Storytelling in Court and Cloister
A one-day conference organized by the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, and hosted by the Centre for Medieval Studies at the King’s Manor, University of York, on 2 November 2013. Speakers include Anthony Bale (Birkbeck), Ross Balzaretti (Nottingham), Bronach Kane (Cardiff), Henrietta Leyser (Oxford), Christopher Norton (York), Tom Pickles (Chester), David Rundle (Essex), and Elisabeth van Houts (Cambridge). [Fig. 1]
This interdisciplinary conference will explore ways in which medieval people used stories to make sense of their world, and to reimagine or shape it. The conference will draw on this rich field, to think about storytelling within and beyond the page, by exploring the act of telling stories in a social context. The framework of the conference will be the medieval court (legal and political) and the religious cloister. Topics will include storytelling as an active process, in text, image or speech; the ways in which circumstances or an awareness of audience compel a story and shape its narrative; the construction of narrative when arguing a case or asserting a new order; narratology and storytelling in the middle ages; the relationships between narrative and ‘fact’, as one may construct or deconstruct the other; and the self-consciousness of story and its forms as a tool to engage and to convince, challenge or play.
The programme begins at 10.15 in the Huntingdon Room, King’s Manor, York, and ends with a drinks reception at 5.30pm.
Registration: £30 (full), £20 (students/unwaged). There is a £10 reduction for members of the society (SSMLL). To register, email cms-office@york.ac.uk.
Developments in Stained Glass Conservation: the Last Fifty Years
The Stained Glass Research School, in association with the MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management, welcomes Dr Isabelle Pallot-Frossard, as she presents this Autumn Masterclass Lecture. Dr Pallot-Frossard is Director of the Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques, Paris, and President of the International Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Stained Glass (Corpus Vitrearum-ICOMOS).
The lecture will be on Thursday 14 November 2013, at 5.15pm in room K/133, the King’s Manor. To book a place, please email brittanyscowcroft@york.ac.uk.
Nineteenth-Century Stained Glass Studies: New Directions in Scholarship
Four scholars involved in the study of nineteenth-century stained glass, art and culture, two of them recent doctoral candidates, will offer a personal perspective on their own research and new directions in scholarship in this field. The four are Dr Neil Moat (PhD, Newcastle); Dr Jasmine Allen (PhD, York); Dr Wojciech Balus of the Corpus Vitrearum, Poland (Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Cracow); and Prof. Liz Prettejohn (University of York). These stimulating presentations will act as a catalyst for wider discussion, and the event will be particularly illuminating for young scholars embarking on research in this area.
The event will take place on Saturday 30 November 2013, 9am – 5pm, at the Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, Heslington Campus, York. To book a place, please email brittanyscowcroft@york.ac.uk.