CALL FOR PAPERS: Borderlines XXI: Authority in the Medieval and Early Modern World

This conference will be held in University College Cork, 14-16 April 2017. Proposals for both papers and panels are welcomed from postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in the fields of both Medieval and Early Modern studies.

Keynote Speaker: Prof Michael Brown, University of St Andrews

This conference will explore the concept of authority in both the Medieval and Early Modern
periods. As Sir Philip Sidney has said, “there is nothing sooner overthrows a weak head than
opinion by authority, like too strong a liquor for a frail glass” (Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney). Much like today’s society, authority and resistance to authority can be found in all aspects of
Medieval and Early Modern societies, such as the religious, political, social, and literary.

Borderlines XXI invites papers that address the social, historical, literary, religious and cultural significance of these roles. We welcome papers from researchers in the fields of Anthropology, Archaeology, Codicology, Drama, Digital Humanities, Folklore, History, History of Art, Geography, Languages, Literature, Music, Paleography, Philosophy and Theology. Topics may include (but are not limited to):

· Political and/or religious authority
· Literary authority
· Authority of the book
· Gendered authority
· Lack of authority
· Translation of authority
· Class/Societal authority
· Rejection of authority
· Liminal figures/places
· Authority as autonomy
· Structures of authority
· Development of authority through the ages
· Depictions of authority in art

Abstracts of 250 words for a 20-minute paper and a short biography are welcomed from postgraduates and early career researchers (MA, PhD and Postdoctoral students) from Ireland, the UK, and further afield, as are proposals for panels, and should be submitted by Friday 3rd February 2017 to borderlinesXXI@gmail.com.