italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Interdisciplinary Conference
“Science, Literature, and the Arts in the Medieval and Early Modern
World”
The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CEMERS) at
Binghamton University invites session and paper proposals for its
semiannual interdisciplinary conference, October 22-23, 2004. The
conference will bring together scholars from a range of disciplines
working on connections among science, literature, and the arts from
approximately 400-1750, in both European as well as non-European
cultures. Science should be conceived of broadly, as the study of the
physical world and of human psychic and social life, and as including
such branches of learning as medicine, alchemy, astrology, cosmology, and
theology. We especially welcome papers attentive to epistemological
issues in and across various cultures, as producing or constitutive of
“science.” Papers may address the use of scientific material in a
particular work of art or literature, or broader issues such as
portrayals of literature and the arts in scientific treatises (and vice
versa); other potential fields of inquiry include, but are not limited
to:
--Literary, artistic, and scientific constructions of gender:
intersections/contradictions
--Science and (/vs.) magic, including portrayals of each in literature
and art
--The convergence of scientific and artistic activity in specific
courts/cultural centers
--Cross-cultural scientific/artistic exchange (e.g. between Europe and
the Islamic World)
--Treatises on dreams and dream narratives
--Bestiaries, lapidaries, and herbals as a hybrid of scientific and
literary genres
--Renaissance debates over astronomy and astrology
--Botany/horticulture: scientific approaches to (and in) the garden
--Cartography/mappae mundi and the arts
--The systematization/institutionalization of knowledge production in
universities
--The Aristotelian/scholastic method (and reaction against it)
--The encyclopedic tradition
--Science and technology, including construction
--Literary/artistic depictions of scientific instruments, experiments,
“men of science”, etc.
--Literary device/technique in scientific writings
--Implicit critiques of science in medieval romance and other types of
fantasy literature
--Premodern literature/art and 21st-century technology
Plenary speakers include:
John Freccero, New York University
Monica Green, Arizona State University
Nancy Siraisi, CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College
Carol Bier, Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.
Deadline for submission of proposals: June 1, 2004
Please send two copies of session proposals or one-page abstracts,
along with a copy of your current c.v. including e-mail address and phone
number, and any requests for audio-visual equipment. E-mail submissions
are welcome. A volume of proceedings is projected.
Send inquiries and proposals to:
Dana Stewart, Conference Organizer
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Binghamton NY 13902-6000
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http://cemers.binghamton.edu/
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