Thirteenth Annual REFORC Conference on Early Modern Christianity

The Thirteenth Annual REFORC Conference on Early Modern Christianity, hosted by the Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII, will be held May 14-16, 2024 in Palermo.

Topic Plenary Speakers

Early Modern Encounters. Religions, Cultures and Societies

Alongside the historical narratives of Konfessionalisierung and Sozialdisziplinierung in the early modern Euro-Mediterranean space – highlighting clashes, tensions and the ossification of the boundaries between the religious confessions that sprang up in the wake of the Reformation – the reality of a variegated pluralism engendered by the cohabitation (albeit not always peaceful) and the cross-fertilisation of different Christian traditions, as well as the complex encounter of Christians, Jews, and Muslims at a religious, cultural, intellectual, and social level should be duly taken into account. In addition to the Mediterranean space, the area of interest of such transcultural and religious encounters – both inter- and intraconfessional – and spans from continental Europe to the Balkans, the Baltic, Scandinavia, the Eastern Orthodox space (including the Polish-Ukrainian space), and the Armenian, Syriac, and Coptic traditions. What were the different conceptual frameworks within which the encounter with Otherness took place in Europe? How can the fall of Granada and the persecution of Jews and Muslims be placed alongside the long-standing diversity of ethnicity and faith in Vilnius? How (if at all) was the concept of tolerance implemented in, and adapted to, different geographical and cultural contexts as well as to political contingency, from the treatment of conversos in Sicily, to the Jewish ghettoes in Venice and Rome, to the wintering of the Ottoman fleet in Toulon in 1543-44? How did the growing diplomatic relations between East and West help the cross-fertilisation of knowledge between Muslim and Christian scholars and fostered the growth of early modern Western orientalism? How did arts reflect on these encounters or acted as actors in these transconfessional and transcultural negotiations?

The international conference aims at problematising religious encounters and the issues of religious diversity in the early modern period with an interdisciplinary and transcultural perspective.

Short Papers, Panels, and General Attendance

The (in-person) conference is open to individual short paper presentations (20 minute presentations) and to thematic sessions of two or three short papers. Papers can focus on all disciplines related to Early Modern Christianity, ca. 1400-1700, such as philosophy, law, history, theology, etc., independent of the theme of the plenary papers.

In case of a thematic session (panel) all panelists must register separately, indicating the panel in the registration form.

It is also possible to attend the conference without giving a paper. In that case, go to the registration form and register for the conference, indicating that you do not want to submit a short paper proposal.

Call for Papers and Registrations

The Call for Papers and registrations are open.

Short Paper Submission

Short paper submission is open until March 1, 2024.

Registration/Registration Fee

Registration becomes effective on receipt of payment of the registration fee. If your short paper proposal has been accepted, please see to it that the amount of the registration fee is on our account before March 1, 2024, so that we can include your paper in the program. Registration closes on May 10, 2024.

REFORC Members (Individual and Institutional) will receive a discount on the registration fee, as indicated in the registration form. Go here for the benefits for Individual REFORC Members and here for the benefits for Institutional REFORC Members.

Deadlines

Short paper submission: March 1, 2024.
Registration: May 10, 2024.

Language

Preferred language for papers is English, but papers in  French and German are also welcome. Presenters who prefer to give their paper in French or German are invited to provide the audience with an English summary of about 150-200 words.

Conference Proceedings

The conference volume will be published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht in the series Refo500 Academic Studies (R5AS) and will contain plenary papers and a selection of short papers. Another publication venue is the Journal of Early Modern Christianity (JEMC).

Manuscripts for the conference volume can be submitted to the editors (to be announced). All other manuscripts can be submitted to editor-in-chief of the JEMC, Wim François.

Editors will decide on publication.

Scientific Committee

Fabrizio D’Avenia (University of Palermo)
Gianmarco Braghi (University of Palermo | FSCIRE)
Antonio Carluccio (DREST | University of Calabria | FSCIRE)
Davide Dainese (University of Bologna | FSCIRE)
Giacomo Favaretto (DREST | University of Palermo | FSCIRE)
Ivana Panzeca (University of Palermo | FSCIRE)
Laura Righi (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia | FSCIRE)
Herman Selderhuis (Theological University of Apeldoorn).

Visual: Matthias Grünewald: Meeting of St Erasm and St Maurice, ca. 1520–ca. 1524, collection Alte Pinakothek, Munich. From Wikimedia Commons

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