Golden Years for the Dark Ages
The Transformation of early Medieval Studies
since ca 1980
The event takes place exclusively in presence.
In order to participate, please register here:
registration
In the 1990s, an international and interdisciplinary network emerged, uniting scholars whose individual and collective contributions have shaped and transformed the study of early medieval history in Europe and North America. The last decades were a highly creative period in the study of the transformation of the Roman World and of Early Medieval Europe. The Institute for Medieval Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1998, under the directorship of Walter Pohl became an important hub in this international network.
Walter Pohl’s recent retirement, therefore, presents a suitable opportunity to look back and reflect on this exciting research experience, and to discuss how to preserve this momentum after most members of what has been called a ‘golden generation’ in early medieval studies have retired. We are holding a conference in Walter Pohl's honour, bringing together scholars of this generation with scholars of a younger generation. Our goal is to reflect on the directions that have been established over the last decades, as well as on perspectives for future research on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. What has been accomplished? What has been overlooked, underemphasized, or omitted? Which approaches have proved useful and which less so? Have there been roads not taken or ones not sufficiently travelled and explored? What new challenges, chances and opportunities are there for the study of the period in the 21st century? And what role can the Institute for Medieval Research play in this field?
The conference will be held in a slightly unorthodox format. We will have six sections (with two sessions each) on the three days, each dedicated to a specific theme. The six working groups have prepared ‘their’ respective sections as a team over the last few months. Each working group will present the results of its discussions on problems, open questions, opportunities and future perspectives in short statements of about ten minutes each, leaving us ample time for further discussion.
Programme | PDF
THURSDAY, 24 March, Theatersaal
09:00–13:00
Empires in transition: The Transformation of the Roman World
Moderators
Kate Cooper | Royal Holloway University of London
Ian N. Wood | University of Leeds
Contributors
Stefano Gasparri | Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
Uta Heil | Universität Wien
Salvatore Liccardo | Universität Wien
Danuta Shanzer | Universität Wien
Paolo Tedesco | Universität Tübingen
Roland Steinacher | Universität Innsbruck
Veronika Wieser | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
14:30–18:30
Imperial particularities: the Carolingian empire and its alternatives
Moderators
Leslie Brubaker | University of Birmingham
Mayke de Jong | Universiteit Utrecht
Contributors
Stuart Airlie | University of Glasgow
Shane Bobrycki | Universität Wien
Maximilian Diesenberger | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Clemens Gantner | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Régine Le Jan | Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Rutger Kramer | Radboud Universiteit
Steffen Patzold | Universität Tübingen
Karl Ubl | Universität Köln
friDAY, 25 March, Theatersaal
09:00–13:00
Back to the future. New (?) directions in text and manuscript studies
Moderators
Rosamond McKitterick | University of Cambridge
Irene van Renswoude | Universiteit van Amsterdam
Contributors
Richard Corradini | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Peter Erhart | Stiftsarchiv Sankt Gallen
Cinzia Grifoni | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Yitzhak Hen | Israel Institute for Advanced Study
Rob Meens | Universiteit Utrecht
Jan Odstrčilík/Leon Pürstinger | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Matthias M. Tischler | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Carine van Rhijn | Universiteit Utrecht
14:30–18:30
New bricolages: the transition of disciplinary boundaries
Moderators
Falko Daim | Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz und Universität Wien
John Haldon | Princeton University
Contributors
Csanád Bálint | Ungarische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Irene Barbiera | Università di Padova
Wendy E. Davies | University College London
Bonnie Effros | The University of British Columbia
Patrick J. Geary | Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Matthias Hardt | GWZO Leipzig
Bendeguz Tobias | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Przemysław Urbańczyk | Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
saturDAY, 26 March, Seminar Room
09:00–13:00
Why (not) identity: historicizing structures of identification
Moderators
Stefan Esders | Freie Universität Berlin
Gerda Heydemann | Freie Universität Berlin
Contributors
Francesco Borri | Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
Ann Christys | University of Leeds
Albrecht Diem | Syracuse University
Wolfgang Haubrichs | Universität des Saarlandes
Helmut Reimitz | Princeton University
Maria Cristina La Rocca | Università di Padova
Pavlína Rychterová | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Bernd Schneidmüller | Universität Heidelberg und Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
14:30-18:30
Changing scales: approaches to local and global histories across Eurasia
Moderators
Claudia Rapp | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Universität Wien
Conrad Leyser | University of Oxford
Contributors
Hugh N. Kennedy | School of Oriental and African Studies in London
Bernhard Palme | Universität Wien
Johannes Preiser-Kapeller | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Philipp von Rummel | Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
Sandra Wabnitz | Universität Wien
Chris Wickham | University of Oxford
Bernhard Zeller | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
18:30-19:00
Concluding Remarks
Walter Pohl | Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Universität Wien