Figure 1. the Tiny Shriner "in his cups" at yet another medieval studies conference (July 2009)by EILEEN JOY
The Kalamazoo Congress is a ridiculously large event and it is nearly impossibly to get to everything you want to get to and to see everyone you want to see. I thought I would share here with everyone my own preliminary itinerary, and as long as I don't pass out under some table somewhere after too many martinis early on during the Congress, then this is where you can find me [and it would be lovely to know where the rest of you might be, if you'd like to share]. I also misplaced my program and thought this would be a nifty way to remind myself where I am supposed to be [since I can access In The Middle in special mobile format on my iPhone]!
THURSDAY, May 12th
10:00-11:30 am
Fetzer 1005
Session 21: Objects, Networks, Materiality (Roundtable)
Sponsor: Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute, George Washington University
Presider: Jeffrey Cohen
Speakers: Laurie Finke, Julie Orlemanski, Valerie Allen, Elizabeth Blake, Kellie Robertson, and Lowell Duckert
*I'll be podcasting this session; some may want to know that at the same time that nets, ice ages, and things without faces are being discussed in Session 21, in Session 5 [Valley II, Rm. 202], Ruth Evans, Tony Hasler, David Hadbawnik, Chris Taylor, and Kate Koppelman will be throwing down with Medieval Lacan
1:30 pm-3:00 pm
Valley III, Exhibits
Myra Seaman and I will be at the Palgrave Macmillan booth in the Books Exhibits, so this is a good time to come and talk to us about possible future special issues of the journal.
*I would like to also point out here that if I could bi-locate, I would also be in Valley II, Rm. 202 so I could attend Medieval Badiou, a panel discussion organized by Ruth Evans and featuring remarks by Eleanor Kaufman, Tony Hasler, Erin Labbie, Kevin Spicer, and George Edmondson. If I could tri-locate, then I would also be in Valley I, Rm. 110 in order to hear Amy Hollywood talk about "Secular Sin."
3:30-7:00 pm
likely sneaking around trying to figure out where the Tiny Shriner hid the bourbon bottle
7:30-9:00 pm Bernhard 204
Session 164: On the Love of Commentary (In Love)
Presider: Nicola Masciandaro
Sponsor: Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary
Speakers: Michael Moore, Anna Klosowska, Valerie Wilhite, Eileen Joy, Karmen Mackendrick
*I'll be podcasting this session; and speaking of Glossator, check out their new issue on Occitan Poetry, co-edited by Anna Klosowska and Valerie Wilhite, and featuring essays by Cary Howie, Virginie Greene, Bill Burgwinkle, Marion Coderch, Huw Grange, and Simone Marchesi, among others.
FRIDAY, May 13th
10:00-11:30 am Schneider 1360
Session 217: The Transcultural Middle Ages
Sponsor: postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies
Co-Presiders: Laurie Finke and Martin Shichtman
Speakers: Lydia Fletcher, Jonathan Hsy, Su Fang Ng, Matthew Boyd Goldie, Heather Bamford
*in the spirit, again, of tri-location, I shall send avatars to Valley II, Rm. 205 for Problematic Pets in the Middle Ages, where our very own Karl Steel will be talking about "dead animals and lost humans," and also to Valley I, Rm. 100 for Medieval Taxonomies, organized by Emily Steiner, and where our very own Jeffrey will reveal to the world whether or not rocks have souls; I would also like to point out here that, although I will not be in attendance, "Death by Hot Tub" [Session 209] wins for best session title in this time slot, and hell, maybe for the whole conference
1:30-3:00 pm
Bernhard 159
Session 276: Madness, Methodology, Medievalisms (Roundtable)
Sponsor: BABEL Working Group
Presider: Eileen Joy
Speakers: Mo Pareles, Jennifer Little, Nicola Masciandaro, and Eileen Joy (Respondent)
3:30-5:00 pm Bernhard 105
Session 332: Queering the Muse: Medieval Poetry and Contemporary Poetics (Roundtable)
Sponsor: BABEL Working Group
Presider: Anna Klosowska
Speakers: Daniel Remein, David Hadbawnik, Sean Reynolds, Chris Piuma, Christopher Roman, Katharine Jager
5:15 pm Valley II, Rm. 204
Business Meeting: BABEL Working Group [this meeting is completely open to anyone interested in BABEL and who would also like to help us discuss session ideas for next year's Congress; the Tiny Shriner will be mixing miniature bourbon cocktails for all comers]
9:00 pm-midnight-ish
The Eccentric Cafe, Bell's Brewery
355 E. Kalamazoo Avenue
Everyone is invited to join BABEL at Bell's to celebrate the launch of punctum books: spontaneous acts of scholarly combustion.
SATURDAY, May 14th
10:00-11:30 am
Schneider 2335
tough choice; still trying to decide between:
Session 389: Surface versus Symptomatic Readings
Sponsor: Exemplaria: A Journal in Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Co-Presiders: Patricia Clare Ingham and Elizabeth Scala
Speakers: Ruth Evans, Mark Miller, Bruce Holsinger
Session 393: Glossing the Past in the Present (Roundtable)
Presider: Dana Oswald
Speakers: Kimberly Bell, Justin Brent, Betsy McCormick, Christine Neufeld, and Teresa Reed
11:30-3:30 pm
recuperate
3:30-5:00 pm Fetzer 1010
Session 471: Beowulf and History (Panel Discussion)
Presider: Diana Coogle
Speakers: Eileen Joy, Thomas D. Hill, James W. Earl
5:00 pm onwards into the night/morning
general debauchery
SUNDAY, May 15th
drive home very early in the morning with apologies to all those giving papers in Sunday sessions; let me just say here that this will be the first Kalamazoo Congress since 2001 at which I do not attend a Sunday session [or two], so I hope I can forgiven, especially since I leave again for the University of Copenhagen 3 days after returning home, where I give another paper at this conference.
And one last thing: bring your umbrella. And remember to also bring your best chain-mail dress:
Thanks for letting us know how to avoid you, Eileen! hanging out with you at Kzoo has devolved from a mild pleasure to a chore, so this is incredibly helpful.
ReplyDeleteI want to put in a plug for DAN REMEIN as well, who will be reading from his poetry ... but at the same time as a BABEL panel. Adrienne J. Odasso is also, I know, astoundingly good:
Session 237
Friday 1.30
Medievalisms in Contemporary Poetry (A Reading and Roundtable)
Organizer: Paul Hardwick, Trinity Univ. College, Univ. of Leeds Presider: Paul Hardwick
A panel discussion with Jane Beal, Independent Scholar, and Adrienne J. Odasso, Univ. of York.
Disappointments all round, then; Adrienne was not present, ADM and I could not find the party at the Eccentric Café (though we found another one instead) and when I saw Eileen she was in the same place as Jeffrey! And I didn't see le Mestre Chaucer's fine suggestion until after I got back, for which some may be grateful. Just as well there was everything else! Nice to see you guys, even if only briefly.
ReplyDeleteAppreciation in retrospect: Thanks for being explicit that the BABEL business meeting was "completely open", as this wasn't entirely clear in the past (or perhaps it was clear and I just wasn't hearing it).
ReplyDelete