Stratigraphies of Knowledge, Memory, and the Self: Notebooks in the Medieval Euro-Mediterranean World
Conference, Historisches Kolleg, Munich
December 11–12, 2025
Submission deadline: April 30, 2025
We are inviting proposals for papers on medieval notebooks and collections of notes in any language of the Euro-Mediterranean realm.
The conference taps into such cultural-historical approaches to medieval written culture and utilizes codicological models for the “stratigraphy” and “architecture” of composite manuscripts to illuminate the complexity, multilayeredness, and fluidity of knowledge organization, memory processes, and self-representation in medieval notebooks. It pursues a comparative approach for the Euro-Mediterranean world, bringing research on notes and notebooks in the cultural spheres of the three major Abrahamic religions in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East (including Byzantium) into comparative dialogue.
Confirmed speakers: Patrick Andrist (Munich / Fribourg), Richard Corradini (Vienna), Ahuva Liberles (Tel Aviv), José Maksimczuk (Hamburg), Gabor Toth (Luxembourg).
Papers will ideally present case studies on one or more manuscripts, but other formats (e.g., discussion of a specific question or methodological issue) are also welcome. Scholars of all career stages, including graduate students, are encouraged to apply. Presentations can be in either English or German.
Please email your proposal comprising a tentative title, abstract of 200–300 words, and short curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages) to the organizers (tobias.daniels@mg.fak09.uni-muenchen.de, ariehle@fas.harvard.edu) by April 30. Speakers will be reimbursed for travel and accommodation expenses up to 300 EUR.
Organizers
Tobias Daniels (LMU München): tobias.daniels@mg.fak09.uni-muenchen.de
Alexander Riehle (Harvard University): ariehle@fas.harvard.edu
The complete Call for Papers as PDF can be found here.