[1] Going Green: Turning an Ecological Lens on Medieval Art and Architecture
From: Kathryn Gerry
E-Mail: kgerrysmith.edu
Deadline: 17 September 2026

Communities are often understood in social terms, but they may also be defined by shared environments, and the opportunities and challenges those environments present at local, regional and global scales. This session explores how medieval communities - and the art and architecture produced by or for them - were shaped by their environment, and how in turn environments were determined by medieval art and architecture and/or their use and production. Papers might explore depictions of flora, fauna, and/or the built environment; relationships between topography and the built environment or between available natural resources and artistic materials; effects of climate change on art and architecture; or other questions that centre on the interactions between human communities and their larger environments in the production or use of art and architecture. Case studies that offer avenues for broader methodological reflection are especially welcome. Through these papers, the panel seeks to promote and facilitate greater engagement with ecologically-informed approaches to the study of medieval art and architecture, drawing in new audiences, students and scholars who are driven in part by concerns about the current climate emergency.

Papers should be 15-20 minutes in length, delivered in English. If feasible, we are hoping for a fully in-person session, requiring attendance at the IMC Leeds in July 2027. Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words along with your cv to Kate Gerry (kgerrysmith.edu) and Tom Nickson (tom.nicksoncourtauld.ac.uk). Deadline for submission: Thursday, 17 September.

-------------

[2] Women's Religious Communities and their Artefacts: Reframing Criteria and Epistemic Boundaries.
From: Mercedes Pérez Vidal
E-mail: mercedes.pvidaluam.es
Deadline: 20 September 2026

The Role of Women Religious and their Artefacts in Shaping Liturgical Leadership in the Iberian World, ca. 1300–1700 (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. PI: Mercedes Pérez Vidal)
Sponsored by: LITLEAD.

Overview & Aims
This call invites papers that rethink how liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious are classified, described, and interpreted across disciplines, regions, and media.

In recent decades, these communities have become a vibrant field of scholarly inquiry, they and their artefacts have been studied through cross-disciplinary approaches. Yet, binary divisions, categories and biases continue to shape the study of women religious, their material culture and religious history more broadly. In addition, despite the so-called global turn, epistemic borders still position certain territories, communities, and artefacts at the margins of research and outside major international databases.

LITLEAD seeks to challenge some of these binaries—particularly the gendered division of liturgical authority—through an interdisciplinary analysis of artefacts created by and for communities of Christian women religious in the Iberian world (c. 1300–1700). A central obstacle to this endeavour is the absence of comprehensive, standardised catalogues of artefacts from women’s communities, and of uniform criteria that would enable global comparative studies.

These sessions aim to confront this gap by:

1. Rethinking current standards by exposing gendered, regional, and epistemic biases in the classification and study of artefacts from communities of women religious.

2. Developing globally applicable criteria through dialogue with scholars and GLAM professionals working on women religious’ artefacts across regions, periods, and media, enabling comparative approaches.

Call for Contributions

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers in English that offer focused case studies, comparative perspectives, or methodological reflections on liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious from Christian traditions as well as other religious contexts.

We invite contributions that:

Critically examine existing approaches and disciplinary assumptions.
Test new methodological frameworks and criteria to expand the field’s epistemic boundaries.
Address communities at the margins of current scholarship and propose agendas for global comparative study.

Scholars from art history, history, musicology, liturgical studies, codicology, gender studies, digital humanities, material culture studies, and professionals working in GLAM are warmly encouraged to participate.

Possible Topics

- Authorship, agency & authority — communal authorship versus individual authorship; different forms of liturgical leadership within communities expressed through artefacts.
- Gendered frameworks and biases — performative aspects of gender; intersectionality and fluid gender dynamics; artefacts have gone unnoticed, being miscatalogued, or misunderstood.
- Materiality, media & classification — written artefacts, textiles, reliquaries, and other media; hybrid, complex, recycled, or fragmentary artefacts; object categories versus categories of practice.
- Practice and performativity — liturgy, prayer, meditation, reading, etc.; multifunctionality and shifting uses over time.
- Beyond exceptionality and periphery — integrating artefacts from women’s communities into broader discussions of liturgical materiality, and global comparative studies.
- Postcolonial perspectives — questioning Eurocentric categories and expanding the epistemic boundaries of the field.
- Modern mediation — how cataloguing, conservation, and display practices shape contemporary interpretations of liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious

Submission Guidelines

- Paper title & Abstract (250 words)
- Short biographical note (100–150 words)
- IMC required information: e-mail, affiliation, 2–4 index terms, equipment and accessibility requests, in-person or virtual participation.
- Deadline: 20 September 2026
- Send proposals to Mercedes Pérez Vidal : mercedes.pvidaluam.es
- Sessions will be submitted to the IMC by 30 September 2026