Women Religious in the Atlantic World: New Historiographical and Methodological Perspectives
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Société d'Études Interdisciplinaires sur les Femmes au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance (SEIFMAR)
Organizer Name
Laura Cayrol-Bernardo
Organizer Affiliation
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Presider Name
Laura Cayrol-Bernardo
Paper Title 1
Reconsidering the Liturgical Topography of a Medieval City in the Light of Female Monasteries: The Case of Milan and Some New Perspectives on Northern Italy
Presenter 1 Name
Stella Ferrari
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. degli Studi di Milano
Paper Title 2
Chaucer's Custance in a Tradition of Medieval Drifters
Presenter 2 Name
Marian Homans-Turnbull
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. of California-Berkeley
Paper Title 3
The Black Imagined Community of Sister Úrsula de Jesús
Presenter 3 Name
Valérie Benoist
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Grinnell College
Start Date
12-5-2016 3:30 PM
Session Location
Fetzer 1045
Description
Studies dedicated to the role of women in religion have, by and large, grown in popularity in the past few decades. Research in this field, however, has not progressed in an altogether homogenous manner. On the contrary, it has presented considerable imbalances with regard to context and geography, as well as in the various aspects, themes and research angles that this very broad domain encompasses. Moreover, there has been a profound lack of dialogue between researchers in this field, a communication breakdown whose manifestations are threefold: spatial, between different countries, and indeed, on either side of the Atlantic, temporal, between specialists in different periods, in particular between medievalists and early-modernists, and what is known as a lack of intra/interdisciplinary communication.
This sessions aim to bring together scholars from different disciplinary and methodological strands of study, be they focused on the Middle Ages or the Early Modern era, both in America and Europe, in order to:
- Analyse the different methodological perspectives that are present in women religious’ studies in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period and question their contributions to the field, the problems they pose, and how they may evolve in the 21st century.
- Revisit and question the discordances, discontinuities and supposed differences between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between Europe and America using existing historiography.
- Consider the evolution and changes in spirituality and liturgy, the gender roles, the relations that women religious mantained with the outside world, during the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern era, both in Europe and America.
- Analyse the different artistic contributions made by and for women religious, as well as female visual and literary culture, whilst also taking stock of common elements, their evolution and their perennity throughout the centuries that are studied.
Women Religious in the Atlantic World: New Historiographical and Methodological Perspectives
Fetzer 1045
Studies dedicated to the role of women in religion have, by and large, grown in popularity in the past few decades. Research in this field, however, has not progressed in an altogether homogenous manner. On the contrary, it has presented considerable imbalances with regard to context and geography, as well as in the various aspects, themes and research angles that this very broad domain encompasses. Moreover, there has been a profound lack of dialogue between researchers in this field, a communication breakdown whose manifestations are threefold: spatial, between different countries, and indeed, on either side of the Atlantic, temporal, between specialists in different periods, in particular between medievalists and early-modernists, and what is known as a lack of intra/interdisciplinary communication.
This sessions aim to bring together scholars from different disciplinary and methodological strands of study, be they focused on the Middle Ages or the Early Modern era, both in America and Europe, in order to:
- Analyse the different methodological perspectives that are present in women religious’ studies in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period and question their contributions to the field, the problems they pose, and how they may evolve in the 21st century.
- Revisit and question the discordances, discontinuities and supposed differences between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between Europe and America using existing historiography.
- Consider the evolution and changes in spirituality and liturgy, the gender roles, the relations that women religious mantained with the outside world, during the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern era, both in Europe and America.
- Analyse the different artistic contributions made by and for women religious, as well as female visual and literary culture, whilst also taking stock of common elements, their evolution and their perennity throughout the centuries that are studied.