The British Archaeological Association (BAA) and the International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA)
present
Periodisation and the Study of Medieval Art:
A Roundtable Discussion
Monday 6 July 2026, 19.00-20.00
Session 431
Esther Simpson Building, Room 3.08
Al-Idrīsī, Nuzhat al-mushtāq fī ikhtirāq al-āfāq (The Book of Pleasant Journeys into Faraway Lands). 1553 CE manuscript of an 1154 original by al-Idrisi. Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Pococke 375 (Uri Arab. Moh. 887).
with
Michael Höckelmann (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Amanda Luyster (College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts)
Olenka Pevny (University of Cambridge)
Hanna Vorholt (University of York)
Moderated by Sophie Kelly, Department of History of Art, University of Bristol
Periodisation is often viewed as a 'necessary tool' for historical comparison and analysis. Recent developments in global art history and medieval studies, however, have unsettled traditional historical frameworks, exposing their Eurocentric underpinnings and limitations. The term 'medieval' itself emerges as a label that is both historically contingent and unevenly applied across different contexts. This round table discussion asks how we might reimagine temporalities in light of comparative, transcultural, and global approaches. Can periodisation remain a useful conceptual tool if we attend more closely to overlapping chronologies, regionally specific transitions, and cross cultural encounters? Or must it be fundamentally rethought in order to accommodate artistic practices that resist categorisation within fixed temporal frameworks? By drawing together scholars working across geographies and traditions, this interdisciplinary round table seeks to test the utility of periodisation as both a disciplinary tool and a critical problem.
Organized by Sophie Kelly, Department of History of Art, University of Bristol and Alice Isabella Sullivan, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, Tufts University
BAA Reception
Tuesday 7 July 2026, 19.00-20.00
University House, Beechgrove Room
The British Archaeological Association supports research on the art, architecture and archaeology of the Middle Ages, especially in Britain. The Association warmly invites all delegates to join us for drinks and to find out more about our activities.
