51st International Congress on Medieval Studies

12–15 May 2016

With the completion of the 2016 Congress Call for Papers by 15 September 2015, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence plans the shape of its 4 sponsored and co-sponsored sessions for the next International Congress on Medieval Studies, to take place at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. The programs for our sessions now settle into place after their notification to the Congress by the deadline of 1 October. In time, we will be able to announce the programs and, as their authors might wish, publish abstracts of the papers.

The next Congress will be the eleventh year of our co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica, the third year of co-sponsorship with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, and the second year of co-sponsorship with the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University. Our 2014 and 2015 sessions and receptions with these organizations are illustrated in the 2014 Congress Report and 2015 Congress Report. The history of our co-sponsorships at the Congress is surveyed in Co-Sponsored Congress Sessions.

The 4 Sessions:

• Parchment or Paper? Choosing the Writing Medium in the Era Before the Printing Press

• The Medieval Balkans as Mirror
  Byzantine Perceptions of the Balkans and the World Beyond
  Co-sponsored with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida

• Crusading and the Byzantine Legacy in the Northwestern Black Sea Region Co-sponsored with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida

• Magic on the Page: Transmission and Representation of Magic
  Co-sponsored with the Societas Magica

The aims of these sessions are described in the 2016 Congress Call for Papers.

The other Events which we plan for the 2016 Congress:

• Business Meeting
  All are welcome

• Reception, co-sponsored with the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University
  All are welcome

The 2016 Reception takes inspiration from the 2014 Anniversary Reception, co-sponsored by the Societas Magica, and the Reception at the 2015 Congress, co-sponsored by the Societas Magica and the Index of Christian Art.

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Please watch this space. We will post the programs for the sessions and, as the authors permit, the abstracts for the papers. This would be like our post for the 2015 Congress Report, illustrations included.

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