This year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo (12–15 May) promises plenty of treats for historians of stained glass.
Two main sessions ‘Glazing and Stained Glass: Collaborations, Analogies’ and ‘Investigations involving Stained Glass and Other Disciplines’ have been organized by CVMA (USA) authors Elizabeth Carson Pastan and Mary B. Shepard. The first session features talks by Kathleen Nolan (Hollins University) and Susan Leibacher Ward (Rhode Island School of Design) entitled ‘Contemplation and Her Sisters: Female Personifications at Notre-Dame-en-Vaux in Châlons-en-Champagne’; by Gerry Guest (John Carroll University) entitled ‘Stained Glass and Liturgy: The Uses and Limits of an Analogy’; and by Sarah Brown (University of York/York Glaziers Trust) entitled ‘Read It Like a Book? The Evidence from the Windows of Saint Mary’s, Fairford’. The second session sees Anne F. Harris (DePauw University) speak about ‘Stained Glass and Spoken Word Literature: Performance, Space, and Voice’; Nancy Thompson (St. Olaf College) on ‘The Franciscans and Stained Glass in Tuscany and Umbria’; Scott B. Montgomery (University of Denver) on ‘Sacra Conversazione: Dialogues between Reliquaries and Windows’; and Corine Schleif (Arizona State University) on ‘Sexuality in a Cold Cloister: The Weinhausen Crucifixion Panel’. Both sessions are sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA) based at the Cloisters Museum in New York.
Other sessions of interest at the congress include a talk by Meghan Hekker entitled ‘Visualizing England’s Savoir Saint: Medieval Church Politics and the Becket Miracle Windows’, and a whole session devoted to ‘York Minster: Current Developments in Research and Conservation of the East End’. Sponsored by the Christianity and Culture project, Centre for Medieval Studies, at the University of York this event includes: ‘New Light on the Archaeology of York Minster’s East Front’ by Katherine F. Giles and Alex Holton (both University of York) and ‘A Light to Shine upon Them: The Iconography and Survival of Windows of the Eastern End of York Minster Considered’ by Louise Hampson (University of York). The respondent for this session will be Sarah Brown (University of York/York Glaziers Trust).
For full details of this fascinating event, including how to book and details of the entire programme, visit Western Michigan University’s website.
