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CALL FOR PAPERS Illinois Medieval Association Northwestern University 27-28 February 2004 The Central Ages--Periods and Boundaries Now that Renaissance scholars have redefined their period as "early modern," what are the Middle Ages supposed to be midway between? Should we rename our own period "the Central Ages"? With Spenser and Tolkien now prominently featured at Kalamazoo, how do we define the internal and external boundaries of the medieval era? Do the usual criteria for periodization make sense for medievalists working on the Jewish Middle Ages, or the Byzantine or Muslim or Scandinavian or Eastern European Middle Ages? What alternative schemes of periodization might apply? We are especially interested in a cluster of sessions focused on key dates: around 1215, around 1348, around 1453, and so forth. We also welcome thematic panels on boundaries (and boundary crossings) of many kinds: between sacred and secular, Latin and the vernaculars, ritual and performance, hagiography and romance, apostasy and conversion, heresy and legitimate dissent, and more. Keynote speaker: Alexander Murray, University College, Oxford Deadline for abstracts: October 1, 2003 Please send one-page abstracts for individual papers or complete panels (graduate students should also include CVs) to: Barbara Newman Professor of English and Religion University Hall 215 Northwestern University Evanston, IL 60208 phone: 847-491-5679 fax: 847-467-1545 [log in to unmask] Illinois Medieval Association: http://www.geocities.com/~seafarer1/ima.html