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5-6 April 2013

Sponsors

Welcome to the Seventh Annual Longwood University Undergraduate Medieval Conference. The conference theme of "Meeting in the Middle" highlights the growing place of Longwood and Farmville as a hub of Medieval Studies. Not only have faculty and library resources been augmented of late, but Farmville itself is central to a growing web of medievalists in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. In recent years, it has been our pleasure to see participants from almost the whole of the Atlantic coast. For that reason, we welcome back all of our friends who joined us last year, along with new attendees to a buffet of scholarship and collegial rejuvenation.

This year's papers will tackle a vital question and assumption about the Middle Ages: “Where the Wild Things Are?”. We invite the best undergraduate scholarship of our region to come and nuance, overthrow, perhaps even confirm our theme. Further details on proposing a paper topic are available in our Call for Papers. In addition, we continue to welcome still more disciplines to the conference. Thus, this year's conference will also feature music, drama, art, and military technology.

Our plenary speakers highlight the diversity of possibilities in medieval studies. Noted feminist medievalist and expert on Wildmen, Robin Hood and King Arthur, Dr. Lorraine Stock, is joining us from the University of Houston. Dr. Luc Bourgeois, from the Centre d'Études Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale (Université de Poitiers), who specializes in medieval architecture and archaeology, will present a recent study on the migration of the game of chess from Asia into the medieval West.

This year's conference is going to witness as well the introduction of a prize for the best student paper. The Abels-Johnson Award for Excellence is named for the two scholars who gave us examples of their own outstanding scholarship at the first of these conferences, back in 2007: Richard Abels of the United States Naval Academy and David Johnson of Florida State University. Interested students should contact either of the conference organizers so as to submit their manuscript in advance of the conference. The award will be announced on the Saturday of the conference after being judged by one of the plenary speakers.

All of the panels on Friday (except the First Plenary Address) and Saturday will be held in the Blackwell Hall Virginia Room, with registration taking place in the adjoining Blackwell Hall Prince Edward Room.  Blackwell Hall is building # 11 on the Longwood Campus Map.  Parking for the entire conference has been reserved in the Wheeler Parking Lot, which is located on Griffin Boulevard across the street from the Chichester Science Building.  There will be directional signs to assist you in locating the parking lot and the meeting facilities.

The links to the left should take you to all the information you might need concerning the conference, lodgings, directions, and such. If, however, we have managed not to cover something you are curious about, please write either of the Conference Directors, Larissa Tracy and Steven Isaac, who will respond shortly.