call for Papers for Special Session
Queer(ing) Medieval Art (2)
New Queer Notations: Glimpses, Sketches, Fledgling Ideas
61st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
May 14-16, 2026
Due by 15 September 2025
Fledgling ideas and reflections on queer(ing) medieval art often begin as glimpses and sketches. Scholars regularly set these “small” discoveries or field notes aside in the hopes of returning to them later or building them into larger, more formalized projects. This exploratory session invites speakers to share in-progress research or potential new approaches to queer medieval studies, with the aim of fostering generative conversations and collaborations. Following five to six lightning papers (max. 10–12 minutes), the session organizers will act as respondents and discussion facilitators. We invite participants to return to those provocative, marginal, or fugitive pieces of visual and material culture they have yet to “solve,” and to expand the possibilities and directions of the field.
To reduce barriers, this session is being offered in a hybrid format. Speakers are welcome to present virtually or in person.
Please submit proposals, including an abstract of no more than 100 words, via the ICMS-Kalamazoo Confex website by September 15, 2025: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7381
Questions? Contact Kris Racaniello (kris.racaniello@gmail.com) or Erika Loic (eloic@fsu.edu).