International Medieval Congress

The International Medieval Congress (IMC) is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, the study of the European Middle Ages (c. 300-1500). It is organised and administered by the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds and is held in early July. The Congress is the largest annual conference in any subject in the UK,[1][2] regularly attracting over 2000 registered participants,[3][4] and has been used in some research as a barometer for trends in Medieval Studies generally.[5]

International Medieval Congress
(4. July 2018)
International Medieval Congress
(4. July 2018)
International Medieval Congress
(4. July 2018)

Aim, scope and participation

The main aim of the Congress is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for discussion on all aspects of the European Middle Ages (c. 300-1500). Each year’s Congress has one special thematic strand which focuses on an area of interdisciplinary study in a wider context. However, this special thematic strand is not exclusive, and alongside it the IMC provides a platform of debate in all spheres of medieval research. For example, out of 450 sessions at the 2012 Congress, 160 were on that year's theme, "Rules to Follow (or Not)".[6] Session and paper proposals are invited on all aspects of medieval studies, in any major European language.

Participants of the Congress range from senior scholars to postgraduate students, and interested members of the public such as members of the clergy or independent scholars. In 2012, 1751 participants attended from 42 countries; over 700 were from Europe beyond the UK and over 250 were from outside Europe.[6] In recent years, Congress delegates come from over 50 countries.

Academic programme

The core of the IMC is its academic programme. On average, there are over 600 sessions taking place throughout the IMC, with more than 40 running simultaneously.

Anyone is welcome to propose a session or paper. Papers and sessions are proposed online, with the submissions period beginning in May of the previous year. The deadlines for submissions remain the same each year; 31 August for paper proposals and 30 September for session proposals the year before the relevant Congress.

Organisers of sessions can be individuals or a group of colleagues (post-graduate students, independent scholars, university departments, societies etc.), or a named individual acting on behalf of an academic society, university department, research project, a museum, a journal or publisher, etc.

The IMC has an international Programming Committee made up of 35 scholars with differing specialties who assess all submissions. They then group individual papers into sessions based upon common themes, along with accepting sessions. All abstracts are included in the IMC’s online programme.

Participants are encouraged to organise session(s) with a balance of both young and established scholars, and with a geographical diversity, one or more being from mainland Europe. Each participant is only allowed to present one paper.

Keynote lectures

There are usually 5-8 keynote lectures throughout the Congress, with the first one opening the Congress, and the others taking place at lunchtimes or in the evenings.

Events and excursions

In addition to the academic programme, the IMC features a large number of events and excursions open to the public run by experts in their field. This includes the Making Leeds Medieval event, which takes place on the final day of the Congress every year on the University of Leeds campus. Each Congress also offers concerts, drama performances and a variety of hands-on workshops. Participants of the Congress also organise an annual football match and, since the move to Leeds University campus, this usually takes place on Woodhouse Moor.

Exhibitions and fairs

A book fair which features publishers that specialise in medieval studies runs from the Monday to the Thursday of the IMC. Many exhibitors offer special Congress discounts on their latest titles.

Since 2006 a two-day antiquarian and second-hand bookfair, has also been held which includes a number of smaller book dealers.

In recent years a one-day medieval craft fair has been held which includes replica crafts, in addition to crafts inspired by the Middle Ages.

A one-day historical and archaeological societies’ fair is also held year on year which allows smaller, often local to the area, societies the opportunity to promote their work.

Publications

Since its inception, the IMC has been the basis for a book series published by Brepols named International Medieval Research. This publishes themed collections of peer-reviewed papers based on papers given at the IMC; as of 2018 the series had published twenty-four volumes and its general editor is the Congress director, Axel Müller.[7]

History

The International Medieval Congress was first held in 1994 with a total participation of 859 delegates, in part to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Medieval Bibliography, and in part to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of Gregory of Tours (although papers on all aspects of Medieval Studies were encouraged). The Congress was conceived as a European equivalent to the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan, begun in the 1960s. Key players in the IMC's development were Simon Forde, then editor of the International Medieval Bibliography, the Bibliography's staff, and Joyce Hill, director of Leeds's Centre for Medieval Studies,[8] along with other local medievalists including Wendy Childs and Lesley Johnson.[9]

From its inception, the Congress has been managed by a standing committee of medievalists at Leeds. The peer-review and organising of the programme was in time handed over to a much larger programming committee of scholars representing a diverse range of specialisms around the world.[10] One of the postgraduate helpers at the 1994 Congress, Axel Müller, became Congress Assistant for the 1995 event and over time became the IMC director, a position which, as of 2019, he still holds.[9]

Venue

From 1994 to 2012, the IMC took place at Bodington Hall, a university hall of residence, and the adjacent Weetwood Hall, a university-owned hotel and conference centre.

From 2013, the Congress was held on the campus of the University of Leeds.[6] From that time, the Congress has grown to an average of well over 2000 participants each year. It has also become an important part of the medievalist calendar as it offers a European alternative to the International Congress on Medieval Studies, which is held in Kalamazoo, MI, USA.

Themes

Each year, the Congress has included a special thematic focus in addition to papers on Medieval Studies in general. Often the theme is linked to a relevant anniversary. Thematic Strands to date are:

  • 1994: Gregory of Tours; commemorating the 1400th anniversary of the death of Gregory of Tours
  • 1995: Crusades; commemorating the 800th anniversary of the inception of the first Crusade (1095)
  • 1996: Warfare; celebrating the opening of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds
  • 1997: Conversion; commemorating the 1400th anniversary of the landing of St. Augustine in Kent in 597
  • 1998: Settlements; commemorating the 50th anniversary of the re-discovery of Wharram Percy through Maurice Beresford in 1948
  • 1999: Saints; aimed to promote interdisciplinary contacts between those working on all the different aspects of saints’ studies
  • 2000: Time and Eternity; commemorating the millennium in a wider context.
  • 2001: Familia and Domus
  • 2002: Exile; commemorating the 700th anniversary of the final expulsion of Dante from Florence
  • 2003: Power and Authority; marking to mark the 700th anniversary of Boniface VIII’s publication of the bull “Unam Sanctam”
  • 2004: Clash of Cultures, marking the 800th anniversary of the capture of Constantinople by the 4th Crusade
  • 2005 Youth and Age[11][12]
  • 2006 Emotion and Gesture[13]
  • 2007 The Medieval City, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the creation of the borough of Leeds.
  • 2008 The Natural World
  • 2009 Heresy and Orthodoxy, marking the beginning of the Albigensian Crusade
  • 2010 Travel and Exploration, marking the 550th anniversary of the death of prince Henry ‘The Navigator’
  • 2011 Poor...Rich
  • 2012 Rules to Follow (or Not)
  • 2013 Pleasure
  • 2014 Empire
  • 2015 Reform & Renewal
  • 2016 Food, Feast & Famine
  • 2017 Otherness
  • 2018 Memory
  • 2019 Materialities
  • 2020 Borders - cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic
  • 2021 Climates

Controversy

The 2017 Congress took place shortly after the US election of Donald Trump and the UK's referendum vote to leave the European Union, which were characterised by growing political use of medievalism by far-right political movements.[14][15] The Congress theme that year was 'otherness', and rising tensions in the field of medieval studies regarding the subject's complicity in white supremacy 'came to a head' at the Congress.[16] In particular, the event drew criticism because all its plenary speakers on the theme were white men. Moreover, one chair of a plenary session made what Geraldine Heng has characterised as 'a racial joke trivializing skin color'.[17] Specifically, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, he joked that 'if audience members thought he was just another old, white man, they should just wait until after his holiday at the beach'.[18] One expression of criticism came in the form of an open letter by Ayanna Thompson of the Shakespeare Association of America, which by October 2017 had been signed by nearly 950 people.[16][19] The Congress issued official apologies, including in its August newsletter, stating 'we are committed to creating an open, accessible, and inclusive environment. We also take the principles of dignity and mutual respect very seriously, and we are sorry for any offence caused by comments made during the introduction to Monday’s opening lecture. We are determined to create and encourage a positive, inclusive event for all medievalists to enjoy', adding that 'we are listening to the complex and ongoing discussions surrounding both the IMC and medieval studies as a whole. As part of our review to improve the IMC each year, we have been discussing plans to develop the diversity of the Congress and encourage and support medievalists from under-represented groups'.[20] In Heng's assessment, 'after the cultural trauma inflicted by the conference, fraught conversations on "the whiteness of medieval studies" ignited on both sides of the Atlantic ... Who gets to speak for scholarship on the Middle Ages, and for medievalists ... is now a heated question to be taken up at panels planned for several conferences in 2018'.[17]

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See also
  • Conferences in Medieval Studies

References
  1. "Here's a taste of life in those medieval dining halls". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2006-07-13.
  2. "Fat Monks and other Medieval Mysteries". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2004-07-13.
  3. "Going down in History". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2008-07-12.
  4. "Conference parallels 'big society' with medieval times". The Guardian. 2011-07-14.
  5. Jean-Pierre V. M. Hérubel, 'Disciplinary Affiliations and Subject Dispersion in Medieval Studies', Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 23.2 (2005), 67-83, {{DOI|10.1300/J103v23n02_04To}.
  6. "International Medieval Congress", Bulletin of International Medieval Research, 17-18 (2012), 108-10.
  7. 'International Medieval Research (IMR)' (accessed 22 June 2019).
  8. 'Beginnings of the IMC', 50 Years of Medieval Studies at Leeds (2017).
  9. Simon Forde, 'IMC Memories', 50 Years of Medieval Studies at Leeds (14 June 2018).
  10. 'People of the IMC', 50 Years of Medieval Studies at Leeds (2017).
  11. Stokes, Paul (8 June 2005). "Yobs and hoodies a medieval scourge too". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  12. http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/509/news.htm
  13. "Blood Lore and Legend", Times Higher Education Supplement, 2006-07-06
  14. 'The far right’s new fascination with the Middle Ages', The Economist (2 January 2017).
  15. Jennifer Schuessler, 'Medieval Scholars Joust With White Nationalists. And One Another', New York Times (5 May 2019).
  16. Kathryn Hinderaker, 'Medieval Studies scholars deem field too white', The College Fix (15 August 2017).
  17. Geraldine Heng, The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), p. 13 n 1.
  18. J. Clara Chan, 'Medievalists, Recoiling From White Supremacy, Try to Diversify the Field', The Chronicle of Higher Education (16 July 2017).
  19. Ayanna Thompson, '"Otherness" at IMC in Leeds: An Open Letter', Ipetitions: Your Vote Counts (28 July 2019).
  20. 'Leeds International Medieval Congress 3-6 July: August 2017 Newsletter'.
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