Kalamazoo 2009: Scandinavian Sessions
The Call for Papers has gone out for next year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies at dear old Kalamazoo, MI. Scandinavian interest among the sponsored/special sessions seems a bit slight, which is a shame after this year’s bumper crop of well-attended Norse presentations, but the following highlights jump out:
- Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies (2): I. Scandinavian Studies; II. The Sociable Book: Glossing in Old Icelandic Manuscripts
- Dept. of History, Appalachian State Univ. (1): Ireland in the Viking Age
- Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, St. Louis Univ.: Old Norse Literature and Culture
- Háskóli Íslands (1): Between Understanding and Construction: Sanctity in the North
- New England Saga Society (NESS) (2): I. Icelanders Abroad: Overseas Adventures in Old Norse Literature; II. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Old Norse Literature
- Medieval Icelandic Bishops’ Sagas (1) — organized by Jana K. Schulman
- Old Norse-Icelandic Studies in Honor of Joseph Harris (1) organized by Thomas D. Hill
And, last but very much not least, there’s: Medieval Brewers Guild (1): The Beverage of Valhalla: Mead in the Viking World. For full details and information on how to submit an abstract, see the complete call for papers.
I’m very interested to see a whole separate session on the byskupa sögur, which seem to becoming a hot topic right now. But more generally, what strikes one about these proposals is the lack of sessions on Scandinavian history. Even the Viking Age is more or less absent, and this seems to be a trend at recent Kalamazoos. I suppose that its a reflection of the institutional circumstances of North American colleagues, who generally appear to come into the subject via literature departments. It’s a shame, though, that Vikings are being under-represented at the world’s biggest medieval conference.
Administered by