Of possible interest to Melbournians (That's in Australia):

Well, for once there's a magic topic at Melbourne Uni (apart from the history of Witchcraft in mainly Germany course and the ancient magic course)... 

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ANNOUNCEMENT - FIRST EARLY MODERN CIRCLE FOR 2011


The first meeting of the Early Modern Circle for 2010 will take place this
Monday 21 February at 6.15pm in the North Theatre, Old Arts (Room 239),
The University of Melbourne (note the new venue). We are fortunate to
start our program in February this year with a guest paper by the eminent
early modern historian Professor Michael Hunter, Birkbeck, University of
London. Professor Hunter will speak on:


'The Role of Fraud in the "Decline of Magic"'

Description: Fraud is a category frequently invoked in relation to
witchcraft and related phenomena in early modern England, yet little
examined. This paper will consider the dynamics of accusations of fraud in
the period, the extent to which these were contested, and the implications
of this for attitudes to magic more generally.


Please come along for a drink and a stimulating discussion of early modern
research. We welcome a gold coin donation towards drinks on the night. A
group will likely go to drinks or dinner afterwards - all welcome, with
plans to be decided at the meeting. And please see below this message for
our 2011 program.

Early Modern Circle convenors:
Dr Jenny Spinks
Claudia Guli


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EARLY MODERN CIRCLE - 2011 PROGRAM

The Early Modern Circle is an informal, interdisciplinary seminar group
open to interested students, academics and researchers. Drinks are
provided and a gold coin donation helps to make this possible. The group
meets at 6:15 on the third Monday of the month. Location in semester one:
North Theatre, Old Arts (Room 239), The University of Melbourne.

Monday 21 February - Professor Michael Hunter, Birkbeck, University of
London, 'The Role of Fraud in the "Decline of Magic"'

Monday 21 March - Dr Charlotte Smith, The University of Melbourne, 'The
changing image of the Turk in German print from the sixteenth to the
seventeenth century'

Monday 18 April - Dr Heather Dalton, The University of Melbourne, 'The
Cabot Project: International collaboration and the voyages to America of
John Cabot and the merchants of Bristol'

Monday 16 May - Two shorter papers: Emma Nicholls, Monash University, 
'Silk production in the imagination of fifteenth-century Florentines'; and
Tracy Griffiths, The University of Melbourne, 'The Stuff of Life and
Death: First steps towards understanding clothing colours in late medieval
and early modern Italy'

Monday 20 June - Tim Ould, The University of Melbourne, 'Jacopo Zucchi's
frescoes in the Palazzo Ruspoli, Rome and their printed sources'

MID-YEAR BREAK (no session in July)

Monday 15 August - Dr Fran�ois Soyer, University of Southampton,
'Monstrosities of Nature: Demonic possession, ambiguous gender and the
Inquisition in the early modern Iberian World'

Monday 19 September - Dr Andrea Rizzi, The University of Melbourne,
'Leonardo Bruni and the inadequacy of spoken Latin in early
fifteenth-century Florence'

Monday 17 October - Dr Jacqueline Broad, Monash University, 'Margaret Fell
Fox and Quaker feminism in seventeenth-century England'

Monday 21 November - Two shorter papers: Julie Davies, The University of
Melbourne, 'The first Duke and Duchess of Worcester: a family's interest
in early modern science'; and Dr Jenny Spinks, The University of
Melbourne, 'Creeping, buzzing, chewing, growing: Maria Sibylla Merian
(1647-1717) and dynamic natural history in print'

Please direct any enquiries to the convenors:
Dr Jenny Spinks ([log in to unmask])
Claudia Guli ([log in to unmask])


Dr Jenny Spinks
Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Historical Studies
The University of Melbourne
Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
[log in to unmask]