Calls for Papers for two panels at the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-century Art Nineteenth Century Studies Association (NCSA) 33rd Annual Conference, (Spiritual Matters/Matters of the Spirit) Asheville, NC, March 22-24, 2012

1. Spirituality in Nineteenth Century European Visual culture.

Is religious visual culture in nineteenth-century Europe anathema to modernity or deeply wedded to it? What kind of visual literacy was expected of its viewers? Papers for a panel on religion, spirituality and visual culture of the long 19th century in Europe are encouraged to strike up a dialogue between painting, photography, sculpture and/or architecture in addition to popular imagery, mass culture, and other forms of material culture.
Topics may include: modern artists and religious themes; representations of pilgrimage and ritual; mechanically reproduced medals, devotional prints, pilgrimage and miracle souvenirs; religious “folk” art; ex-votos and wayward shrines; educational images and religious illustrations; irreverent parodies of religious images; symbolist spirituality; women’s piety and everyday life; collections and regional museums; mumming, passion plays and other ephemeral spectacles.

Please e-mail abstracts (250 words) for 20-minute papers that provide the author's name and paper title in the heading, as well as a one-page c.v., to Maura Coughlin (mcoughlibryant.edu) by September 20, 2011.

2. Spirituality and Mass Culture in the United States.
In his essay “Protestant Visual Practice and American Mass Culture,” David Morgan observes that religion was essential to the creation of mass culture, and argues for a fundamental engagement between American viewers’ experience of the visual and deeply spiritual matters; he notes that “religionists in modern American history, contrary to the old popular saw about Protestants and sparseness, have bowed to no one in applying the power of visual display to the transmission of information and to the character formation of youth, the unconverted, and neophytes.” Seeking papers on the investigation of spirituality in 19th century visual culture, I am proposing a panel specifically concerning American manifestations of these issues. Paper topics might explore any aspect concerning spirituality in North American art and visual culture, such as the relationship between religion and mural painting; caricature and comics; samplers and sentimental embroidery; dime museums and local collections; pageants, parades and theatrical performances; panoramas and dioramas; temperance tracts and revival posters; magazine illustrations; coins and medals; modern spectacular commerce; public sculpture; parlor games; nickelodeon films; postcards, trade cards and popular greeting cards; folk art, whirligigs, dolls and religious toys; and/or painting.
Please e-mail abstracts (250 words) for 20-minute papers that provide the author's name and paper title in the heading, as well as a one-page c.v to Emily.gephartsmfa.edu by September 20, 2012.
More information about the conference can be obtained by visiting http://www.english.uwosh.edu/roth/ncsa/index.html