AVISTA has historically sponsored 3-5 sessions at the ICMS at Kalamazoo, with 3-4 20-minute papers each. All members are welcome and encouraged to propose session ideas. If you wish to make a proposal, please prepare a brief description and an intellectual justification of the topic (250 words or so), making sure to indicate whether your idea is for a traditional session or a roundtable, panel discussion, workshop, etc. If you already have potential contributors in mind, please let us know, and specify whether you would be available to organize or preside over the session. Topics allowing for interdisciplinary participation are especially welcome.
Examples of recent topics include Buildings, Planning, and Networks of Medieval Cities; The Long Lives of Medieval Art and Architecture; Art and Technology in the Cloister and Castle; sessions dedicated to the memory of Carl F. Barnes, Jr.; Stone: New Research Concerning Masons and Sculptors; New Studies of the North Transept of Reims; Metals in Architecture; New Approaches to Chartres; and Technologies of the Book.
Proposal ideas will be discussed at the AVISTA annual meeting, but you do not have to be present to make a proposal. If you will not be present at the meeting, please send your proposal to Sarah Thompson (ThompsonAVISTA@aol.com) by May 8th, 2017.
AVISTA typically offers a prize for the most promising paper submission from a graduate student and between one and three travel grants to support students, independent scholars, and international speakers.
Remember that you may seek AVISTA sponsorship for panels at other conferences with themes related to our mission. We have regularly held sessions at the IMC at Leeds, for example. An upcoming possibility: the deadline for submissions for the Medieval Academy of America’s 2018 meeting is May 15th. If you have an idea, please share!