In Fashions Reminiscent: The Overlapping Objects, Discourses, and Ideas of the Sixties and the Middle Ages
Sponsoring Organization(s)
punctum books
Organizer Name
Geoffrey W. Gust, John F. O'Hara, Eileen A. Joy
Organizer Affiliation
Stockton Univ., Stockton Univ., BABEL Working Group
Presider Name
Geoffrey W. Gust, John F. O'Hara, Eileen A. Joy
Paper Title 1
Chaucer in the Stoned Age
Presenter 1 Name
Candace Barrington
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Central Connecticut State Univ.
Paper Title 2
Trees Again: Time Travel with Plants
Presenter 2 Name
Lara Farina
Presenter 2 Affiliation
West Virginia Univ.
Paper Title 3
Medievalism and the End(s) of Empire in 1960s Science Fiction: Frank Herbert's Dune and Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness
Presenter 3 Name
Scott Wells
Presenter 3 Affiliation
California State Univ.-Los Angeles
Paper Title 4
Sounds of Silence: Popular Existentialism and Medieval Autofiction
Presenter 4 Name
Christopher Jensen
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Florida State Univ.
Start Date
14-5-2016 3:30 PM
Session Location
Schneider 1225
Description
In John Kerry’s well-known 1971 Senate Fulbright Commission testimony about the “ravages” of the Vietnam War, he said that his fellow soldiers told stories about how “they had personally raped, cut off ears. . . cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.” As this statement suggests, though not often brought into conversation, the issues, concerns, and controversies of the Sixties have much to offer studies of the medieval world – and vice versa. Taking a cue from the complexities and challenges of the Vietnam Era, the Civil Rights movement, and other social developments of the Sixties, this session invites papers that explore trans-historical and/or cross-cultural overlaps between postmodern America and premodern Europe. By using the Sixties as a fresh way into the so-called Middle Ages, the organizers hope to explore the ways in which history and knowledge, past and present, are collapsed, collated, and inter-connected. Accordingly, the session will deliberately utilize a cross-disciplinary lens to analyze shared ideas, objects, perspectives, types, tropes, and terms, aiming to bring into sharper focus the similarities and differences between periods, ideas, discourses, nomenclature, and even academic disciplines. Seeking new connections and considerations, the organizers are looking for proposals that variously address (or work within) the following themes or threads:
-Drugs & Addiction
-Dissent & Protest
-Fanaticism, Terror, & Defense
Geoffrey Gust
In Fashions Reminiscent: The Overlapping Objects, Discourses, and Ideas of the Sixties and the Middle Ages
Schneider 1225
In John Kerry’s well-known 1971 Senate Fulbright Commission testimony about the “ravages” of the Vietnam War, he said that his fellow soldiers told stories about how “they had personally raped, cut off ears. . . cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.” As this statement suggests, though not often brought into conversation, the issues, concerns, and controversies of the Sixties have much to offer studies of the medieval world – and vice versa. Taking a cue from the complexities and challenges of the Vietnam Era, the Civil Rights movement, and other social developments of the Sixties, this session invites papers that explore trans-historical and/or cross-cultural overlaps between postmodern America and premodern Europe. By using the Sixties as a fresh way into the so-called Middle Ages, the organizers hope to explore the ways in which history and knowledge, past and present, are collapsed, collated, and inter-connected. Accordingly, the session will deliberately utilize a cross-disciplinary lens to analyze shared ideas, objects, perspectives, types, tropes, and terms, aiming to bring into sharper focus the similarities and differences between periods, ideas, discourses, nomenclature, and even academic disciplines. Seeking new connections and considerations, the organizers are looking for proposals that variously address (or work within) the following themes or threads:
-Drugs & Addiction
-Dissent & Protest
-Fanaticism, Terror, & Defense
Geoffrey Gust