Translatio: Knowledge Migrations of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

Joint Conference of the Atlantic Medieval Association
& the Atlantic Medieval and Early Modern Group

Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
12-13 October 2018

Keynote and Workshop by Dr. Samuel Gessner, Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), University of Lisbon, Portugal:
“A Hands-on History of the Astrolabe” (12 October 2018)

Taken from the topos of translatio studii, the Translatio joint conference of the AMA and AMEMG will explore the ways medieval and early modern knowledge moved between historical periods, lands, cultures, languages, and disciplines. We invite papers on subjects that consider both disciplinary and interdisciplinary explorations of knowledge migrations from the 4 th to 18 th centuries in Europe, the Americas, and around the world.

Medieval and early modern knowledge did not pass away with these cultures; in many ways contemporary cultures are the inheritors of that knowledge. Thus, medievalism and historicism are also part of the scope of the conference. Additionally, the transmission of medieval and early modern knowledge through teaching practices, especially undergraduate pedagogy, will be an important discussion in this conference. We would also like to explore the meeting of European and Indigenous knowledge in the medieval and early modern periods, and consider the ways in which these multicultural engagements are still part of our intellectual and cultural landscapes today (please see the call for contributions for a special panel below).

The keynote speaker for 2018, Dr. Samuel Gessner, is a historian of science specializing in interdisciplinary approaches to the history of medieval and early modern instruments of science and mathematics. He will present a talk on the international migrations of astrolabe knowledge (texts and instruments) from the ancient world to the early modern period. His presentation will include a “hands-on” segment where audience members will get an introduction on using an astrolabe.

Proposals (300 words) and a brief biographical statement should be sent to Lauren Beck (lbeck@mta.ca) and Janine Rogers (jrogers@mta.ca) by 1 February 2018.

Panel: Responses from the Fields of Medieval and Early Modern Studies to the TRC’s Calls for Action

Taking place at the joint meeting of the AMA and the AMEMG at Mount Allison University in October 2018, this panel will address any aspect of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls for Action in light of the scholarship and teaching practices used by the disciplines of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Scholars at any stage of their careers as well as students are encouraged to participate, identify challenges to be addressed in the future, share thoughts on how we can decolonize our curriculum and scholarship, propose collective initiatives that may allow us to respond to or address the Calls for Action, observe how cognate disciplines or other institutions are dealing (or not dealing) with the Calls, and outline ways that Indigenous peoples, literatures, cultures, histories, and experiences might be better integrated into our fields of research and teaching.

A brief 150-word description of your contribution to this panel as well as a brief 100-word biography should be sent to Lauren Beck (lbeck@mta.ca) and Janine Rogers (jrogers@mta.ca) by 1 February 2018. Participants will be briefed on the length of their presentations after the panel is organized.