ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop University will host the 2023 Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA) conference from Oct. 12-14. The campus will welcome nearly 200 participants from across the United States and three other countries to present papers and research on topics in Medieval Studies.
Speakers and attendees will be scholars representing every level of experience, from current and retired professors to students and independent scholars from a variety of different disciplines.
The annual conference offers a place for collaboration and an exchange of innovative ideas and new methodologies among scholars to promote pedagogical growth within the disciplines of Medieval Studies. This year’s program includes sessions featuring everything from medieval manuscripts to Chat GPT, experiential learning and virtual reality, to manga and architecture, and a wide variety of approaches to literary, historical and political study.
“We expect the entire conference to be a complete success,” said Winthrop Interim Provost Peter Judge.
The president of SEMA, Professor Anne Latowsky of The University of South Florida, said “The members of SEMA are thrilled to be holding their annual meeting at Winthrop this October. Last year, scholars from 34 states and Canada traveled to the SEMA conference, and this year promises to be another successful gathering of scholars from around the country who will share their work and take some time to enjoy the beauty and attractions of Rock Hill.”
The theme of this year’s conference is “Construction and Reconstruction” and it will center around the construction and reconstruction of medieval belief systems, how 21st Century interpretations of the Middle Ages have been constructed, and the construction and reconstruction of identity and diversity in medieval literature, adaptations and study. The theme celebrates the past and looks toward the future of Medieval Studies and how far it has progressed.
Some of the panels that focus on the theme include “Constructing the Arthurian Universe on Film,” “Constructing the Saint: Sexuality, Social Revolution, and Modern Reinterpretations of Medieval European Hagiography,” and “Reconstructed Realities in the Medieval and Modern Worlds.”
There will be two plenary speakers at the conference. On Thursday, Oct. 12, Jehangir Malegam of Duke University, who specializes in religion and culture in medieval Europe, will present the first plenary address on “Medieval Sound Worlds: What Acoustic Communities Can Teach Us.” Malegam will discuss different medieval communities that were bonded by sounds that they all recognized and were taught to respond to, and how studying these communities can help us better understand pre-industrial environments.
On Friday, Oct. 13, Jaqueline Jung from Yale University, who specializes in the art and architecture of medieval Europe, will address new ways to look at sculptors and gothic art in France and Germany, specifically in terms of race and the importance of visual arts in medieval studies in her talk “Constructions of Race in the Gothic Arts of France and Germany: Cases of Complexity and Paradox.”
Both plenary lectures are free, open to the public and are approved Winthrop global cultural events.
According to Takita Sumter, dean of Winthrop’s College of Arts and Sciences, the university is excited to host this year’s conference, and promote and celebrate the role of the humanities and the study of the Middle Ages. “The conference will nourish the minds of the medieval scholars at all stages of their careers and offer a unique opportunity for collaboration and exchange. We are grateful to our faculty members - Gregory Bell, Jo Koster and Kyle Sweeney - for the work involved in bringing this meeting to Winthrop.”
Registration information is available at www.semarockhill2023.com.
For more information, contact Gregory Bell, Department of History, at 803/323-4674; Jo Koster, Department of English, at 803/323-2171; or Kyle Sweeney, Department of Art History, at 803/323-3016.
