The College Art Association will hold its next annual conference in Chicago,
from Feb 28 - March 3, 2001.  Among the many workshop sessions to be held, I
have noted several (8, I believe) for fellow Listmembers to consider.
Papers are sought within these, and other, categories; preliminary proposals
are due to the session chairs by May 15, 2000.  Further information about
CAA and the conference papers guideline may be had at their url:

http://www.collegeart.org/caa/conference/2001/call3.html

Fantasy and the Religious Imagination in Medieval Art
Thomas Dale, University of Wisconsin-Madison; mail to: Thomas Dale, Dept. of
Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Elvehjem Museum, 800
University Ave., Madison, WI 53706-1479

Fantasy in medieval art has traditionally been dismissed as the product of
unfettered artistic imagination, or at best, as a subversive gloss on the
sacred. The premise of this session is that fantasy, however playful it
might be, could also represent concerns that were central to the prevailing
religious culture. Transforming the ancient concept of phantasia, medieval
writers associated fantasy with spiritual and supernatural forces working
upon the human body from within the imagination, with revelatory visions or
dreams, with marvels and illusions of metamorphosis, and with demonic
spirits (phantasmata) taking possession of the unwary imagination. This
session invites papers that explore how fantasy visualized these phenomena
within distinctive settings for different audiences–not only on the margins
of sacred texts in books for clergy and laity, but also in the secluded
setting of the monastic cloister, in the more public spaces of the choir and
nave of the church, and on the exterior of church buildings and portals.
Topics may deal with any medium in any period of medieval art in Western
Europe or Byzantium.



Domestic Art, Domestic Life: Living with Art in Renaissance Europe,
1400-1600
A. Victor Coonin, Rhodes College, Art Dept., 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN
38112

This session will explore the display, reception, and interpretation of
Renaissance art in its domestic context. Recent scholarship has considerably
expanded the range of art objects understood to be an integral part of the
Renaissance home. This is intended to be an inclusive session and objects
studied might include paintings, sculptures, ceramics, wainscotting,
birthing trays, dolls, chimneypieces, metalwork, tapestries, or other
domestic furnishings. Themes might be of a secular or religious nature. Most
important is that the works be studied in a context that increases our
understanding of the way viewers interacted with art and considered the
object a significant part of their daily lives. Primary emphasis should be
placed on the relationship of art to life events, for example, the use of
art in celebrating marriage or birth, for the commemoration of family, or
art used for entertainment or spiritual functions, etc. Geographic, social,
and methodological diversity of focus is sought and encouraged.


Medieval Narrative Revisited
Laura Hollengreen, University of Arizona; and Pamela Patton, Southern
Methodist University; mail to: Patton, Division of Art History, Meadows
School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275

Study of medieval visual narrative has been energized by recent scholarly
trends, from semiotics and structuralism to critical theory, feminism, and
reception theory. Such approaches have broadened our understanding of
medieval narrative while also highlighting its most persistent challenges.
This session asks how far these endeavors have brought us. Which new methods
have proved particularly useful? How successfully have newer theoretical
stances been reconciled with the need, often still critical, for rigorous
documentary research and the close reading of images? We invite papers on
any aspect of medieval pictorial narrative, which might address the multiple
purposes of narrative; image/text relationships; the role of physical
environments; the differentiation of audiences; or narrative/non-narrative
relationships. We seek papers which relate specific issues or case studies
to the state of the field in general and which comment explicitly on the
most urgent problems outstanding.


Relics, Reliquaries, and the Art of Relic Cults
Susan L. Huntington, The Ohio State University, 250 University Hall, 230
North Oval Mall, Columbus OH 43210

Relics and the reliquaries that have been created to house them are among
the most important objects of veneration in many religions. This panel
explores issues relating to relics and reliquaries, and the artistic
remains, structures, and sacred spaces that have been created in association
with them. Although this panel is expected to emphasize the Buddhist and
Christian relic traditions, presentations drawing upon Islamic and other
cultures, including cross-cultural examinations, are also welcome. Papers
that examine the links between icons/images and reliquaries, the theology of
relics and images, representations of the use of relics in art, the
decoration associated with reliquaries, or other aspects of the links
between relics and visual imagery are solicited. Further, papers that
examine connections between relics and monasticism, lay practices,
patronage, and pilgrimage, as well as the powers associated with relics are
of great interest.


The Spectatorship of Knowledge: Invisible and Illegible in Late Roman and
Medieval Art
Genevra Kornbluth, University of Maryland, ARTH, College Park, MD 20742; and
Carol Neuman de Vegvar, Ohio Wesleyan University, Dept. of Fine Arts,
Delaware, OH 43015

Late Roman and medieval art was placed on inaccessible church spires,
engraved on the backs of fibulae, and buried within tombs. Other designs
were too small to be understood, left in darkness, or inscribed with foreign
scripts. Such works challenge theoretical models of analysis based on
reception. If art as "event" exists through the role of the spectator, then
how is art that is invisible or illegible to be understood? If the concept
of the "eye of God/the gods" has become outdated, by what shall it be
replaced? Can spectatorship reside in the knowledge of the existence of art
that cannot be seen? If so, how does such "seeing" compare to the
observation of objects within easy visual range? How does it support belief
structures/social hierarchies premised on knowledge, prestige, or access to
mystery?


Images of Public and Private Prayer: The Pictorial Representation of
Religious Devotion in the 16th and 17th Centuries
Walter Melion, Johns Hopkins University; and Lynette M.F. Bosch, State
University of New York, Geneseo; mail to: Lynette M.F. Bosch, SUNY, Geneseo,
1 College Circle, Brodie Hall Dept. of Art and Art History, Geneseo, NY
14454

This session focuses on the millenarian significance of religious images
that depict new forms of public and private devotion. In Europe, at the turn
of the 17th century, millenarianism emerged not as an eschatological
movement but as a call for the purification of Christian communities. This
call for spiritual renewal resulted in the dissemination of standardized
liturgy and the introduction of new devotional forms, along with an intense
interest in structuring contemplative and even mystical experience. The
communal profession of faith, enshrined in liturgy, church law, and ritual
practice, paralleled individuated forms of worship, such as contemplative
prayer. Negotiating between these two aspects of religious experience,
indeed anchoring them so as to harness the individual to the community, was
a preoccupation of both Catholic and Protestant reformers. We invite papers
that examine the role of images in mapping the continuum of liturgical and
contemplative worship, codifying the links between individual and communal
prayer.


"Under the Influence": Contextual Approaches to Cultural Interaction in the
13th Century
Cynthia Robinson, School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced
Study, Princeton, NJ 08430; [log in to unmask]

Questions of Islamic/Arabic presence (or absence) and "influence" (or lack
thereof) in the visual culture of the Medieval West were hotly debated
(largely in terms of "migrating motifs") during the early decades of this
century. In recent years, however, both assenting and dissenting voices have
fallen relatively silent; although terms such as "mudéjar" or, now, "hybrid"
are sometimes used to denote the visual or other cultural manifestations of
interaction, they seem to foster generalizations and are often limited to
places such as Spain or Sicily whose peripheral status is still assumed by
the larger community of medievalists. It is the objective of this panel to
begin a reshaping of dialogue on the "influences" question in the sphere of
medieval visual culture on a small scale, by focusing on specific cases of
"influence" (i.e., interaction) examined through an interdisciplinary lens.
We have chosen the 13th century, given that it represents a moment of
significant change for medieval culture on many fronts–religious, economic,
political and intellectual, and hope that our session will help to identify
particular ways in which visual evidence may contribute to an understanding
of medieval cultural interaction, as well as the benefit of combining visual
material with documentary and/or textual evidence and varied theoretical
approaches. We encourage contributions that demonstrate an interdisciplinary
approach, and particularly those that focus on text-image, text-building or
text-object relations, and their interpretation[s] across religious,
linguistic, "stylistic" or other boundaries as these have traditionally been
defined. Historiographical analyses are also welcome. To ensure
concentration on specific case-studies and a common ground for dialogue, we
encourage but do not limit ourselves to contributions dealing with the
western areas of the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Sicily, Tunisia,
and the Maghreb).


Constructing Pilgrimage
Saundra Weddle, Syracuse University/Drury College, 1350 North Clay Ave.,
Springfield, MO 65802

The tradition of associating the local urban landscape with pilgrimage sites
and experiences dates at least to Saint Helen who, upon her return to Rome
from the Holy Land, constructed buildings that referred to sacred monuments.
The continued cultural significance of pilgrimage will be demonstrated by
millions of individuals who will visit Rome and the Holy Land to celebrate
the Roman Catholic Jubilee Year in 2000. This session will consider the
impact of the act of pilgrimage on architectural and urban experience, past
and present. Selected proposals will consider broad cultural and spatial
issues such as: How have pilgrimage routes been constructed by individuals
with different agendas, for different audiences? How have the spatial and
spiritual experiences of pilgrimage been transmitted and reproduced? How do
the experiences of a pilgrim differ from those of a tourist? Can pilgrimage
still influence architectural and urban practice? Paper proposals may
consider any time period, but should focus on western topics.


















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