34th International Conference of the Haskins Society has posted a Call for Papers. Young and promising medievalists working in areas pertinent to the Society’s interest are cordially welcomed. 

34th International Conference of the Haskins Society
Carleton College
Northfield, Minnesota
06.11.2015 -08.11.2015

CFP: Deadline for receipt of proposals is 17 July 2015.

The Call for Papers for the 34th Annual Haskins Society Conference, 6-8 November 2015, held at Carleton College, is now available on the Haskins Societ . The Society welcomes proposals for individual papers and full sessions, and will host two additional kinds of forums for scholarly discussion and exchange, one focused on new research or research in progress, the other on using the interdisciplinary expertise of Haskins attendees to explore problems in objects and manuscripts.

The Haskins Society invites submission of proposals on all areas of the Society’s interests.

This year’s featured speakers will be:

• Lindy Grant (University of Reading),
• John Hudson (University of St. Andrews)
• Ruth Mazo Karras (University of Minnesota)

For paper and panel submissions, please send a 250 word abstract and c.v.to haskinsconference@gmail.com. For panels, provide a one-page rationale for the panel in addition to the information for each paper. Papers by graduate students, untenured faculty, and independent scholars are eligible for the Denis Bethell Prize.

The Society also invite submissions for three alternative forms of presentation:

• New Research Forum

On Friday morning, the conference will host a New Research Forum to highlight and discuss new research or work in progress. Modelled on “flash sessions,” presenters will have five minutes to explain their projects as a prelude to in-depth small group discussions. Presenters will be listed in the program and should send a one paragraph abstract and c.v. to haskinsconference@gmail.com and include the word “Forum” in the address line.

• Manuscript Problems and Puzzling Things (New in 2015!)

A moderated session devoted to lively, interdisciplinary discussion of the problems and puzzles posed by manuscripts and material objects. Using the opportunities provided by a ‘smart classroom,’ conference participants will examine images of artifacts or manuscripts on individual monitors in attempt to solve source problems and offer new insights. To propose a problem or puzzle for consideration, please submit c.v. and a 250 word abstract summarizing the issue and source(s), including a clear, one-sentence formulation of the actual problem to haskinsconference@gmail.com and include the word “Problem” in the address line. Once a problem has been selected, the person who submitted it will be contacted for images and placed in contact with the moderator to help organize the session. This is a workshop for real puzzlement and an opportunity for sharing perspectives.  Two to four problems will be selected.

• Thursday Afternoon/Evening Mock Interviews

To support graduate student members of the Haskins Society in their career development, the Haskins Conference will again offer the opportunity to have mock job interviews with senior scholars on Thursday afternoon and evening. Please contact William North (wnorth@carleton.edu) to indicate interest.

Support for Graduate Students

In order to encourage and support rising scholars, graduate student members of the Society are eligible to receive support from the Thomas Keefe memorial fund to cover the costs of registration.  Any questions, please contact William North (wnorth@carleton.edu).

Location

The Haskins Conference will take place at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, a small college town located about 35 minutes from the Twin Cities and from both terminals of the Minneapolis/St Paul International Airport (a Delta Airlines hub). Also in Northfield is St Olaf College, a liberal arts college famous for its nationally renowned music program. All conference sessions will occur in The Weitz Center for Creativity.

Carleton College’s proximity to “mainstreet” means that coffee shops, restaurants, and pleasant walks are within minutes of the conference venue. For people who enjoy walking and running , Carleton College’s 880 acre Arboretum offers miles of trails in natural areas and the town itself offers pleasant streets on which to jog. Average temperatures in early November range between the mid-30s-50s Fahrenheit/2-14 Centigrade.

ABOUT THE HASKINS SOCIETY:

The Haskins Society is an international scholarly organization dedicated to the study of the history of the early and central Middle Ages, with special emphases on Viking, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and early Angevin history as well as the many other fields encompassed by the scholarly interests of the American medievalist, Charles Homer Haskins (1870-1937). These traditional fields of interest have expanded over the years via the scholarship of our members, and the Society welcomes new contributions in all related fields. The Society holds its own conference annually in the late Fall at institutions throughout the US, currently Carleton College.

As an Affiliated Society of the American Historical Association, the Haskins Society organizes sessions at AHA annual meetings. The Society sponsors scholarly sessions at the International Congress of Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan in early May of each year. The Haskins Society also cooperates closely with the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies in the United Kingdom and co-sponsors panels at the Leeds International Medieval Congress each summer.

The Society publishes an annual journal, The Haskins Society Journal, with Boydell & Brewer, Ltd. and sponsors the Bethell Prize, an annual essay prize for the best submission during the calendar year by a junior scholar. The prize was created in memory of Denis Bethell, an accomplished scholar whose untimely death deprived us of an important colleague.

The Society is particularly committed to supporting young scholars and, to this end, welcomes graduate student contributors to its conferences and journal and also supports their attendance through subventions of the Keefe Fund, which was created in honor and memory of Thomas Keefe, a scholar of the Anglo-Norman world who died much too young.