Modern assumptions about race and identity have shaped scholarship on the Middle Ages since such work began. Few fields of study make this more evident than medieval Iberia, where centuries of interaction among diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural communities offer up a tempting canvas for the projection of modern paradigms and ideologies. Although when judiciously applied, such models can provide a fresh lens through which to consider problems obscured by time and cultural distance, when employed carelessly or unconsciously they can badly distort our image of the medieval Iberian past.
Our sessions invite papers that explore how post-medieval discourse about race and identity has intersected—or could intersect—with modern understanding of the history and culture of the medieval Iberian peninsula. Submissions might consider such topics as the efficacy of applying modern concepts and terms to the study of medieval problems; the impact of unconscious or unspoken modern paradigms in evaluating medieval evidence; promising methodological strategies in study of the past; and the uses and misuses of medieval Iberian history in public and political discourse. Both illustrative case studies and scholarly position papers will be considered. We welcome speakers from a diversity of disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds, and encourage submissions from emerging and independent scholars.
https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call
