CALL FOR PAPERS: Othello's Island 2019: The 7th Annual Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Event Date: 15 Apr 2019 to 18 Apr 2019.   Nicosia, Cyprus

A collaboration between the Centre for Visual Arts and Research, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Cyprus, the University of Kent and the University of Sheffield.

Founded in 2012, Othello's Island is an annual conference looking at Medieval, Renaissance and early modern history, literature, art and other culture, held at the Centre for Visual Arts and Research (CVAR) in Nicosia, Cyprus. It brings together a wide range of academics and research students, from all over the world, to discuss their work in what we describe as a multi-disciplinary event.

​Sometimes the themes of different papers can seem very diverse, but a multi-disciplinary approach means that we encourage participants to listen to a wide range of papers, in different discipline areas, in the belief that this can lead to new, sometimes remarkable, insights.

The Centre for Visual Arts and Research (CVAR), is located in the centre of the old town of Nicosia, capital of Cyprus. In its medieval streets, surrounded by the huge Venetian walls, you will find lovely museums, shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as medieval and renaissance buildings, harking back to the medieval and renaissance period, when Cyprus was ruled by the French Lusignan royal family. Perhaps most notable of the house was the last Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, whose portrait was painted by Giorgione, Titian and other Renaissance artists.

For 2019 we are basing the conference around three themes. These are:

• Medieval and Byzantine literature, art, architecture, culture and history
• Shakespeare and his contemporaries
• Early modern women writers

We also welcome proposals for ‘wild card’ papers outside of the above categories. If your proposed paper does not fit into any of the above categories, you are still welcome to submit.

​​​CALL FOR PAPERS - DEADLINE 31 JANUARY 2019

If you would like to submit a paper for possible presentation at the conference please send an abstract and a brief CV (resumé) by e'mail to arrive not later than 31 January 2019.

The abstract should include:

Your full name
Your institutional affiliation (if any)
Your e'mail address
The title of your proposed paper
Your abstract (must be in English and not longer than 300 words long).

​In general we will try to let you know if your paper has been accepted not later than 28 February 2019. If you require a decision before 28 February 2019 ​on whether your paper will be included in the colloquium, please indicate this in your e'mail. Usually this will be because you need to make a funding application or other arrangements.

Papers can only be presented in person. We are sorry, we do not allow proxy or Skype-style presentations.

​All proposals and any questions should be sent to Dr Michael Paraskos with the subject line Othello 2019.  You are also advised to visit our website at www.othellosisland.org for more information.

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Second Annual Early Modern Women Writers' Colloquium (2018)

At the 6th Annual Othello's Island Conference 2018
Centre for Visual Arts and Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
25 to 27 March 2018

Keynote lecture by: Professor David Norbrook

Full information at www.othellosisland.wixsite.com/emww

Lead Convenors: Dr. Stella Achilleos (University of Cyprus) and Professor James Fitzmaurice (Northern Arizona University)

About the Conference: We are very pleased to announce that our keynote speaker at the Second Annual Early Modern Women Writers' Colloquium in 2018 will be Professor David Norbrook, Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, who will deliver a lecture titled 'Providence and Displacement: Writing Lucy Hutchinson's Life'.

Dedicated to women writers from the period 1500 to 1700 (approximate dates), the Early Modern Women Writers' Colloquium forms a strand within the annual interdisciplinary "Othello's Island" conference on Byzantine, Medieval, and Renaissance studies. The strand was held informally at the fourth Othello's Island conference in 2015, and became a formal feature in 2016 at the fifth Othello's Island in 2016. This developing tradition continues at the sixth Othello's Island Conference in 2018, where we will again welcome papers on women writers in all languages of the early modern period, with a particular emphasis on the writers Mary Wroth, Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, and their contemporaries. The strand includes papers on women writers themselves, but also associated topics, such as the representation of women and women writers in work by male writers of the period, women publishers, and also the popular round table discussion, held outside under the olive trees, as a true academia, in the courtyard garden at CVAR.

If you would like to submit a paper to the Early Modern Women Writers strand of Othello's Island, please follow the instructions below. If you have any questions, please do contact us. Participants in the Early Modern Women Writers strand can, of course, attend all the other papers and events of the Othello's Island Conference, and we encourage participants to do so. The Early Modern Women Writers strand is held in association with the International Margaret Cavendish Society.

Full Papers (20 minutes plus questions)
If you are interested in giving a talk at the conference please submit a proposal for a paper. Standard papers are 20 minutes long, followed by 5 or 10 minutes for questions. Proposals for papers should comprise a cover sheet showing:

Your title (eg. Mr, Ms, Dr, Prof. etc.) and full name
Your institutional affiliation (if any)
Your postal address, email address and telephone number
The title of your proposed paper

With this you should send a proposal/abstract for your paper of no more than 300 words and a copy of your CV/resume to info@othellosisland.org with the subject line EMWW 2018.

All papers must be delivered in English and in person by the author of the paper. We cannot accommodate speakers wishing to present using Skype (or similar), or proxy presentations.

Deadline for submissions: 22 December 2017.

Please visit our website at www.tiny.cc/emww2018 before submitting your proposal.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Othello's Island 2016

The 4th International Conference of the Medieval, Byzantine and Renaissance Periods and their legacies in art, culture, history, literature, etc.

17-20 March 2016, at the Severis Foundation (CVAR), Nicosia, Cyprus

Convenors:
Professor James Fitzmaurice, Northern Arizona University (USA)
Professor Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University (UK)
Dr Sarah James, University of Kent (UK)
Dr Michael Paraskos, SOAS University of London (UK)
Benedict Read FSA, University of Leeds (UK)

We invite initial expressions of interest from academics, independent scholars, members of the public and learned societies in the fourth European conference on medieval and renaissance cultural and historical studies, Othello's Island.

The conference has developed into an interesting and unique event in the medieval and renaissance studies calendar, combining fascinating academic debate with time spent discovering and exploring the remarkable Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Although the conference is not only concerned with Cyprus or the Levant, it is always worth remembering that Cyprus was one of the richest kingdoms in the medieval world, being ruled by French and Venetian monarchs and generals for almost 400 years.

The conference will take place at the Severis Foundation in the historic old town area of Nicosia from 17 to 20 March 2016.

Possible topics for the conference could include:

• Diverse aspects of medieval and/or renaissance historical and/or cultural studies
• Aspects of Byzantine historical and/or cultural studies
• Aspects of Ottoman or other Muslim states historical and/or cultural studies
• Art, literature and other aspects of culture from the medieval and renaissance periods
• Connections between late Antiquity and the medieval period
• Christian and muslim interactions and/or comparative studies
• The Mediterranean as a factor in medieval and renaissance history and/or culture
• Shakespeare and/or other writers of the medieval and/or renaissance periods
• Continuing legacies of the medieval and renaissance culture in the modern period
• The West, the Mediterranean and the Levant
• Other aspects of the medieval and/or renaissance periods.

However, at this stage the aim is not to be prescriptive, and so we are open to all suggestions for sessions that explore the medieval and renaissance worlds, or subsequent legacies of those worlds (for example the rise of neo-medievalism in nineteenth-century Europe).

Call for Papers

If you are interested in giving a talk at the conference please submit a proposal for a paper. Standard papers are 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for questions.

We are very open minded on the topic of papers, so if you have an idea for a presentation that is not covered by the suggestions given above please feel free to submit a proposal, or contact us first to discuss the idea.

Proposals for papers should comprise a cover sheet showing:

1. Your title (eg. Mr, Ms, Dr, Prof. etc.) and full name
2. Your institutional affiliation (if any)
3. Your postal address, e'mail address and telephone number
4. The title of your proposed paper

With this you should send a proposal/abstract for your paper of no more than 300 words and a copy of your CV/resume to mparaskos@mac.com with the subject line OTHELLO 2016.

All papers must be delivered in English.

The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2016. However early submission is strongly advised. We aim to have a decision on the acceptance of papers within four weeks of submission.

Conference website www.othellosisland.org

CALL FOR PAPERS: Othello's Island 2015

The Annual Conference of the Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance Periods and their legacies in art, culture, history, literature, etc.

3rd Annual Conference 20-22 March 2015, at the Severis Foundation, Nicosia, Cyprus, (with additional day trip on 23 March)

Convenors:
Emeritus Professor James Fitzmaurice, Northern Arizona University (USA)
Professor Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University (UK)
Dr Sarah James, University of Kent at Canterbury (UK)
Dr Michael Paraskos, Cyprus College of Art
Benedict Read FSA, University of Leeds (UK)

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Dr Roger Christofides, University of Huddersfield (UK)
Dr Chris Laoutaris, University of Birmingham (UK)

​We invite initial expressions of interest from academics, independent scholars, members of the public and learned societies in the third European conference on medieval and renaissance cultural and historical studies, Othello's Island. This is being held at the Costas and Rita Severis Foundation, Nicosia, Cyprus, from the 20th to the 22nd March 2015.

​The conference, now in its third year, is developing into an interesting and unique event in the medieval and renaissance studies calendar, combining fascinating academic debate with time spent discovering and exploring the remarkable Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is always worth remembering that Cyprus was one of the richest kingdoms in the medieval world, being ruled by French and Venetian monarchs and generals for almost 400 years.

The conference Othello's Island has an inevitable bias towards the Mediterranean and Levant simply because of our location. However this is a result of self selection by potential speakers and we are in truth interested in hearing papers on all aspects of medieval and renaissance culture and history.

The conference will take place at the Severis Foundation in the historic old town area of Nicosia from 20 to 22 March 2015, and there will be an optional trip to see the stunning painted churches of the Troodhos mountains on 23 March. These churches are UNESCO protected (for more details click here).

Possible topics for the conference could include:

• Diverse aspects of medieval and/or renaissance historical and/or cultural studies
• Aspects of Byzantine historical and/or cultural studies
• Aspects of Ottoman or other Muslim states historical and/or cultural studies
• Art, literature and other aspects of culture from the medieval and renaissance periods
• Connections between late Antiquity and the medieval period
• Christian and muslim interactions and/or comparative studies
• The Mediterranean as a factor in medieval and renaissance history and/or culture
• Shakespeare and/or other writers of the medieval and/or renaissance periods
• Continuing legacies of the medieval and renaissance culture in the modern period
• The West, the Mediterranean and the Levant
• Other aspects of the medieval and/or renaissance periods.

However, at this stage the aim is not to be prescriptive, and so we are open to all suggestions for sessions that explore the medieval and renaissance worlds, or subsequent legacies of those worlds (for example the rise of neo-medievalism in nineteenth-century Europe).

Possible Session (Strand) Organisers
(please note early deadline for strand organisers)

We invite expressions of interest from individuals, groups or organisations interested in convening specific strands within the conference.

Sessions are defined as comprising at least three papers on a common theme. Once your theme and session title is agreed we will advertise it with a Call for Papers specific to your session strand, but the decision on whether to admit any papers submitted to your strand will remain with you. We also ask that where possible you canvas your contacts to submit paper proposals for your session.

If you are interested in proposing a session or strand please contact Dr Michael Paraskos at michael@artcyprus.org before 30 September 2014.

Call for Papers from Individuals
(later deadline for individuals - but we advise early submission)

If you are interested in giving a talk at the conference please submit a proposal for a paper. Standard papers are 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for questions.

​We are very open minded on the topic of papers, so if you have an idea for a presentation that is not covered by the suggestions given above please feel free to submit a proposal, or contact us first to discuss the idea.
​
Proposals for papers should comprise a cover sheet showing:
​
1. Your title (eg. Mr, Ms, Dr, Prof. etc.) and full name
2. Your institutional affiliation (if any)
3. Your postal address, e'mail address and telephone number
4. The title of your proposed paper
​
With this you should send a proposal/abstract for your paper of no more than 300 words and a copy of your CV/resume to mparaskos@mac.com with the subject line OTHELLO 2015.
​
All papers must be delivered in English.

The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2015. Early submission is strongly advised. We aim to have a decision on the acceptance of papers within four weeks of submission.