the topic, please get in touch with Volker Remmert:  remmert@uni-wuppertal.de.

The workshop's ambit invites interdisciplinary collaboration.

Proposals for papers from all who can contribute to the topic are therefore welcome. Special consideration will be given to proposals from young scholars.

The language of the workshop will be English. Submissions must include a title, an abstract (1-2 pages) of a 20 minute presentation, and a short CV (maximum one page). Submissions should be sent to Volker Remmert at remmert@uni-wuppertal.de no later than February 22, 2013.

Contributors: overnight accommodation costs will be covered. But because funds are limited, please let us know well in advance if you will need support to cover travelling expenses.

We look forward to your participation and would also be grateful if you could inform others, especially young academics, about the workshop and this call for papers.

Prof. Dr. Volker R. Remmert
Wissenschafts und Technikgeschichte

Historisches Seminar Fachbereich A

Bergische Universität Wuppertal Gaußstraße 20
42097 Wuppertal
Tel. 0202-439-2897

e-mail remmert@uni-wuppertal.de
http://www.geschichte.uni-wuppertal.de/ueber-uns/personen/hauptamtliche-professoren/prof-dr-volker-remmert.html

The Medici and the Levant

I Medici e il Levante: Culture e Dialoghi tra Firenze e il Mediterraneo Orientale (1532-1743)

Friday, June 7, 2013 in Florence

The Medici Archive Project is organizing a one-day conference in English and Italian at the Archivio di Stato in Florence dedicated to new research trajectories on the relations between the Medici and the wide cultural, social and geographic area that in time has come to be identified as ‘the Levant.’ The period covered will extend from 1532, when the Medici received the ducal title, until the death of the last member of the dynasty in 1743.


The House of Medici established an extensive network of mercantile, political and cultural relations connecting Florence and the Eastern Mediterranean since the time of Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464). However, the nature of that exchange evolved rapidly once the Medici became dynastic rulers of Florence and assumed an increasingly active role in Mediterranean and Eastern European politics. First as Dukes of Florence and then as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the Medici became players in an area that extended from Safavid Persia to the Republic of Venice, passing through the era’s superpower, the Ottoman Empire. The great number of letters in the Medici epistolary collection (the “Archivio mediceo del principato”) relating to ‘Levantine’ topics bears witness to a profound and persistent vested interest that wavered between reproach and fascination, and that went beyond military, religious or diplomatic concerns.

Contributions highlighting any of the connections between the Medici state and the Levant are welcome. Preference will be accorded to papers dealing specifically with the Medici and their perception of the East/Orient, or with their reception in that part of the world.

The major themes to be addressed at this conference include:

• Material culture exchange
• Early modern mercantile routes and commercial activity
• Mediterranean warfare
• Medici Eastern diplomacy and political strategies
• The historical and philological East
• News dissemination; Mediterranean contemporaneity
• Cartography; travel literature and correspondence
• The Typographia Medicea; the use and study of Eastern languages
• Mediterranean Jewry
• Scientific exchange
• Inter-religious dialogues and conflicts
• Slavery, emigration and immigration

Contact Dr. Maurizio Arfaioli and Dr. Marta Caroscio at: conference@medici.org.
Partial travel funding may be possible.