Gloria J Betcher wrote: > The Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society (MRDS) will be sponsoring 4 > sessions at the International Medieval Congress in 2006 and > co-sponsoring a fifth session with MEDICA. We're hoping that you'll > find something to interest you in our varied assortment. Abstracts are > now being accepted for the following topics: > > *1) Performance in German-Speaking Lands > > *Recent scholarship on early German theater has focused on plays' > performative aspects exploring gesture, ritual, staging, and audience > engagement within local contexts. European colleagues draw on > Anglo-American theories of performance, but modify them in accordance > with the distinct performance traditions of Germany, Switzerland, and > Austria. New approaches to the study of early theater in > German-Speaking lands warrant closer attention by American colleagues. > * > 2) What Theater Studies Brings to Medieval Studies > * > Discussions of medieval theater history often focus primarily on text. > This panel considers ways in which interdisciplinary work in > performance history and the study of theater--its practice, language, > communal nature--enlivens and enriches the study of medieval history. > * > 3) Liturgical Drama Performance: A Session in Memory of Fletcher > Collins, Jr. > > *Fletcher Collins, Jr. (d. 6 May 2005), was crucial to spurring > interest in production of the larger repertoire of medieval > music-dramas. His _Production of Medieval Church Music-Drama_ > challenged scholars to present the liturgical repertoire as visual > shows consistent with iconographic evidence, while his edition of > sixteen plays with music was a collection of performable > transcriptions intended to encourage others to solve problems of > transcription. This session focuses on production of liturgical drama, > its music, and the embedding of individual plays in the liturgy. These > matters have seen considerable development since they were last > discussed at Kalamazoo and now merit discussion in an > interdisciplinary memorial session. > * > 4) Performance in the Early Modern Household > > *Among the most significant discoveries of the past decade is the > wealth of documentary evidence of dramatic performances in the great > households of late medieval and early modern England. This session > will focus on the plays, personnel, and performing spaces of these > private entertainments. > * > *We are also co-sponsoring a session with MEDICA this year: > > *(5) Jointly sponsored session organized by MEDICA: Performing > Medicine on the Early Page and Stage > > *This session will add a new dimension to ongoing discussions of two > current areas of scholarly interest: the early body as metaphor and > the physicality of the stage. Papers will employ interdisciplinary > approaches to explore the performative aspects of early medicine and > the medical aspects of early drama: emphasis will be on doctors, > doctoring, health and disease as they are depicted in early texts and > performances. *MEDICA representative Gerard NeCastro > <[log in to unmask]> will accept abstracts for this session. > > > *MRDS welcomes papers on any aspects of performance suited to these > general topics. > > Please submit abstracts for topics 1-4 above by September 15th (sooner > is better) to Gloria Betcher at the address below. E-mail submissions > are preferred because we need to send any abstracts not accepted by > MRDS to the conference organizers for general sessions. If you send an > abstract, please remember to provide the following: > > * your name and affiliation, > * a title for your paper, > * your contact information (including office and home phone > numbers, fax number, and e-mail address), > * an abstract cover sheet available at > http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/41cfp/forms.html and > * your A/V or computer needs as required on the abstract cover sheet. > > You can fill in the interactive abstract cover sheet online, save a > copy, and send it as an E-mail attachment. *NOTE THAT WE MUST HAVE AN > ABSTRACT COVER SHEET TO PLACE YOUR PAPER IN A SESSION. > > *We look forward to your submissions! > > Gloria Betcher Sounds great, Gloria. Fiona Somerset and I are working on a joint session MRDS/Lollard Soc for Leeds. We have a title and she is circulating the Lollard Soc list. As soon as she gets the tentative outline to me I will be asking you to send the call for papers to the MRDS list. Both she and I are prepared to give papers so if there is a crashing silence it won't matter too much!