Theorizing the Early Middle Ages
March 27-30, 2008, Pacific University, Oregon

Campus 622 An interdisciplinary conference designed to foster and even invent cross-disciplinary, theoretical discussion and exchange concerning the sex/gender system, concepts of space, ritual, and other aspects of early medieval studies (c. 500-1000) that lend themselves to theoretical analysis within historical, material, liturgical, and literary contexts.

The conference includes contributions from literary scholars, queer theorists, architectural historians, art historians, paleographers, medical historians, political historians, social historians, church historians, and economic historians interested in the application of theoretical analysis to “Dark Age” cultural, sex/gender, and class systems. Equally, papers include theoretically adventurous submissions, ones arguing for the full inclusion of the early medieval era within broader works on sexed, medical, and architectural bodies, spaces, images, and behaviors. The conference focuses on "Dark Age" clerical and warrior bodies, wealthy and servile bodies, and male and female bodies.

Plenary Speakers

ALLEN FRANTZEN

Professor and Loyola Faculty Scholar, Allen J. Frantzen (Loyola University Chicago).
Professor Frantzen’s research interests include Old and Middle English literature, literary history, history of sexuality, gay and lesbian studies, literary theory and criticism, textual criticism, gender and domestic space. Notable publications: Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America (Chicago, 1998); Bloody Good: Chivalry, Sacrifice, and World War I (Chicago, 2004); the electronic edition of the Anglo-Saxon penitentials available at www.Anglo-Saxon.net; and a collection of essays co-edited with archaeologist John Hines, Caedmon’s Hymn and Material Culture in the World of Bede (West Virginia, 2007).
JANET NELSON

Professor Dame Janet (aka ‘Jinty’) Nelson (King’s College, University of London).
Professor Nelson’s research interests include women and gender, gendering the Carolingian court, sexuality and gender trouble among the Carolingian nobility and royalty, and competitive corporeal styles between monks and knights. Notable publications: Politics and Ritual in Early Medieval Europe (London, 1986); The Frankish World (London, 1996); and Rulers and Ruling Families in Earlier Medieval Europe (London, 1999).

Conference Organizers
Lynda Coon History, University of Arkansas
llcoon@uark.edu
Martha Rampton

History, Pacific University
Director, Center for Gender Equity, Pacific University
Ramptonm@pacificu.edu
Kim Sexton Architecture, University of Arkansas
ksexton@uark.edu

Conference Sponsors
The Department of History
University of Arkansas		 The Department of History
Pacific University		 The School of Architecture
University of Arkansas

The Venue

Pacific University is a forward-thinking, private institution known for providing comprehensive liberal arts and professional education. Pacific’s main campus is located in Forest Grove, Oregon, a distinctive location that offers the best of many worlds. It combines the vibrant metropolitan life of nearby Portland, the charm and serenity of the fertile Tualatin Valley, and the stark beauty of the Oregon Coast. As part of the conference activities, the organizers will host receptions at local wine bars, and arrange a dinner at a local vineyard, a second dinner at Pittock Mansion in downtown Portland, and a trip to the Oregon Coast.